What happened

Developed by Infinite Campus and introduced early 2024 by Nevada's Department of Education, the "GRAD scores" algorithm evaluates over 75 factors, including academic performance, attendance and disciplinary records, demographic, income and "family engagement" metrics.

Each student receives a grad score ranging from 50 to 150, where a lower score indicates a higher risk of not graduating. 

The model is reported to have dramatically reduced the number of students classified as "at risk" from over 270,000 to less than 65,000.

However, this has also led to substantial cuts in state funding for schools that relied on these classifications for financial support.

It also led to questions about whether the system is fair, and led experts to question whether the system's emphasis on graduation rates may be too narrow, neglecting other critical aspects of student well-being. 

Educators have noted an increase in challenges related to mental health and self-harm among students who might not be classified as at risk under the new criteria.

Why it happened

Nevada aimed to improve its historically uneven school funding system, which had been widely criticised for providing significantly less financial support to low-income districts. 

Low-income districts there have nearly 35 percent less money to spend per pupil than wealthier ones do - the largest gap of any US state. 

By using AI to refine the criteria for identifying at-risk students, Nevada sought a more targeted approach and set a much higher bar.

In addition, Infinite Campus refuses to disclose how its model works, claiming it is proprietary, prompting scepticism about the fairness and transparency of the system and its governance.