Educators at all levels were caught off guard about how to handle artificial intelligence in K-12 when a new version of ChatGPT was released nearly two years ago.
But now state education agencies鈥攚hich school and district leaders had been looking to for guidance on the rapidly evolving technology鈥攁re stepping up to try to meet the moment, according to an annual survey released Sept. 11 by the State Educational Technology Directors Association.
Last year, 55 percent of state education officials who responded to the SETDA survey said school and district leaders had expressed interest in receiving guidance on AI policy development, but only 2 percent reported that their state had an AI initiative in place.
AI interest among educators has continued to rise, according to this year鈥檚 survey results, with 90 percent of respondents reporting increased interest in AI guidance. But there鈥檚 been a lot more activity at the state level to meet that demand. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said their states had crafted guidance on the topic.
And nearly 1 in 6 states鈥�14 percent鈥攕ay they are working on a broader AI policy initiative, such as a program exploring teacher training or AI literacy. The survey, which was conducted beginning in May, included responses from more than 80 ed-tech directors, state chiefs, and chief information officers from 46 states.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education released its own AI guidance for ed-tech vendors in July.
What a difference a year makes on AI policy
Nearly a year ago, no state had AI guidance on the books, said Pat Yongpradit, the chief academic officer for Code.org and a leader of TeachAI, an initiative to support schools in using and teaching about AI.
Now, nearly half of states鈥�23 total鈥攈ave released some form of AI guidance, he said. What鈥檚 more, states such as Utah have created positions in their education departments dedicated primarily to AI implementation in K-12. Other states, including Indiana and New Jersey, have passed budgets with dedicated funding for AI.
That activity isn鈥檛 necessarily being driven by legislation. Just 4 percent of the respondents whose states have crafted AI guidance say they did so because state law required it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a solid start,鈥� Yongpradit said of all the action over the past year.
But even the states that are farthest ahead realize there鈥檚 still a lot of work to do, he added. 鈥淣one of them feel like they have met the challenge.鈥�
State education leaders agree that the technology is developing rapidly, and state education agencies will need to be on top of how those changes impact K-12 schools.
鈥淎rtificial intelligence is an evolving field, so our work collaborating with local leaders and educators will continue and evolve as well,鈥� said Bre Urness-Straight, director of educational technology for the Washington state education agency, in a statement included in SETDA鈥檚 report. 鈥淭hat is the only way we can ensure that the resources we develop remain relevant and useful, and that humans鈥攖eachers and students, in particular鈥攔emain at the forefront of discussions around AI.鈥�
