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LAUSD Foundation : Stanford Accelerator for Learning

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 3:00 PM PT Format: Zoom Invited by: Isabelle Hau — “Can you join? LAUSD might want to do something with Flash Lab.” Prepared: March 13, 2026

Attendees

Stanford

Person Role Notes
Isabelle Hau SAL Executive Director Organized the meeting. Sponsor of ISTE partnership. Handles dean-level relationships.
Josh Weiss Director, Accelerator Studio Returning from Michigan trip (Mar 16-18). May need quick alignment at 10am 1:1 same day.
Reuben Thiessen Emerging Technology Lead Flash Lab builder + facilitator. ISTE TTT designer.

External

Person Role Key Context
Dr. Sadie Jefferson Executive Director, LAUSD Education Foundation PhD. Former UChicago Education Lab (research-practice partnerships), CPS Deputy Chief of Staff, Children First Fund (CPS foundation). Hired summer 2024 to relaunch the Foundation. Raising $100M in 5 years, has $26M so far. Deep understanding of research-to-practice pipeline.
Larry Corio Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships, ASU Learning Transformation Studios (LTS) Former IDEO/Teachers Guild (redesigning PD), former LA high school English teacher. LTS operates from ASU’s LA center. LTS has active LAUSD partnership — convened 20+ LAUSD senior leaders in Mar 2025. Co-lead for Code.org CS fundamentals PD (train-the-trainer model). Board member of Project Tomorrow (AI needs assessment of 1,100+ LA County educators). He’s the connector/broker.
Dominic Caguioa Director of Educational Technology and Innovation, LAUSD Leads Instructional Technology Initiative (ITI) + iDREAM Mobile Lab. ISTE award winner (2021 Tech Coordinators Network Award). Regular ISTE presenter. Code.org facilitator trainer. ACSA Technology Administrator of the Year 2024. Serves 25,000+ LAUSD educators. He’s the district’s ed-tech/AI decision-maker.

The Elephant in the Room: LAUSD’s “Ed” AI Disaster

This context is essential. LAUSD was burned badly by a top-down AI initiative:

  • Mar 2024: Superintendent Carvalho launched “Ed” — billed as the nation’s first K-12 AI personal assistant. Built by AllHere for $6.2M.
  • Jun 2024: Ed shut down. AllHere collapsed. Founder charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft.
  • Feb 2025: FBI raided Carvalho’s home and LAUSD HQ.
  • Feb 2026: School board placed Carvalho on paid administrative leave. Andres Chait named acting superintendent.
  • Mar 2026: Investigation ongoing. Carvalho denies wrongdoing.

What this means for us: LAUSD needs the exact opposite of what Ed represented:

  • Teacher empowerment, not vendor dependency
  • University-backed credibility, not startup hype
  • Capacity building, not product deployment
  • Small pilot, not district-wide rollout
  • Transparency, not black-box AI

Flash Lab is positioned perfectly against this backdrop. Don’t reference Ed explicitly unless they bring it up — but design the entire pitch around the contrast.

LAUSD’s Existing AI/PD Infrastructure

LAUSD isn’t starting from zero. Dominic’s ITI team already runs:

  • 3-part AI course: 6 hours synchronous + 6 hours asynchronous (fundamentals, ethics/equity, classroom integration, emerging tech)
  • IBM AI Education Accelerator: Partnership for CS and AI upskilling
  • AI-Powered Literacy course: AI tools for reading instruction
  • AI Classroom Resources toolkit: For school leaders and teachers
  • Official AI policy: Published guidelines for authorized AI use
  • iDREAM Mobile Lab: Immersive learning (game-based, robotics, cybersecurity, AR/VR, AI) for under-resourced schools

Flash Lab angle: Complement, don’t compete. Flash Lab fills a different niche — 3 hours, hands-on exploration, problem-first design thinking. It could serve as:

  • An on-ramp to ITI’s deeper courses
  • A format for the iDREAM Mobile Lab to deploy
  • A Foundation-funded offering for priority schools

LAUSD Education Foundation — Four Pillars

  1. Arts & Music Education for All — expanding access
  2. Literacy — modernizing libraries, early literacy
  3. Innovation — “bringing cutting-edge learning models, AI integration, and career pathways to life in LA classrooms”
  4. Emergency Relief — disaster support (Jan 2025 LA fires)

Flash Lab fits squarely in Pillar 3 (Innovation). The Foundation’s Innovation Fund is explicitly about AI integration in classrooms.

