Actions for state leaders and state boards of education

Learn about specific products and practical uses for AI in instruction. Getting concrete allows conversations about AI to move beyond abstract or theoretical possibilities into a grounded discussion of the pros and cons of specific uses. Our 20 product profiles may be a useful place to start.

See products in action with students. Observing actual use in schools changed the way we thought about the possibilities and the risks. Reach out to school system leaders to see if there are opportunities to observe a class.

Get information from school systems about what products they are trying and the results they are seeing. Use existing data collection systems (e.g., school improvement planning, instructional materials, or MTSS plans) to get information about all of the instructional products in use across core instruction, assessment, and intervention.

Ensure that staff who work with school systems (e.g., regional service staff, school improvement specialists, content coaches, MTSS coaches) are learning about products and tracking what products school systems are using and piloting.

Through policy and guidelines, be clear about where you see an appropriate role and where AI should not play a role in teaching and learning.

Support school system leaders to screen out products and shut down websites that pose risk for learning. Help systems lock down student access to general-purpose chatbots during assignments and assessments and help leaders understand their ability to turn on and off functions in multipurpose platforms.

Prioritize training state team members involved in any curriculum or product review processes (e.g., curriculum, assessment, intervention) about how products are evolving and the considerations this may require for future reviews. (This will be an area of additional learning on the tour in Year 2, so sign up for our list to stay in touch as we develop more resources and tools.)

Work with school system leaders to identify common instructional pain points that well designed products can help solve.

Work with system leaders to understand the products and uses that are already demonstrating evidence of impact and help other leaders learn from those examples.

Consider leveraging discretionary funding to incentivize system-led pilots in exchange for impact data you can learn from and share with other school systems. In these pilots, study both product impact and implementation conditions.

Require product developers to provide high-quality, reliable studies on student outcomes overall and by student group.

Form direct partnerships with the developers of products in frequent use across school systems. Find out what you can about how they are measuring success and what they know about how to support implementation.

Communicate state policies and guidelines and the rationale for those broadly with stakeholders.

Help system leaders understand what strong examples of community engagement and communication look like and support open dialogue.