Struggling algebra students in the Everett, Wash., school district get help from special tutors who diagnose their weaknesses, tailor instruction to their needs, and provide on-the-spot feedback…. Three years ago, the district started employing Cognitive Tutor, a series of computer programs based on artificial intelligence that were developed by researchers from Carnegie-Mellon…. Now, all of Everett’s high school students have a choice in signing up for Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and geometry: a traditional class or one that mixes teacher-led lessons with a sizable dose of machine-based tutoring….

Used in 1,500 districts nationwide, the Cognitive Tutor programs are the best-known of a small but expanding contingent of “intelligent tutors” that are making their way from the laboratory….

The… program… is one of just two middle school mathematics programs to get a “positive” effectiveness rating in 2004 from the What Works Clearinghouse…. Studies suggest that, on average, students who use Cognitive Tutor make learning gains that roughly translate into the equivalent of as much as one letter grade—the difference… between an A and a B.

Some of the other innovations in the production pipeline include:

• Project LISTEN, a system developed by Carnegie Mellon researcher Jack Mostow that employs speech-synthesizing technology to “listen” to students read and give them feedback….

• Online intelligent-tutoring systems in chemistry and applied mathematics that allow students to plug in their own homework problems, rather than rely on computer-generated tasks…. [d]eveloped by Quantum Simulations Inc….

• AutoTutor, a system developed by researchers at the University of Memphis, in Tennessee, and Carnegie Mellon that features an on-screen talking head that conducts a dialogue with students….

Debra Viadero, Education Week, April2.