Stephen Chiger

#LoveAndLiteracy is now available to preorder from Amazon: amzn.to/3wuHlAS

In Love & Literacy we write about “reading for claim. In Gram & Gran Save the Summer we discuss algorithmic bias (in the form of an out-of-control amusement park that only offers ring toss). Love that this post points to how it all connects. twella.beehiiv.com/p/the-algorith…

Just hit a new milestone this week: 14K subscribers for Proof Points, my weekly Monday newsletter on what works in education (plus a side of Trump-era policy updates). Short, readable, mostly bullet points. Free. If you’re not a subscriber yet: hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/

@C_Hendrick This was a thoughtful take. Really enjoyed it.

The great irony of AI: The more we outsource thinking to machines, the more cognitive responsibility falls on the human; constant vigilance, judging outputs, spotting errors, intervening when automation fails. Lisanne Bainbridge called this the "ironies of automation". New post: ⤵️

Bracketology meets cognitive science. 🧠🏀 Just in time for Selection Sunday, my March Substack: Bracketology and the Brain... What working memory and cognitive load tell us about why text-centered literacy instruction should be the #1 seed. open.substack.com/pub/kristenmcq…

@AndrewWatsonTTB I call drums.

@SteveChiger “Spunky Toddlers” is a great garage band name.

Great post. Now I just need some research on spunky toddlers…😂

🚨 🚨Save the Date 🚨 🚨 Please join us on Saturday, May 2 for our next researchED conference! Check out this lineup, and register here: bit.ly/46w9ZoL

@MrZachG @GTavernetti @LeslieLaud Exciting! Curious to hear your convo.

Writing is one of the most cognitively demanding things we ask students to do, and yet instruction can vary dramatically from classroom to classroom. Check out the latest episode with writing instruction expert, @LeslieLaud! educationrickshaw.com/2026/03/01/s5e…

@researchEDBrum What a treat that’ll be!!!

@SteveChiger THANK YOU AGAIN OUR STEVE BAB! ONE DAY YOU’LL JOIN US IN PERSON!! 🤞

What an honor to join this crew. #rEDBRUM was 🔥this year by all accounts. Sad I had to join on Zoom, but on the upside everyone looks tall on screen—so that’s a plus. 😂 Kudos on what sounds like a stellar day!

@Lauren_J_Atkiss @R_Atton @stoneman_claire @RickardsScience @DavidDidau Being mentioned in the same breath as those folks has certainly made my weekend. Glad you had a great day!

Well done! 👏🏼❤️ @R_Atton @stoneman_claire @RickardsScience #rEDBRUM #smasheditbab Also, thanks @DavidDidau + @SteveChiger for the fab sessions!

🚨 🚨Save the Date 🚨 🚨 Please join us on Saturday, May 2 for our next researchED conference! Check out this lineup, and register here: bit.ly/46w9ZoL

@rpondiscio @rodjnaquin Fair question! The pilot study observed a difference in engagement, but I don’t think it claims why. For my part, I was referring to the linked writeup, since I thought the author suggested useful guardrails as more schools experiment with AI-generated feedback in practice.

@SteveChiger @rodjnaquin Wait. Is that the takeaway? Or is it, “If the feedback came from a TA, I’ll be penalized if I don’t use it. ChatGPT won’t care if I ignore it.”

I'm closely following new research showing a troubling gap in AI education tools. A 2026 MIT study gave students identical feedback—some told it was from their TA, others told it was AI. Both groups said the feedback was equally good, but students who thought a real person wrote it worked significantly harder afterward. The takeaway: even high-quality AI feedback fails to motivate students the way human attention does. Students need to feel seen by a real person to stay engaged and persist through challenges. open.substack.com/pub/drphilippa…

@MrZachG See you there!

54% of American teenagers now use AI chatbots for help with their schoolwork. Nearly 60 percent believe that chatbot-assisted cheating has become, in Pew's phrasing, "a regular feature of student life." The numbers have doubled in two years. But I think the worst thing about this is cognitive offloading and the fact there is a new generation of students who think they are learning when they're not. According to Pew, most students aren't actually cheating and asking chatbots to write their essays. They're asking them to explain, summarise, and solve. They probably think they're studying but this is 'cognitive offloading and does something cheating never does: it leaves the student believing they've learned when they haven't done anything remotely like the thinking that learning requires. Many schools haven't got to grips with this at all it seems. Are we still pretending that coursework or take-home essays are valid measures of learning? nytimes.com/2026/02/24/tec…

New study casts doubt on what reading comprehension is and how best to teach it. Is background knowledge less important than we thought? Is reciprocal teaching the way forward? Or is it a bit more complicated than that? Link below ⬇️

@NateJoseph19 No issues from me there. We don’t hurt anyone by moving carefully, and the consequences of haste in education have a long track record of woe. Still think you’ve found something really interesting here, with sizable implications.

@SteveChiger I think we’d have to wait till there are slightly more reliable, low cost models.

I’m not a researcher, but this strikes me as a pretty important finding. 👍 Will be curious to hear folks weigh in and now wonder if we couldn’t automate that tool for the non-researcher reader looking to size up a study…. Great, provocative post here. Worth your time.