Story perspectives

Study: AI boosts homework 18% but cuts exam scores 20%

8/20/2026

Summary

AI Lowers Exams

A study of 26,811 students found AI raised homework scores 18% but cut exam scores 20% in six months.
The same data showed entrance-exam scores fell 18%-24% after two years, especially among boys.
In Andre Barcaui’s trial, ChatGPT users scored 57.5% versus 68.5% for traditional learners (t(83)=-3.19, p=.002).
Researchers reported lower brain activity in writers, who outperformed controls a week later, per Middlebury College researchers Zara Contractor and German Reyes.

Summary

Teachers Replace Exams

Teachers are urged to replace blue-book exams with in-class writing and oral presentations.
44% of AI-using teens say they bypassed a school-blocked tool by switching to personal devices, while 59% actually did so.
Only 30% of teens report a teacher has discussed AI safety.
The Common Sense Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum now offers separate AI-literacy courses for K-8 and high-school students.

History

Historical Context

Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller founded Coursera in 2012, launching the first major MOOC platform with early partners such as Stanford and Princeton. Its rapid expansion—by 2024 the site hosted about 7,000 courses from more than 375 universities—showed that large-scale online learning could scale. That precedent underlies today’s AI tutoring tools, which educators say boost homework scores but force standards groups to rethink exam-based assessment.

1 of 3

AI Lowers Exams

A study of 26,811 students found AI raised homework scores 18% but cut exam scores 20% in six months.
The same data showed entrance-exam scores fell 18%-24% after two years, especially among boys.
In Andre Barcaui’s trial, ChatGPT users scored 57.5% versus 68.5% for traditional learners (t(83)=-3.19, p=.002).
Researchers reported lower brain activity in writers, who outperformed controls a week later, per Middlebury College researchers Zara Contractor and German Reyes.

1 / 3