Power Up Your Potential: AI Fluency. Real Work. Future Ready.

Research Findings on Instructional Frameworks with an Emphasis on AI Fluency and Workforce Success

Marcy Raymond, PAST Foundation

Introduction:  Rethinking Readiness for the AI Economy

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the global economy and redefining workforce demands across every industry. The accelerating pace of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption across all sectors demands a reimagining of how we prepare learners for future careers. According to the World Economic Forum (2023), over 80% of employers cite critical thinking, problem-solving, and AI literacy as essential skills by 2025. Yet access to high-quality AI education remains inequitable, particularly for students from underrepresented backgrounds (World Economic Forum, 2023).

The AI-Common Instructional Framework (CIF) addresses this disparity by creating inclusive, inquiry-driven, and AI-augmented experiences outside the traditional classroom. Despite the growing demand for AI-ready skills, only 12% of organizations currently prioritize AI learning within professional development systems, underscoring the vital role of K–12 education in preparing the future workforce (Deloitte, 2023).

While many students are AI users, few are equipped to be AI co-thinkers—and to do so ethically, strategically, and creatively. Power Up Your Potential: AI Fluency. Real Work. Future Ready. is one of Central Ohio’s first informal learning programs to fuse generative AI integration, career readiness, and project-based design in a scalable, equitable ecosystem rooted in the Common Instructional Framework (CIF).

This white paper outlines how the AI-enhanced CIF (AI-CIF) integrates six high-leverage teaching strategies with research-based practices to build both AI fluency and long-term career sustainability for first-generation college goers and historically marginalized learners.

Framework Overview: The Six Domains of AI-CIF

1. Collaborative Group Work - AI-CIF enhances traditional group learning by introducing collaborative AI tools (e.g., Google Workspace + AI, Notion AI) that simulate workplace collaboration. Students use co-writing tools, co-design platforms, and AI-assisted project planning to practice teamwork across digital modalities.

   1. Best Practice Insight: AI-fluent students using collaborative tools are more likely to report increased productivity, better project outcomes, and enhanced teamwork skills (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2019).

   2. Afterschool/Summer Workforce Development Application: Student teams co-create presentations using AI for real-time brainstorming, while being coached on ethical decision-making and information verification.

2. Literacy Groups - Literacy groups within AI-CIF go beyond reading comprehension—they decode technical texts, AI-generated summaries, and bias detection in digital content (OECD, 2021).

   1. Research Link: Literacy in AI contexts includes the ability to evaluate sources, understand algorithmic bias, and interpret data, critical for civic engagement and career readiness.

   2. Afterschool/Summer Workforce Development Application: Students evaluate outputs from different AI tools, compare factual integrity, and use prompts to refine tone, structure, and clarity in communication.

3. Scaffolded Writing - Students use AI to support the entire writing process—from brainstorming to revision—while explicitly documenting how AI assisted their thinking (CAST, 2018).

   1. Key Insight: Metacognitive writing with AI boosts student self-awareness and autonomy. Harvard Business research shows that AI-augmented workers improve productivity and strategic output by 40%, particularly when tools are used to scaffold thinking and support iterative reflection (Harvard Business Publishing, 2025).

   2. Afterschool/Summer Workforce Development Application: Students create design challenge proposals using a scaffolded writing protocol with reflective AI journals.

4. Questioning - AI-CIF promotes curiosity by positioning students to ask better questions of both AI systems and human experts. Educators model prompt engineering and question refinement (ISTE, 2023).

   1. Workforce Relevance: According to Deloitte (2023), AI-fluent professionals who can effectively formulate, test, and refine queries are positioned to perform higher-value tasks, as they are better able to extract relevant, high-quality outputs from generative AI tools. The report emphasizes that developing strong prompting skills allows workers to “move from rote tasks to roles requiring judgment, creativity, and collaboration,” and organizations increasingly value this form of AI literacy across functions and industries (Deloitte, 2023).

   2. Afterschool/Summer Workforce Development Application: Each unit includes a “Question Lab” where students draft, test, and iterate prompts using AI chatbots and compare responses for accuracy and creativity.

      

5. Accountable Talk - AI-CIF integrates Accountable Talk by encouraging structured student discourse that includes metacognitive reflection on how AI contributes to knowledge construction. Students are guided to present and contrast both human- and AI-generated responses to refine their understanding, support reasoning with evidence, and develop awareness of digital ethics (Resnick et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2023). This deliberate use of AI as a thinking partner aligns with research showing that collaborative argumentation—especially when scaffolded by intelligent systems—promotes critical thinking and ethical reasoning in complex tasks (Lu et al., 2023).

   1. Equity Innovation - The strategy embedded in AI-CIF supports multilingual learners and students with communication barriers by allowing them to “rehearse” ideas with AI-generated feedback before engaging in peer dialogue. AI-generated scaffolds, including sentence starters, vocabulary support, and real-time translations, empower students to participate more confidently and equitably (Holmes et al., 2022). For example, in team-based ethical debates around AI’s role in healthcare, logistics, or social media, students rotate roles and use AI to construct arguments and counterarguments, building both technical fluency and social-emotional skills (Dede et al., 2021; Qadir et al., 2023). This practice supports inclusive learning environments and fosters deeper engagement in ethical, culturally relevant discussions.

