Mike Paul

researcher-practitioner in learning & AI

Eleven years embedded in public K–12 schools as a math teacher, digital learning coach, and instructional coach. Mixed-methods action researcher (EdD, University of Kentucky, December 2026) and published writer on human-AI collaboration in learning.

I study how people actually build capability — and I know which measures survive contact with a real classroom.

Subject headings

  1. Instructional coaching — secondary schools
  2. Collective teacher efficacy
  3. Human-AI collaboration in learning
  4. Mixed-methods action research
  5. Personal knowledge management
No. 002

Now

  • Instructional coach at North Bullitt High School — coaching 64 certified teachers across grades 9–12, leading the mathematics PLCs.
  • Designing professional learning on AI as a design partner for authentic learning.
  • Finishing the dissertation. Defending soon. Sleeping later.
No. 003

The dissertation

  • There and Back Again: A Journey Toward Collective Vibrant Instructional Efficacy MMAR study · University of Kentucky · Dec. 2026
  • How instructional coaching builds a faculty's collective capacity to design authentic, student-centered learning — with a custom validated instrument (CVIE) to measure it.
No. 004

Building

  • District-wide coaching activity & impact-evidence tracker — Google Apps Script, built with Claude Code, now used by BCPS instructional coaches.
  • Survey instruments, dashboards, and internal tools — prototyped with AI-assisted Python and a stubborn refusal to do things by hand twice.
No. 005

Selected publications & writing

  • Sampson, S. O., Keene, H., Langworthy, A., Omotilewa, O., Paul, M., & Shukla, G. (2026). Artificial intelligence as an academic ally: A quality improvement initiative for a graduate evaluation course. American Journal of Evaluation, 47(1), 8–17. doi.org/10.1177/10982140251400866
  • Browning Coleman, K., et al., incl. Paul, M. (2024). Unleashing the power of learning organizations. Chapter author on systems thinking in learning organizations.
  • The Eclectic Educator — essays on learning, AI, and education for 5+ years. Recent: "AI as Co-Teacher or AI as Replacement?" · "AI Schools and the Illusion of Efficiency"
  • Co-founder, Edcamp Kentucky — statewide unconference for teacher-driven professional learning.
No. 006

Once upon a time

  • Led a district's full 1:1 rollout — ~1,700 devices in a few months, mid-pandemic.
  • Founded a high school esports program; grew it from 3 students to 21.
  • Google Certified Innovator, 2016 cohort.
  • Gave one of the earliest conference sessions on Canva ("Graphic Design for Dummies," 2015).
No. 007

Methods

  • Survey & instrument design, Likert-scale measurement, paired-samples t-tests.
  • Structured qualitative codebooks with inter-coder reliability. Qualtrics & Delve.
  • Daily hands-on work with LLMs (Claude, Claude Code); working-level Python.