Austin Scholar

Harvard says AI tutors are better than Harvard professors. The students who used an AI tutor in a Harvard physics class (instead of the professor’s teaching) learned more than 2X as much. The best part? They did it in less time and were more motivated and engaged.

Get ready for some big things this spring 😁

@ganz @jliemandt @_MathAcademy_ Congratulations! So happy for your kid.

I am a huge fan of @_MathAcademy_ . If I was closer to an Alpha School (or there was an online program for Maryland) that would easily be my first choice for the time back and top tier social experience. But, thanks to @AustinScholar's writing, I learned of Math Academy and picked it up as a supplement for my kid beyond their public school curriculum. It has been unbelievably effective. His latest score was a 258 on the 3rd grade winter math MAP. I was uncertain how well he was actually mastering the above grade-level content he was doing, and had him take a practice SAT. On his first and only try he hit a 600 math score, which would be 98th percentile for an 8th grader. But most importantly, he really loves math: yesterday, one problem had a quadratic function with a large negative determinant, and he cheerfully declared, "this has no real solutions BY A MILE!".

"Mathematics: The Crown Jewel"

Great (and flattering) write up of my talk on normalcy in childhood, and a tactical application of it to teens, from @AustinScholar.

I’m excited for this talk. At Alpha School, our fifth pillar—“character, community, classmates, and culture”—is shaped by how we balance freedom, structure, and rules. One of our students shared her perspective on the book and its trade-offs: [link below].

@justinskycak @kan_immanuel Aww thank you! Math Academy has helped me a lot and I'm so grateful to everyone on the Math Academy team. Always appreciate your support.

@AustinScholar @kan_immanuel Wow, congrats on such a high-profile conversation! Your newsletter is always a great read, and it's been inspiring watching your trajectory from afar. Really appreciate all the kind words you've shared about us.

I talked to the Secretary of Education about: • how I got a 1600 SAT score without having had a teacher since the 4th grade • how I use AI to learn • the skills I learned at Alpha that prepared me to succeed at Stanford Her response? "This is the most exciting thing I've seen in education in a long time." And when I told her about my newsletter, she asked for the link to subscribe.

@EarlPansano I prefer the title “guinea pig” 😉

@AustinScholar Iterative, recursive AI apps for every subject will transform elementary and high school education. You are proof without the apos being available, fantastic...

@convex_bets Highly recommend. 2x in 2hrs + the motivation model is unbeatable. DM if you have any questions!!

@AustinScholar considering trying the Alpha Anywhere program once my son turns 8 (minimum age)

@DaveLevine0com Number one problem with Alpha: it isn’t everywhere (yet)! I believe a Santa Barbara location is up and running. More cali locations loading.

@AustinScholar I want to start an Alpha high school near me in Venice beach area Los Angeles. They never seem to write me back. Help!

@AI_PlanetX Thank you!

@AustinScholar Impressive journey! Inspiring to see your dedication and success.

@WillieTorr62926 Thank you! What a great question. I would say the point driven home was that currently, students aren’t being taught how to use AI properly/how this is rapidly becoming a huge problem for future gen.

@kan_immanuel Wouldn’t be a discussion on the future of education without math academy. @justinskycak

@AustinScholar Did you tell her about mathacademy?

If you want to learn more about what Secretary McMahon thought about learning with AI, check out my newsletter: austinscholar.substack.com/p/austin-schol…

If you had told me three years ago (when I first launched my newsletter!) that I should ask the Secretary of Education to subscribe to help transform education nationwide, I would have thought it impossible. Yet here we are. Education is changing, and I'm proud to be at the forefront.

I met Alpha student Everest at the Secretary of Education Roundtable event and was beyond impressed. Below is a recent TED Talk she gave that you have to check out. I can't wait to see what else she does!

@Volte_iv @patrick_oshag @jliemandt It's absolutely an adjustment, but because of the life skills Alpha teaches (learning how to learn, mastery mindset, be an expert, etc.) I've been able to learn all of the content I wasn't able to pick up in lecture.

@AustinScholar @patrick_oshag @jliemandt What’s the transition like from Alpha to a university? Obviously the quality of education translates but is the change in teaching style/time in lectures jarring?

I graduated from Alpha School in 2024. I'm now a sophomore at Stanford. The skills I learned at Alpha are what allow me to succeed at Stanford. @patrick_oshag's podcast with @jliemandt will revolutionize education by bringing awareness to Alpha and TimeBack. I summarized my thoughts on the podcast and discussed my personal experience in my newsletter yesterday.

@roger_jgs404040 @patrick_oshag @jliemandt I'm a math major, so the only math class I'm taking this quarter is Mathematical Logic (Phil 150), but I'll definitely check her out for next quarter's courses!