   2. Afterschool/Summer Workforce Development Application: Students participate in structured team discussions that mirror workplace stand-ups or stakeholder meetings. Using AI to help prepare arguments, analyze ethical tradeoffs, and present data-backed solutions, students build communication, reasoning, and consensus-building skills critical for collaborative workforce environments (World Economic Forum, 2023; Holmes et al., 2022; Dede et al., 2021).

6. Writing to Learn - In the AI-CIF framework, writing is repositioned as a space for deep thinking with AI rather than a means of outsourcing thought to it. Students engage in reflective journaling, innovation logs, and personal mission statements, using AI-generated feedback as a metacognitive scaffold to clarify ideas and enhance their voice. This process fosters both accountability and responsible use of AI tools. Research suggests that writing in collaboration with AI can increase self-awareness, support iterative thought, and promote ethical engagement when students are explicitly taught to question and critique AI contributions rather than accept them without thought (Zhang et al., 2023; Qadir et al., 2023).

   1. Strategic Learning: Emerging evidence confirms that hands-on experimentation paired with iterative writing strengthens AI fluency, particularly when learners are encouraged to track their tool use and reflect on cognitive impact (Lu et al., 2023). AI-CIF leverages this by having students complete “AI Use Logs,” a reflective metacognitive tool where they document which AI tools they used, why they used them, and how these tools shaped their thinking. Through this structured reflection, students develop critical awareness of their human-AI collaboration practices and cultivate the agency needed to apply these tools meaningfully and ethically.

Why AI Fluency Matters for Workforce Success

Productivity & Performance Gains:  AI-literate employees consistently report enhanced task efficiency and output quality. According to Arruda (2024), approximately 80% of employees who regularly use AI tools experience improved productivity, particularly for writing assistance, workflow automation, and data analysis.  A recent report by Vena Solutions (2025) corroborates this finding, noting that staff using AI tools report an 80% increase in productivity due to the technology. This growth enables employees to complete tasks faster and focus more strategically on higher-value work.

Career Sustainability

AI knowledge is emerging as a key determinant of long-term employability and compensation across sectors. Workers who are AI-fluent are more adaptable to technological change, can navigate evolving job functions, and are positioned for roles that demand higher-order cognitive and collaborative skills (World Economic Forum, 2023; AI Accelerator Institute, 2024). Research shows that AI proficiency enhances person-job fit by reducing cognitive friction between human and machine capabilities—particularly when AI is demystified through hands-on practice and strategic reflection (Harvard Business Publishing, 2025a; Deloitte, 2023).

Organizations that actively support AI fluency see increased employee retention and future-ready skill alignment, underscoring the long-term value of embedding AI learning into workforce development systems (Arruda, 2024; Association for Talent Development, 2024).

Organizational Innovation

Organizations that intentionally build AI fluency across departments are more likely to foster innovation, improve internal mobility, and future-proof their workforce. When AI literacy is embedded into workplace culture—particularly within environments that value experimentation and calculated risk-taking—employees demonstrate increased capacity to innovate and adapt to rapidly evolving roles (AI Accelerator Institute, 2024; Deloitte, 2023). Companies that support AI skill development across functions report greater cross-team collaboration, emergent leadership, and higher engagement in creative problem-solving, all of which contribute to sustained organizational agility and resilience (Harvard Business Publishing, 2025a; World Economic Forum, 2023).

Equity Innovation Through Informal Learning

Power Up Your Potential integrates the AI-Enhanced Common Instructional Framework (AI-CIF) into after-school and summer learning environments, intentionally designed to reach students often excluded from traditional enrichment opportunities due to transportation barriers, caretaking responsibilities, or limited access to emerging technologies. Grounded in principles of equity and Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018), the program creates inclusive pathways supported by community partnerships with organizations like FACCES, Deloitte, SenselCs, and StartSOLE.

Through paid internships and industry-recognized credentialing aligned with Ohio’s priority workforce sectors, students gain real-world experience while earning credit and income—a critical factor in expanding opportunity for historically marginalized populations (World Economic Forum, 2023; Jobs for the Future, 2023). Digital portfolios powered by PortfoliOH allow learners to document their growth and communicate skills to future employers or postsecondary institutions, aligning with 21st-century competency frameworks (P21, 2019).

Mentorship from professionals in microelectronics, healthcare, and logistics connects students with high-demand career pathways, while trauma-informed coaching helps students build resilience and identity, key components of long-term success in both education and employment (Dede et al., 2021; Holmes et al., 2022). By engaging in hands-on AI experimentation, students don’t just learn to use AI—they become co-designers of their futures, using generative tools as a compass for ethical leadership, creative problem-solving, and civic agency (Harvard Business Publishing, 2025a; AI Accelerator Institute, 2024).

Conclusion

AI fluency isn’t a luxury—it’s a lifeline. In a world where algorithms increasingly shape opportunity, every young person deserves the chance to not just navigate the future of work but shape it. Power Up Your Potential fuses the Common Instructional Framework with real-world AI tools, cutting-edge research, and human-centered learning to ensure students don’t just consume technology—they think critically, collaborate ethically, and lead with purpose.

This is more than a program. It’s a movement. With continued investment, Power Up Your Potential can become a blueprint for schools, communities, and industries committed to equity and innovation. Now is the time to act—because when we equip all learners with the tools to thrive in an AI-powered world, we don’t just build better futures. We build a more just one.

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