Priority Schools Initiative

Foundation’s flagship: 121 campuses with lowest performance + highest needs. Investments include:

  • Principal development
  • Teacher coaching and professional learning
  • High-quality curriculum implementation
  • High-dosage tutoring
  • Counselor/administrator support

If Flash Lab enters LAUSD, these 121 schools are the likely starting point — Foundation-funded, high-impact, high-visibility.

ASU Learning Transformation Studios (LTS) — The Broker

Larry Corio’s LTS is likely the bridge between Stanford SAL and LAUSD:

  • Mission: Accelerate education transformation by connecting people, ideas, solutions
  • Base: ASU California Center in downtown LA — deeply embedded in LA education
  • LAUSD relationship: Active partnership. Convened 20+ LAUSD senior leaders for Innovation Expo co-design (Mar 2025)
  • AI expertise: Partnered with LACOE + Project Tomorrow to survey 1,100+ teachers/admins on AI PD needs. Teachers said they need: PD, best practices, data protection guidance.
  • Regional network: LACOE, UCLA, USC, Cal State universities, LACCD

Possible role for LTS: Co-delivery partner, convening host, or intermediary that connects Stanford content with LA distribution. Larry’s IDEO/Teachers Guild background means he understands PD design at a sophisticated level.

Stanford-LAUSD Precedent

Stanford History Education Group had an 18-month LAUSD contract — ~400 social studies teachers attended Stanford-led workshops with classroom observation + lesson plan co-creation. Described as “the closest and biggest collaboration” for that Stanford group.

This proves: Stanford-LAUSD PD partnerships work at scale. The Foundation and district have a track record of saying yes to university partnerships.

Strategic Positioning

What to Lead With

“We build teachers’ capacity to make AI decisions — we don’t sell AI tools.”

Frame Flash Lab as:

  1. Problem-first, not tool-first — teachers choose the problem, then evaluate whether AI helps
  2. “Achieve Failure” is a feature — discovering what AI can’t do is a valid outcome (critical in post-Ed LAUSD)
  3. University-backed, open-source — workshop materials at designkit.stanford.edu, no vendor lock-in
  4. Train-the-trainer ready — ISTE partnership proves the model works; Dominic already does TTT with Code.org
  5. 3 hours, not 12 — different format than ITI’s existing courses. Complementary, not competing.

Three Personas Framework

After Flash Lab, educators land in one of three personas:

Persona Driving Question LAUSD Pathway
Instructional Practices “How do I use AI without shortcutting the learning?” ITI’s deeper courses, ISTE PD
Contextual Curiosity “How could AI specifically help (or hurt) my students?” iDREAM Mobile Lab, school-specific follow-up
Identity “How do I rediscover my value in the age of AI?” Foundation-funded community building

Flash Lab as diagnostic: an org that runs Flash Lab gets a map of what their teachers need next. This is exactly what a foundation investing in 121 priority schools wants — targeted, informed next steps.

What NOT to Propose

  • Don’t propose district-wide rollout (political climate too sensitive)
  • Don’t pitch AI tools or products (post-Ed sensitivity)
  • Don’t compete with ITI’s existing courses — position as complementary
  • Don’t name-drop ISTE partnership without context (Dominic is deeply connected to ISTE — he’d know if it were real but not yet public)

Connections to Our Work

Connection Point Detail
ISTE overlap Dominic is an ISTE award winner and regular presenter. If/when the ISTE TTT partnership launches, LAUSD could be a natural deployment site.
Train-the-trainer Both Larry (Code.org) and Dominic (Code.org) use TTT models. They’ll understand and appreciate the ISTE-style facilitator pipeline.
Research-practice Sadie ran UChicago Education Lab — she gets university-district partnerships. Frame Flash Lab as a research-informed, evidence-building collaboration.
Scale proof LAUSD = 540K students, 25K educators. Even a pilot of 50-100 teachers at priority schools = major scaling evidence for Goal 3.
Foundation funding Innovation Fund could underwrite Flash Lab workshops — removes cost barrier for schools.
Goal alignment Goal 2 (strategic influence) + Goal 3 (scaling capacity). A LAUSD partnership is a [SCALE-MOMENT] and [BRIDGE-BUILD].

Possible Outcomes from This Meeting

Best case: Foundation agrees to fund a Flash Lab pilot at 5-10 priority schools, with LTS as convening partner and ITI as district liaison. Reuben trains a cohort of LAUSD facilitators.

Good case: Interest confirmed. Next step is a deeper scoping conversation with Dominic’s ITI team about how Flash Lab fits into their PD landscape. Possibly a demo/preview session.

