CodePath and Anthropic Launch Research Network to Track AI's Real Effects on Students
CodePath and Anthropic announced a Knowledge Network designed to share real-time research findings on how AI tools affect student outcomes. The initiative, built around a 15-month observational study across thousands of students, will give decision-makers in education, workforce development, and philanthropy access to findings before they become public.
The partnership was pressure-tested last week at ASU GSV with approximately 50 education leaders. CodePath is now recruiting founding members for a spring and summer launch.
Why the urgency
Michael Ellison, founder and CEO of CodePath, said the core idea is straightforward: "Reliable findings shared with decision-makers in real time, while decisions are still being made."
At the ASU GSV session, leaders described the pressure they face. They want evidence before making large bets on AI in their institutions. They want to know what they would redesign if better data existed. The message from the room was clear: urgency is real, and decision-makers will act on better information if it exists.
What the research will examine
The 15-month study centers on two core questions. The first asks whether AI tools produce different effects across student subpopulations-who benefits, who over-relies on AI, and what design features change those outcomes. The second asks how the type of AI scaffolding predicts performance on unassisted assessments, and whether that relationship varies by prior experience or background.
The focus on equity is deliberate. CodePath works with first-generation and low-income students across more than 1,000 colleges in the United States. The research questions are designed to surface whether AI widens or narrows achievement gaps rather than treating the technology as having uniform effects on all students.
How findings will move
Madison McCormick, Strategic Initiatives Lead at CodePath, described the approach as "open source for evidence, built to move as fast as the technology does." Organizations involved in the Knowledge Network will receive findings before public release and feed what they are seeing back into the next research cycle.
CodePath has more than 40,000 students and alumni now working at over 4,050 companies. Anthropic, the AI safety company behind Claude, is partnering to run research inside real classrooms at scale.
The Knowledge Network is recruiting founding members from higher education system leaders, funders, workforce and talent development organizations, and researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of AI for Education and economic mobility.
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