One Size Doesn’t Teach All

By Cerena Solefack, Winner of the 2025 YuJa Scholarship Essay Contest

Throughout my years of tutoring and mentoring, from high school to college, I have seen the same pattern happen over and over again. Students tend to fall behind not because they are incapable or lack motivation, but because their individual learning needs are not addressed in traditional classrooms. This is especially common in underfunded public schools, like those in Prince George’s County, where I currently mentor. These schools tend to have 30+ students per class, and frankly, don’t have the budget to provide one-on-one academic support. Many families can’t afford to hire private tutors to help as well. I speak to this reality from experience because I lived it firsthand growing up in a similar public school system in Baltimore. I know what it feels like to be in a classroom where teachers are trying their best but simply don’t have enough resources to address every student’s needs. When those needs go unmet, many students are left to struggle in silence.

One tutoring experience stands out in my memory. I was helping an eighth-grade student prepare for high school when I realized she had never fully understood how to add and subtract negative numbers. This skill is usually taught in sixth grade. When I asked why she never learned it, she said, “When my teacher explained it, I didn’t understand, and then we just moved on.” For two years, she relied on calculators to hide her confusion. This prevented her from excelling in other math classes like algebra, which build on such fundamental skills. What struck me the most was how easily that gap in knowledge could have been filled. I used a simple number line and real-world examples to explain how negative numbers work. We talked about temperatures dropping below zero and owing money. In just ten minutes, she completely understood the concept. Ten minutes. That’s all it would have taken two years earlier to prevent years of confusion. How many other students are in classrooms right now, silently lost, nodding along while classes move forward without them?

The statistics confirm what my tutoring experience has shown me. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, reading scores in the United States have reached historic lows, with 33% of eighth graders and 40% of fourth graders scoring below the basic reading level in 2024. These statistics represent millions of students who were passed through the education system without truly developing the skills they needed.

That’s why I envision a future where artificial intelligence plays a central role in personalizing education. It is a system where AI generates homework and assessments tailored to each student’s current skill level and learning pace. It would be like having a personal tutor who never moves on until they’re ready and keeps trying different methods until a concept clicks. Teachers would remain at the center of the classroom experience, guiding lessons and supporting students emotionally and academically. Meanwhile, AI would operate behind the scenes, continuously tracking each student’s progress and flagging learning gaps for teachers. Instead of discovering gaps after a failed test, teachers would know the very next day which students need reinforcement and where.

The success of platforms like i-Ready shows that this level of personalization is not only possible but effective. The i-Ready Diagnostic is designed to adjust the difficulty of questions as a student answers them. If such technology can be used to customize standardized testing in real time, it can certainly be adapted for daily instruction and practice. AI could be used to tailor homework to each student’s current skill level. Instead of assigning the same worksheet to the entire class, it would create practice problems that match each student’s individual progress. A student who quickly understands basic concepts would receive more advanced problems to stay challenged. Meanwhile, a student who needs more time would get additional support with foundational skills. This system would operate automatically to generate multiple versions of assignments without needing teacher intervention.

With this strategy, teachers can sustain meaningful relationships with their students while using technology to deliver the kind of personalized guidance that proves challenging in large classrooms. Teachers can focus on what they do best: inspiring curiosity and leading engaging discussions. The repetitive tasks of adjusting assignments would be handled by AI. This technology has the promise of being a game-changer in education, transforming classrooms into places where every student feels heard and supported.

Bibliography

National Center for Education Statistics. The Nation’s Report Card: 2024 Reading Assessment. U.S. Department of Education, 2024, https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/

Curriculum Associates. i-Ready Diagnostic Assessments for Mathematics and Reading. 2025, https://www.curriculumassociates.com/programs/i-ready-assessment/diagnostic