Search

The release of such generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools as ChatGPT in 2022 was a major advancement in the field of AI. Two burning questions for kindergarten through grade 12 (K--12) educators are to what extent new generative AI tools will change teaching and whether they will improve learning. The answers to these questions are not yet clear and likely will not be for some time. But to learn firsthand from educators the ways in which AI is beginning to affect teaching and learning in K-12 public schools, the authors surveyed and interviewed educators across the United States. Specifically, the authors surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,020 teachers using RAND's American Teacher Panel in fall 2023. They also surveyed a nationally representative sample of 231 districts in fall 2023 and interviewed 11 leaders from these districts in December 2023 and January 2024. The districts the authors surveyed and the leaders they interviewed are members of the American School District Panel (ASDP). The ASDP is a research partnership between RAND and the Center on Reinventing Public Education. The authors combine the perspectives of K-12 teachers and district leaders in this report to construct the most comprehensive picture to date of how educators are engaging with AI products and tools for teaching. Teachers reported how they actually use AI tools in their practices, and district leaders reported whether and how they are providing policies, guidance, and training on the use of AI tools.

Nationwide, a growing percentage of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) teachers report regularly using standards-aligned English language arts and math curriculum materials. Despite this uptick in the regular usage of standards-aligned materials across the United States, not all teachers use these materials for the majority of their instructional time, even when the materials are required or recommended by their districts. For education leaders who hope to use curriculum materials as levers for improving instruction, adopting standards-aligned materials is only the first step. Encouraging teachers to use these materials with integrity remains a challenge. In this report, the authors use results from the 2023 American Instructional Resources Survey to explore whether teachers feel that the curriculum materials required or recommended by their schools or districts are appropriately challenging for their students.