Minimum viable: Introductions made. Isabelle and Sadie establish a relationship. Flash Lab is on LAUSD’s radar for future Innovation Fund investments.

Questions to Ask

  1. What does LAUSD’s AI PD landscape look like right now? (Let Dominic tell his story — validates his work and gives us intel)
  2. What’s the Foundation’s vision for the Innovation pillar? (Let Sadie share — reveals funding priorities)
  3. How does LTS see its role in supporting LAUSD’s AI initiatives? (Understand Larry’s positioning)
  4. What would a pilot look like? (Only if energy is right — don’t push too fast)
  5. What format of PD resonates most with LAUSD teachers? (Shapes how we’d adapt Flash Lab)

Questions They Might Ask Us

Question Answer
“What is Flash Lab?” 3-hour hands-on workshop. Problem-first design thinking with AI tools. Teachers explore, build, and advocate — including discovering what AI can’t do. Not a product demo.
“How much does it cost?” We’ve validated $5K-$7.5K/day for district PD. But Foundation funding could underwrite it for priority schools.
“Can your teachers run it?” That’s the plan. We’re building a train-the-trainer pipeline (ISTE is the first partner). Dominic’s Code.org TTT experience maps directly.
“What’s the evidence?” Working on it — SMART goal is two publishable case studies by end of Q2. ISTE’s Community of Practice will provide research data.
“How is this different from what we already do?” Complementary. ITI’s courses are comprehensive (12 hours). Flash Lab is a 3-hour exploration — an on-ramp, a diagnostic, or a standalone experience for educators who need a low-stakes entry point.

Pre-Meeting: Monday Mar 16 at 3 PM PT (TODAY)

Josh forwarded this to Reuben — “I may be stuck in transit. Can you attend this meeting?”

UPDATE (from meeting): Josh clarified this is NOT about LAUSD. This is a separate intro meeting with the Institute for Advancing Just Societies (Tomás Jiménez’s center). See meeting notes in meetings/running-notes.md. Different attendees:

Person Role Notes
Tomás Jiménez Professor of Sociology; Co-Director, Institute for Advancing Just Societies Immigration, race/ethnicity, social mobility. Equity lens connects to LAUSD’s priority schools.
Jasmine Dehghan Deputy Director of Programs, Institute for Advancing Just Societies MPA (Princeton), USAID/Mercy Corps background. Handles program design + operations.
Isabelle Hau SAL Executive Director Driving the SAL-LAUSD relationship
Claire Fisher Moffett Director of Strategic Planning & Ops, SAL Former TFA, HS math teacher (New Orleans), founded school-to-work nonprofit. MBA Stanford GSB. Also Sr. Dir. of AI Strategies at Foundation for CA Community Colleges. Bridge between SAL and the Institute.
Chau Lam-Glover Events Coordinator, Institute for Advancing Just Societies Logistics/Zoom setup. 25+ years event planning.

Read: This is the Institute for Advancing Just Societies partnering with SAL for a capacity-building workshop at an LAUSD event. The equity/justice lens (Jiménez’s institute) combined with SAL’s AI education capacity (Flash Lab). Claire Fisher Moffett connects both groups — she’s SAL staff.

Zoom: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/97016246452?pwd=2FLglBMYdo0Je1q4ahEadbYnrpFyGo.1 (pw: 102710)

Reuben’s posture: Listen and learn. This is the first time attending this thread — Josh has context Reuben doesn’t. Take notes, understand what “capacity-building workshop at an upcoming LAUSD event” means, and how it connects to Thursday’s meeting.

Day-of Logistics (Thursday Mar 19)

  • Same-day meetings before this: Josh 1:1 (10am), SofIA (12:30pm), CRAFT (2pm)
  • Quick alignment with Josh at 10am 1:1 — share this doc, agree on posture (listen mode vs. pitch mode)
  • Isabelle is driving — follow her lead on framing and asks
  • Take notes — this meeting could generate action items, people profiles, and project updates
  • Monday’s pre-meeting may have clarified scope — review notes from Mar 16 call before this meeting

After the Meeting

  • Create people profiles: people/sadie-jefferson.md, people/larry-corio.md, people/dominic-caguioa.md
  • Update projects/ with LAUSD project file if partnership advances
  • Add to Airtable if substantive outcome
  • Capture any [QUOTED IMPACT] or [SCALE-MOMENT] signals
  • Debrief with Josh (could happen at Mar 26 1:1 or async)

Prepared: March 13, 2026 Sources: Web research on all three external attendees + LAUSD AI landscape, ISTE project file, capacity building model, special sauce analysis

Source: prep/2026-03-19-lausd-foundation.md