Recent research on artificial intelligence illustrates what some say is a disconnect between the importance that schools place on the technology versus how businesses view it.¶
Studies have found that half of middle and high schools lack AI policies, and among those that do, just 6 percent of teachers say the policies are clear. Related research found that by the end of 2024, just 39 percent of high-poverty districts provided AI training for teachers, compared with 67 percent in low-poverty districts.¶
AI for Education founder Amanda Bickerstaff presented these findings to education leaders in Nashville Thursday morning at Tennessee SCORE’s AI symposium, with a caution about the greater value industries are placing on AI. Research from LinkedIn found that 66 percent of business leaders say they would not hire someone without AI literacy skills.¶
“The pressure is coming from industry,” Bickerstaff said. “So, we’re having this really significant disconnect that’s happening between where our students are experiencing AI in our schools being instructed and then what the world is telling us is going to be important, not in ten years but today.”¶
Organization-Wide Approach
Bickerstaff argued that school districts should adopt an organization-wide approach to AI. That includes establishing a community-wide AI literacy plan that builds a shared understanding of AI use among students, teachers, and families, along with guidelines for responsible AI adoption and an intentional pathway for testing AI tools.¶
“We need a one-two kind of approach where we build in that AI literacy, that knowledge, and that comfort of being able to make informed decisions, but we also need guardrails around people just knowing what’s in and out of bounds,” Bickerstaff said.¶
Dedicated AI Leaders
Other speakers at SCORE’s symposium made the case for dedicating leadership to AI.¶
During a panel discussion with other AI experts, Davis Zaunbrecher, founding director of the New Orleans AI Education Fund, says districts need to establish an AI leader who spends 30 to 50 percent of their time working on the issue.¶
“A thing that concerns me that I see is school systems that have not yet invested a top leader’s time and capacity on AI,” Zaunbrecher said. “Either thinking, head in the sand, or thinking a junior whippersnapper can pull everything together needed for the system to respond to AI. I really think this is a C-suite, executive team, cabinet-level issue that needs to be talked about and resourced, and put on goals, and put on scorecards, and ripple through the organization.¶
Pro-Human AI
Thursday’s symposium also included discussion about some of the unexpected positives that AI could bring to the classroom.¶
Learner Studio founding partner Dr. Babak Mostaghimi argued that AI will enable students to enhance their ability to collaborate with others, though programs like one OKO Labs has created.¶
The AI company has created a small-group instruction tool that enables K-5 students to work together in person to solve math problems.¶
“I think the biggest trend that I’m seeing that I love is AI is getting away from screen-based technologies and getting people to look up and at one another,” Mostaghimi said.¶
