ChatGPT (Department of Education)

Dear Jason Koebler,
Thank you for your interest in public records of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Your request has been received and is being processed.  Your request was received in this office on February 22, 2023 and given the reference number P003308-022223 for tracking purposes. To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

Public reports show that ChatGPT is a major topic of conversation at American public schools: https://nbc-2.com/news/local/2023/02/15/students-at-cape-coral-high-school-accused-of-using-artificial-intelligence-to-cheat-on-essay/amp/

Therefore, I hereby request the following records:

1) All instructional materials, presentations and presentation materials related to ChatGPT. This includes A) any notes taken during meetings that discussed ChatGPT and B) Any other documents related to ChatGPT including internal documentation, public relations materials, and executive summaries.

2) Any memos or communications sent to schools, administrators, teachers, parents, or students that mention "ChatGPT."

3) Any case studies, enforcement actions, contracts, or other documents mentioning ChatGPT

4) Any academic dishonesty policies that mention ChatGPT

5) To the extent possible, any emails and associated attachments that mention ChatGPT

To help limit the extent of the responsive documents, please limit search from Jan 1, 2023 through the time this request is processed. Please deliver these documents on a rolling basis as responsive documents are found. You can treat #5 (emails) as a separate request because I suspect there will be many more responsive documents there.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. It will be used in the course of reporting for Motherboard, VICE's science and tech site (www.motherboard.vice.com).

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Jason Koebler

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Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Hi Jason, Here’s what I found when I asked what we might have in response to your request. Are you interested in any of this?

* Members of the STEM team from our Center for Instructional Support ttended or received by email links to a webinar and slides from the Western Mass Chapter of the Computer Science Teachers’ Association on what ChatGPT is, facilitated by Berly Hoffman, Ph.D., a CS professor at Elms College; and resources from Torrey Trust, Ph.D. a UMass Amherst professor.
* Members of that team were also s ent an email reminder for the 1/18/2023 Digital Literacy and Computer Science Leaders Network Meeting. This email included the agenda with the Birds of a Feather breakout session for 'AI and ChatGPT Impact on Education' listed. We have one page of framing materials for that breakout session, but no one from DESE attended that specific breakout session.
* As part of the Computer Science State Supervisors' work to discuss/strategize on CS implementation and CS standards revision, at least one staff member received an email (2/9/2023) that mentions ChatGPT as an example of AI technology.
* We have received many emails that include the topic from EdWeek, Code.org, CSTA, TCEA, Marshall Memo, EdBiz, Hyperscience, and other newsletters and news digests. Other emails that might be responsive to your request:

* An email from me to the Commissioner about ChatGPT
* A press inquiry related to ChatGPT and emails related to it
* One email to or from our humanities/literacy director Emails between staff in our educational technology office Let me know what you think. Best wishes, Jackie Reis Media Relations Coordinator

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Hi Jason,
Not having heard back from you on this, I'm closing the request.
Jackie Reis
Communications Director