Delegate, Direct, or Do · Education & Social Services
Special Education Teacher: what would you hand to AI?
IEP paperwork and practice activities get easier; building trust and adjusting in the moment do not.
AI changes quite a bit of this job
Printable guide (PDF) · Pick a different career
Three bins
| Delegate | AI does it and a person spot-checks the result. |
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| Direct | AI drafts; a person steers, fixes, and decides. |
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| Do | A person does it. AI stays out. |
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Four questions for every task
Every sort needs a one-line reason that uses at least one of these.
- What does a mistake cost? A typo in a draft is cheap. A wrong dose, a wrong verdict, or a live wire is not.
- Can a person check the output quickly? If checking takes as long as doing it, delegating saves nothing.
- Who answers for the result? Whoever signs, submits, or says it out loud owns it, whoever wrote the draft.
- Does it involve private data or judging people? Health records, student files, and decisions about a person need a person.
Grades 6-8: Sort it
Start with these tasks, then add 3-7 more that people in this job really do. Put each in a bin and write one line on why, using the four questions.
- Draft IEP paperwork from meeting notes
- Make three versions of a practice worksheet
- Decide how to respond when a student shuts down mid-lesson
Some jobs land mostly in Do. That is a real answer, not a failure.
Grades 9-12: Brief it, then audit it
Sort the tasks as above. Then pick one Delegate or Direct task and write a brief with four parts: the goal, the context the AI needs, the constraints it must follow, and what done looks like.
Audit this sample
Draft a progress email to a parent
- goal
- A short, warm email to Sam's parent about reading progress this month.
- context
- Sam moved from reading 40 to 52 words per minute. Sam now reads aloud in small group without being asked twice.
- constraints
- Plain language. Mention only Sam. No other students' names or scores.
- done
- An email the teacher could send after a quick read.
What the AI sent back
Hi! I wanted to share some good news about Sam's reading this month.
Sam went from reading 40 words per minute to 52, which is real progress.
In small group, Sam now reads aloud without being asked twice. That is a big step in confidence.
Sam is now reading faster than Jordan, who is in the same group.
Thank you for all the practice at home!
Something here should stop you from signing off. Find it, name which of the four questions it fails, and rewrite the brief so it is less likely to happen again.
A live AI tool is optional, only if your district allows student use.
Close: one task you would never hand off
Which task would you never hand off in this job, and why?
Grades 6-8: one paragraph. Grades 9-12: a short argued response that answers the strongest reason someone might give for handing it off.