By David T. Marshall and Katelyn R. Nelson
Recent headlines tell of a Massachusetts high school student not selected for their school’s National
Honor Society. The reason – the student had been accused of academic dishonesty on an
assignment.
He used generative artificial intelligence (AI) to complete the assignment. The problem is that the school had no documented policy regarding the use of these emerging tools.
The parents are now suing over the matter, fearing that the marks on their child’s record regarding
cheating will harm his chances of getting into a preferred college or university. More scenarios like
this one are likely to play out the longer schools and school districts wait to articulate their stance on
AI. The time to do so is now.
The U.S. Department of Education recently released guidance to help integrate AI into classrooms.
Now is the time for schools and districts to craft policy on AI, and this is important for two reasons.
First, it can avoid scenarios such as the one in Massachusetts by ensuring that all involved in
schooling are on the same page regarding the use of these emerging technologies.
Second, it will become increasingly important for students to understand how to use these tools. Since
the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to online learning, AI has become an increasingly prevalent tool
in K-12 classrooms. Many students now use AI in their daily lives, including with their schoolwork.
Therefore, it is important that students learn how to use AI ethically, responsibly and to further their
learning. Those who do not learn to use these tools in productive ways will fall behind.
Given the reality that students are using AI, teachers need to incorporate instruction on how to use
these tools in their classroom instruction. However, such a suggestion assumes — erroneously so —
that teachers are currently equipped to do so.
Survey research conducted by the EdWeek Research Center in September and October reveals that
as 42% of teachers shared that they felt comfortable using AI in their classroom practice. However,
that still means that almost three out of every five teachers have not received any training almost two
years after the release of ChatGPT.
School leaders must prioritize providing training to teachers to effectively use AI to be more efficient
with their time. New research from the universities of Michigan and California has found that teachers
who use AI for things like brainstorming ideas, creating quizzes and crafting lesson plans report
having more manageable workloads and higher quality work.
This is especially important given that one of the most common complaints teachers share in the post-
pandemic era is having to manage increased workloads. Having a teacher workforce that understands
AI, including how it can enhance their productivity as teachers, as well as how students are using it for
assignments, is imperative for any policy to work.
We examined AI policies in Alabama, and as of Oct. 20, very few school districts or charter schools
had formal, public-facing policies in place regarding the use of AI. Only 15 of 139 school districts have
public-facing policies addressing the use of these emerging tools. The same is true for only one
charter school in the state.
Of the 15 districts that did have an official policy, only four addressed non-academic concerns,
including the generation of explicit and inappropriate images. While that is an important concern
associated with some AI tools that must be addressed, it does nothing to address the concerns of the
parent from Massachusetts whose story we share at the start of this piece. It is important that all stakeholder groups share a common understanding of how AI tools should (or should not) be used in
academic work as well.
For schools that do craft AI policies, it is important that they stay up to date. Unlike most policies that
are enacted in K-12 schools, which might remain static for years, AI policy will need to be updated
often — perhaps every semester. These tools and their capabilities constantly improve, and the
opportunities and challenges will also change over time — much faster than almost anything we’ve
seen before.
For schools that have yet to put AI policies in place, again, the time to do so is now.
David T. Marshall is an associate professor of educational research in the College of Education at
Auburn University. Katelyn R. Nelson is a doctoral candidate in higher education administration at
Auburn University whose research focuses on AI implementation in K-12 settings.