JULIA H. KAUFMAN, ASHLEY WOO, JOSHUA EAGAN, SABRINA LEE, EMMA B. KASSAN
Uneven Adoption of
Artificial Intelligence Tools
Among U.S. Teachers
and Principals in the
2023–2024 School Year
A
ccording to a RAND American Teacher Panel survey of K–12 public school teachers in
fall 2023, nearly one in five teachers was using artificial intelligence (AI) tools for teach-
ing, with even higher proportions of English language arts (ELA) or social studies teachers
doing so (Diliberti et al., 2024). Another survey from Impact Research (2023) suggested
that the use of AI among teachers
could be even higher, but mea-
surement challenges make it dif-
ficult to know for sure.
1
Further-
more, upward of 90 percent of
a large sample of school district
superintendents who were sur-
veyed in the 2023–2024 school
year (EAB, 2024) agreed that AI
“will transform the way we edu-
cate students within five years.”
That said, a little more than one-
third of those superintendents
indicated that their districts had
plans for supporting or training
teachers on their use of AI.
In this report, we follow
up on Diliberti et al. (2024)
by—again—asking teachers
about their use of AI tools for
Research Report
KEY FINDINGS
■ Comparable with previous surveys of the American Teacher Panel,
the results indicate that one-quarter of ELA, math, and science
teachers used AI tools for instructional planning or teaching in the
2023–2024 school year. Nearly 60 percent of surveyed American
School Leader Panel principals also reported using AI tools for their
work in 2023–2024.
■ Although one-quarter of teachers overall reported using AI tools,
the authors observed variation in use by subject taught and some
school characteristics. For example, almost 40 percent of ELA or
science teachers reported using AI compared with 20 percent of
general elementary education or math teachers. Teachers and prin-
cipals in higher-poverty schools were less likely to report using AI
tools relative to those in lower-poverty schools.
■ Eighteen percent of principals reported that their schools or dis-
tricts provided guidance on the use of AI by staff, teachers, or stu-
dents. Yet, principals in the highest-poverty schools were about half
as likely as principals in the lowest-poverty schools to report that
guidance was provided (13 percent and 25 percent, respectively).
