Jordan is a sixteen-year-old student. He is witty and friendly, and he makes his classmates (and his teacher, despite herself) laugh constantly. His teacher and family will often find him watching endless wildlife YouTube videos and nature shows on Animal Planet. When the class goes to the media center, Jordan always chooses books about reptiles (the grosser the better). When his science class begins a unit on ecosystems, Jordan is excited—this topic is a perfect match for him!
The teacher passes out the assigned reading, a two-page article titled “Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems.” The first sentence reads, “Organisms in an ecosystem rely on biotic and abiotic factors to maintain homeostasis.”
For many of the students in the class, this language is challenging, but manageable. For Jordan, the meaning is out of reach. He knows a great deal about reptiles and their roles in ecosystems, but this sentence is meaningless to him.
Every student needs to have opportunities to engage with content that is right in their sweet spot learning zone – just a bit above what they can do independently, but not so overwhelming that they become lost quickly. Jordan knows the word “animals” but hasn’t learned “organisms” yet. He recognizes and can point to “plants.” Jordan has previous knowledge about living and nonliving things, but “biotic” and “abiotic” don’t make sense to him. The text is dense, abstract, and full of terms that assume a prior foundation in a very specific academic language that Jordan hasn’t built—YET.
A paraprofessional sits beside him, breaking down the words one by one. By the time they’ve unpacked the first sentence, the class has already moved on to the next section, and Jordan is wiped out. His attention drifts. The moment to connect meaningfully with the concept, and with others in his class, has passed.
What if, instead, this lesson looked like this? Jordan’s teacher used the Minimizing Text Complexity Artificial Intelligence (MTC‑AI) tool being piloted at the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies to clarify the text. The clarified text reads:
All living things need each other to live and grow.
All living things also need non-living things.
All living things need water.
All living things need air.
All living things need sunlight.
Jordan begins to read. The sentences are shorter, and the words are familiar. He pauses between lines, sounding out a few longer words, but the ideas make sense. When he finishes, he gets the attention of the paraprofessional. She comes over and Jordan uses his device to say “BOOK IN” and looks around to the backpack hanging on the back of his chair. The paraprofessional looks in his bag and pulls out a book about pond life. Jordan excitedly vocalizes and points to a photograph on the page of a female frog laying eggs in a pond. The paraprofessional says, “Yes, just like how frogs need water! You’ve got it, kid.” The teacher catches their excitement and comes over. The paraprofessional quickly summarizes and the teacher extends the conversation to include the other students —talking about frogs, ponds, and sunlight. Jordan grins—he’s hooked, and he has reason to feel confident and motivated to learn more.
From Access to Engagement and Belonging
When students like Jordan are given materials they can understand through reading or listening, they begin to see themselves as learners and as participants in the classroom community. This requires educators to strike a balance between the specific texts that are part of the general education curriculum and each student’s language and literacy skills. With the right balance all students can find a foothold—a way to grasp new ideas and build flexible connections to what they already know.
By combining research on text complexity with the power of AI, MTC‑AI aims to make this kind of access to the general education curriculum possible for all learners. The goal is to make adapting instructional materials for diverse learners more manageable for teachers, and to help ensure that all students can experience that moment of connection when new ideas fit well with familiar ones–and it all makes sense. With MTC-AI as a supportive tool, teachers can focus on what matters most: helping students build understanding, communicate ideas, and find joy and motivation in learning.