Leading With Process Before Product at Mt. Lebanon
Written By: Anju Shivaram, AI Project Manager, Middle States Association | Published September 29th, 2025
Since August 2024, when the first cohort of schools completed the RAIL endorsement in AI Literacy, Safety, and Ethics, much has changed. To celebrate one year of Responsible AI in Learning, we’re spotlighting these early adopters to share how their efforts have grown and what they’ve learned along the way.
Last month, we featured ACS Athens. This month, we turn to Mt. Lebanon High School, a public school ranked #1 in the Pittsburgh metro area and #7 in Pennsylvania by U.S. News and World Report.
At Mt. Lebanon, RAIL sparked something powerful: a rethinking of what authentic learning looks like in a world with generative AI.
“RAIL slowed us down so we could speed up the right way.” - Joel Thompson, Principal
Toward Alignment and Purpose
Even before starting the RAIL endorsement in AI Literacy, Safety and Ethics, Mt. Lebanon had started conversations about AI’s role in teaching and learning. But those early efforts were scattered and tool-driven. “It was disjointed, disconnected,” Thompson recalled.
Through the endorsement in AI Literacy, Safety and Ethics, school leaders:
Acquired a framework to align their values with instructional practice.
Paused and resisted the urge to adopt a tool before knowing how it might align with mission, values, and day-to-day goals.
Focused on what they cared most about: student ownership of their thinking, authentic learning experiences, and ethical use.
Once Mt. Lebanon’s team had taken these three steps, they were ready to harness AI to what they valued.
The Framework That Changed the Conversation
The Pace Layer Model served as a turning point. Instead of reacting to the AI hype, Mt. Lebanon used the Pace Layer model to ground their decisions about AI in the school’s culture, identity, and values. This shifted the conversation from “AI tools” to “powerful learning supported by AI.”
“People expected us to talk about AI. But what we really talked about was teaching, learning, and culture.” —Joel Thompson, Principal
Instructional Shift: Process Over Product
The English department became the testing ground. English teachers redesigned grading so that final products now count for only 20% of the grade, down from 40%. Why? The department recognized that they needed to align their assessment practice with the writing process they wanted students to learn – drafting, revisions, teacher conferences, and live feedback.
“Product is cheap now. What we value is the process, the growth, the conversation.” —Joel Thompson, Principal
Critically, this evolution in assessment reduced students’ fear of cheating, clarified expectations for students, and reinforced student ownership of their thinking and, therefore, authentic learning.
Key Shifts They Saw
Through the RAIL AI Literacy, Safety and Ethics endorsement, Mt. Lebanon created:
Updated grading for an AI age — Teachers cut the final product’s weight from 40% to 20% and shifted the remainder of evaluation to drafts, revisions and live feedback. Students are now incentivized to invest effort in their process and thinking, not just a polished essay.
Faculty trust and momentum — Teachers now feel informed and less overwhelmed – a shared framework has made decisions clear and consistent.
Value-driven leadership — Leaders anchor decisions in values – choices have remained rooted in teaching and learning, not tools.
Building Clarify for Students and Families
Mt. Lebanon also introduced a traffic light system to guide student AI use:
Red — AI not allowed because the goal is to develop essential skills.
Yellow — AI allowed in parts of the process, with limits.
Green — AI fully permitted, with reflection on how students used it.
At the same time, the school communicated changes with families, especially around grading. As Thompson explained, “When school doesn’t look like school, we need to explain why the shift matters for student growth.”
Policy Alignment at the District Level
Mt. Lebanon also worked with the Pennsylvania School Board Association’s model policy, adapting it to reflect their own values and priorities. With guidance from the RAIL team, they contributed to a district-wide policy that includes clearer language on ethics, safety, and tool vetting.
Without system-level structures, positive changes rarely happen in classrooms. But with support at the district level, Mt. Lebanon’s teachers had the confidence to use AI in support of powerful learning experiences.
What’s Next
With RAIL AI Literacy, Safety and Ethics as their foundation, Mt. Lebanon is now focused on:
Expanding the “process before product” redesign into other departments
Strengthening formative assessment strategies
Scaling action research projects into small, powerful tests of change
Piloting new AI Tools for teacher and students
“Everyone now feels like we have a response. There’s a calm here, a sense that by working together we can handle this.” —Joel Thompson, Principal
This month, we’ll be sharing video clips from our conversation with Principal Joel Thompson — including how his team shifted grading to emphasize process over product, introduced a traffic light system for student AI use, and built trust through values-driven policy.
Turn state guidance into practical classroom moves. Join the next RAIL cohort