PAUSD should adapt to ChatGPT

Anew innovation in arti cial intelligence, OpenAI’s free-to-use ChatGPT assistant, is a language model that can respond to questions with factually-correct information, write short stories or even code computer programs, all according to a user-speci ed prompt.

However, ChatGPT has presented new challenges to educators. Now, students can use machine learning to generate essays comparable in quality to human-written ones. While ChatGPT makes academic honesty more di cult to track, e Campanile thinks arti cial intelligence, if used properly, can enhance education by providing useful research and encouraging a focus on real, purposeful learning for students.

In response to potential academic dishonesty, some schools have blocked ChatGPT on campus wi ; however, restricting access to any technology is a naïve solution. is new wave of arti cially intelligent assistants resembles the initial rise of the internet: access to limitless information also presented problems for educators regarding searching for homework solutions and receiving unauthorized aid on tests.

Clearly, it does not make sense to ban the internet in schools and deprive students of all the learning resources available on the web. But that’s what many school o cials tried to do in the early ‘90s as internet access became more widespread. Similarly, banning ChatGPT is an inadequate solution. Not only could students still use ChatGPT outside of school, but a ban would also limit productive use of OpenAI’s tools for inspiration or research.

Instead, PAUSD should revise its academic integrity code to explicitly prohibit using AI tools for completing written assignments. e district needs to emphasize that using ChatGPT to gain an unfair advantage is an honesty violation on par with cheating or plagiarism, and it should be treated with the same consequences.

Following changes to the way scores are reported for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, Paly’s state standardized test scores plummeted earning designations of “Very Low” and “Low” in the ELA and Math sections respectively.

But these designations are misleading. When schools fail to achieve 95% CAASPP participation, the State now assigns a failing score of zero for any student who opts out.

In reality, out of Paly students who took the test, 88.04% and 83.74% met or exceeded standards in ELA and Math respectively.

While e Campanile recognizes that the CAASPP testing system — like any standardized testing system — is inherently awed, to accurately re ect Paly’s elite status, school administrators must increase CAASPP participation rates by spreading more awareness of its importance.

Even though Paly’s CAASPP participation rates have steadily increased over the past four years, from 19% in 2019 to 51% in 2022, we still lag far behind the 95% state threshold and Gunn’s 86% participation.

Despite their aws, the low test scores negatively impact the school and the district in serious ways.

Because the California Department of Education State Dashboard is widely accessible to the public, low CAASPP participation and thus low CAASPP scores under the new system harm the academic reputation of Paly.

Quality of education frequently plays an in uential role in determining where a family moving into the area decides to live, and when the state’s metrics show dismal results, families may look elsewhere.

Additionally, since ChatGPT especially excels at completing busy work, teachers should rebalance their curriculum for assignments that engage students and promote real, useful learning. And more essays and tests could be given using pen and paper to make it more di cult to access ChatGPT.

And students should understand that using ChatGPT to do work for them will limit their skills in writing, analysis and critical thinking.

Despite these risks, though, e Campanile thinks ChatGPT and similar AI tools have enormous potential to improve education. e biggest advantage ChatGPT has over traditional search engines is its ability to accurately interpret the meaning of a question rather than extracting and matching keywords. As a result, ChatGPT allows students to e ciently search its vast trove of information to answer a question or nd additional sources, greatly increasing the productivity of research.

Furthermore, ChatGPT’s deep understanding of language gives it novel uses. For instance, ChatGPT can analyze the meaning of an article and generate a summary, saving time for students who need to scan multiple sources to see which ones are relevant to a particular topic. Also, if part of ChatGPT’s response is confusing or incomplete, a student can prompt the model for an explanation instead of entering another long search query into a search engine. Ultimately, ChatGPT’s impact on students and schools raises questions about the e cacy of the educational system. While the district should update its honor code to encourage academic honesty even with access to OpenAI, it is critical for teachers to replace busy work assignments that could easily be completed using ChatGPT with ones that challenge students to develop critical thinking skills. One thing is for certain: AI is the future, and we believe education needs to adapt to re ect that.

Especially given PAUSD’s declining enrollment in recent years, e Campanile thinks it is critical that students take the CAASPP to help maintain Paly’s strong academic reputation. is is where administrators and student leaders have work to do, as there are only a handful of perceived bene ts to students who take the CAASPP.

Scoring well does make students eligible for individual honors such as the State Seal of Biliteracy, and it o ers advantages in course placement at some California State Universities.

But considering that less than 10% of our graduates attend CSUs, for most students there is no real direct repercussion for not taking the test or reward for taking it.

Once administrators have given students a good reason to take the test and provided some incentives for them to do so, e Campanile hopes all this year’s juniors will take the CAASPP to support the district and ful ll an ethical duty to help the school and the district.

Students must learn the value of working together to uplift a community even at the expense of some personal freedom — an attitude e Campanile believes is necessary for a properly functioning democracy.

Working under a awed standardized testing system, Paly and PAUSD remain accountable for ensuring high CAASPP participation rates.

e Campanile hopes a collective e ort between administrators and students will enable us to re-establish Paly’s prestige and reputation when comes to CAASPP testing rates and CAASPP scores.

Juniors should take CAASPP test

Dear Editors,

As CAASPP testing nears, I would like to ensure that all juniors are well informed of the importance of the test. e following is only representative of my perspective and has no a liation with ASB. In past years, Paly’s CAASPP participation has dwindled, sinking below 20%. Admittedly, it is easier to opt out and spend those hours relaxing from the hamster wheel of junior year. However, this annual test represents more than we might think. For you as a student, taking the test o ers numerous opportunities. You can earn the Seal of Biliteracy, Golden State Seal Merit Diploma and potential college credit from California State Universities.

Our collective test scores impact the perceived prestige of Paly. ose who have opted out have their scores counted as a zero, decreasing our overall performance. Paly is a strong school with rigorous classes, yet our test scores indicate the contrary. Since individual scores are not reported (unless for potential class credit), there is no direct consequence of opting out. However, our collective CAASPP performance is documented, so in the end, it does impact all of us a little.

At the end of the day, taking the test will only help you and the school. How about you give it a go this year? If you don’t vibe with the test, don’t take it again. In fact, you can treat it like it’s your last CAASPP test ever. My goal is not to convince you, but rather to inform you. Paly is one of the few schools that has an opt-out option, so use it wisely. e only way for us to reap the bene ts of the CAASPP test is if we all contribute our participation.

Sincerely,

Sophia Kim Junior Class President

BY OLIVIA ATKINSON & ANNIKA CHU