This week, W/A SVP and Co-Director of Research Erica Price Burns is filling in for Ben.

Fall is conference season, and the Whiteboard Advisors team has been on the road, as usual. This fall, however, seemed to be particularly full of AI conferences. It’s not surprising: AI feels omnipresent in education conversations these days. Somehow it seems to be simultaneously overhyped and underrated; constantly discussed, but also perhaps not interrogated deeply enough (yet) to earn a place in classrooms.

Or maybe AI is top of mind because, as Sir Tony Blair put it at Google’s AI for Learning forum last week, AI isn’t “a thing,” it’s “the thing”—something that may lead to a complete reimagining of learning, curriculum, and pedagogy.

The event, held at DeepMind HQ in London, built on the release of Google’s position paper on AI and the future of education (with a tip of the hat to experts like Isabelle Hau, John Bailey, and Jeremy Roschelle who offered insights as it was developed). The internationally-focused event brought together this year’s U.S. Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson; students from the U.S., U.K., and Indonesia; Google leadership including DeepMind CEO and Nobel Laureate Demis Hassabis; international policymakers; and a “who’s who” of the EdTech world. (Spotted: Cameron Wilson of Code.org, Erin Mote of Innovate EDU, Margaret Honey of the Scratch Foundation, Richard Culatta of ISTE+ASCD, Sara Schapiro of the Alliance for Learning Innovation, and Tiffany Taylor of GSV,  among many, many more).

As a mom of elementary-aged kids, I swing wildly between being very concerned about what AI means for my children’s future and being blown away by what AI is capable of (case in point: vibe coding a capybara-themed spelling app for my 7-year old during one of the sessions in London). I’m all too aware that the downsides of AI are real—and require thoughtful mitigation.

But my main takeaway from the London event was the focus on the human experience. How do we keep the right level of difficulty in learning to make mastery feel like an achievement? How do we build connections between students, educators, and parents? How do we ensure we’re building AI for humanity rather than just focusing on training humanity to use AI? And finally, as Ben Gomes of Google noted: Can we, collectively, agree that “the purpose of learning is to serve other people. At the end of the day, we have to serve others”?

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is gearing up for a December hearing that could introduce as many as 20 bills focused on kids’ online safety—a major follow-through on Chair Brett Guthrie’s (R-Ky.) promise to advance protections earlier this year.

The timing follows renewed pressure on social media companies. Critics have consistently told Congress the company has done little to curb harms like bullying, anxiety, eating disorders, and exposure to explicit content. Lawsuits tied to AI chatbot-related harms are adding fuel.

The committee is expected to advance several bills, bundled or standalone, as House leaders try to deliver a long-stalled bipartisan win on youth online safety heading into 2026. Reach out to us with any questions.

On Tuesday, the Education Department announced six new interagency agreements (IAAs), established with the goal of outsourcing the oversight and administration of several K-12 and higher ed programs. These IAAs were made with the Department of Labor, the Department of Interior, the Department of State, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

These agreements follow a May announcement transferring the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) to the Department of Labor—changes ED leaders described as “seamless” and a proof point for broader restructuring.

Once hailed as a pandemic-era lifeline, programmatic tutoring strategies are now at a crossroads. ESSER funds have expired and districts are recalibrating their academic recovery plans, frequently facing the question: Should tutoring remain a cornerstone intervention strategy to improve academic outcomes—or fade back to the margins?

Join Whiteboard Advisors and Pearl for a conversation on the findings from “The State of K-12 Tutoring 2025,” the first in a new annual series exploring how tutoring has evolved from emergency response to core instructional strategy. Drawing on analysis of more than 1 million anonymized tutoring sessions and interviews with over 20 state and district leaders, researchers, and practitioners, the discussion will unpack the most popular tutoring strategies, how they have been deployed in practice, and what it takes to sustain them without ESSER funding.

Save the Date: December 2, 2025 at 1 p.m. ET

W/A’s Matt Tower sat down with Anjali Bhatia, CEO of Collegewise, to discuss the future of higher education and what it truly means for students today. From shifting trends in college admissions to the increasing importance of aligning passions with long-term goals, Bhatia shares insights on how students can craft meaningful, authentic applications that reflect who they are, and not just what looks good on paper.

W/A's Ben Watsky and Strada Collaborative President Tom Dawson make the case that U.S. businesses and policymakers should invest in support for disabled workers not as an act of charity, but as an economic imperative. The report, with a foreword by SHRM President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., highlights the role of emerging technologies in creating new opportunity for the 1 in 4 working-age Americans who are disabled.

Earlier this week, Complete College America (CCA) brought together more than 700 higher education leaders, policymakers, and practitioners for their 2025 annual convening in Baltimore to set the agenda for the future of postsecondary transformation. 

The event featured keynote speaker Chike Aguh, Maryland Higher Education Commissioner Sanjay Rai, and several institutional presidents in the DMV, who led conversations about the biggest disruptions to higher education happening today, how to prepare students for the future of work, and public perceptions of college value. Organizations like Ad Astra, C-BEN, Riipen, One Million Degrees, the National Education Opportunity Network, and Acadeum showcased scalable strategies on everything from strategic scheduling and course-sharing to preparing students for an AI-driven workforce. 

Check out W/A Jobs, which features 3,384 career opportunities from 312 organizations across the education industry. A few roles that caught our eye over the past week:

Opportunity for state leaders: The National Governors Association (NGA) is accepting applications for its Center for Best Practices’ Policy Academy. The Policy Academy will run from January 2026 through June 2027; participants will work to develop state data dashboards that measure student and system success across academics, workforce and postsecondary readiness, civic preparation, and student experience and wellbeing. Applications are due December 4. 

For the young people in your life: Roadtrip Nation is sending three young adults (18+) on a road trip to discover how AI skills are being put to work in the workplace. The lucky three “roadies” selected will travel the country in Roadtrip Nation’s big green RV, and their journey will be filmed for a documentary special. Applications are open until December 14.

The Consortium for School Networking’s (CoSN) annual conference is one of EdTech’s most highly-anticipated events of the year, bringing together K-12 EdTech leaders/CIOs/CTOs, superintendents, and solution providers from across the nation. Through dozens of sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities, attendees will collaboratively design innovative, robust, and safe education systems that enhance student engagement.

Save the Date: April 13-15, 2026

Location: Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk; Chicago, Illinois

💡 Secure Early Bird Rates by registering before December 15

Thank you for reading Whiteboard Notes! We’re grateful for your continued support and partnership.

Next week, we’ll take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to celebrate Thanksgiving. Whiteboard Notes will return to your inbox on Friday, December 5.

🦃 Curious to know the true story of Thanksgiving? BrainPOP’s got you covered.

Julia Pasette-Seamon, Associate Editor, Whiteboard Notes