AI Use in Schools Is Quickly Increasing but Guidance Lags Behind
HK EdTech AI Application and Teaching
The rapid proliferation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has created a fast-moving, real-time social experiment at scale. AI uses for school are numerous, with some students using AI for their homework and some teachers using AI to create lesson plans, receive feedback on their instruction, or complete such administrative tasks as grading and writing recommendation letters.
Recent survey findings show that the use of AI among students and educators has increased over time. However, because AI is a rapidly advancing technology, school training and policies on AI are falling behind. In this context, the authors provide a first-of-its-kind update on artificial intelligence for education that triangulates survey data from nationally representative samples of five populations: K–12 teachers, school leaders, school district leaders, students, and their parents.
The authors find a rapid increase in AI use by students and teachers in the past one to two years on the order of 15 percentage points or more. However, professional development for teachers, training for students on how to use AI in education, and school and district policies lag. In this context, students reported worrying about false accusations of cheating and students and their parents reported that more use AI could degrade students’ critical thinking skills.
- In 2025, 54 percent of students and 53 percent of English language arts, math, and science teachers indicated that they used AI for school. These are increases of more than 15 percentage points compared with survey results in the past one to two years.
- More high school than middle school students reported using AI for school, and progressively higher percentages of elementary, middle, and high school teachers said that they used AI during the school year.
- Sixty-one percent of parents, 48 percent of middle schoolers, 55 percent of high schoolers, and only 22 percent of district leaders agreed that greater use of AI will harm students’ critical-thinking skills.
- Half of students said that they are worried they will be falsely accused of using AI to cheat.
- As of spring 2025, 35 percent of district leaders reported that they provide students with training on AI.
- Over 80 percent of students reported that teachers did not explicitly teach them how to use AI for schoolwork.
- Forty-five percent of principals reported having school or district policies or guidance on the use of AI in schools, and 34 percent of teachers reported having school or district policies on the use of AI related to academic integrity.
- Trusted sources, such as states, should provide guidance on what effective AI policies and training look like. This guidance should be regularly updated and communicated as AI technology continues to advance.
- Training and guidance need to explain how to use AI to complement, not supplant, learning. The guidance and training created by district and school leaders should explicitly distinguish between the two use cases and explain how to avoid the former while encouraging the latter.
- In the short term, teachers and students need clarity on what constitutes cheating with AI.
- Elementary schools should not be overlooked when providing students guidance on AI use. Almost half of elementary school teachers are at least experimenting with AI in their professional capacity, and elementary school is a time to teach foundational skills and when students form foundational habits. If educators provide elementary school students with a coherent foundation for thinking about and using AI, students and schools may experience fewer issues around AI as students get older and as AI capabilities advance.
- School district leaders should create a coherent policy on AI use and train teachers and students on how to use AI in productive ways.