The AI Playbook for District Leaders

97% of superintendents agree that K-12 schools have a responsibility to teach students how to use AI effectively and ethically. Unfortunately, less than a third of districts are prepared to educate their students about AI.

Through analysis of over 100 districts’ AI implementation plans, EAB surfaced three primary pitfalls in districts’ attempts to develop AI-responsive teaching and learning:

1. Districts aren’t communicating clear AI guidance to teachers, students, and the broader district community, failing to ensure everyone is on the same page about when and how to use AI.
2. Districts do not provide teachers with enough AI training, leaving them without the time and resources to learn how AI works.
3. Districts may mistakenly approach AI adoption like any other edtech adoption process. This new technology lacks established best practices and is rapidly evolving, so districts can’t leave it up to chance that teachers and students will identify AI’s ever-changing risks and opportunities.

To address these pitfalls head-on, EAB created The AI Playbook for District Leaders. This playbook breaks down three priorities—and the actions every district should take to accomplish each—that every district should have to address AI today and prepare for the future.

First, take EAB’s AI Strategy Pulse Check survey to determine which priority your district is ready to begin.

Determine Your Playbook Starting Point

Once you receive your results, use the resources on this page to implement each priority and make progress on your district’s AI strategy.

Why does every district need an AI strategy?

AI is already impacting K-12 students and teachers, regardless of whether they are using the technology in school. What does this mean for the future of K-12 education? Read EAB’s report to get up to speed with why every district needs an organized response to the proliferation of AI.

Read the Report

Priority 1: Expedite AI guidance that matches stakeholder needs

First, districts must establish AI guidance as soon as possible. Priority 1 helps you draft effective AI policies, principles, and guidelines that answer stakeholders’ most critical questions—and without wasting time on lower-order decisions.

Access Priority 1

Priority 2: Build teacher AI literacy through productivity tools

After districts have shared AI guidance with the entire district community (Priority 1), leaders can then provide teachers with the necessary tools to learn about AI effectively. Priority 2 will help district leaders make it easy for teachers to get the knowledge and resources they need for navigating a future with AI in and outside the classroom.

Access Priority 2

Priority 3: Support AI experimentation beyond productivity

As history has shown, many new tech initiatives fail without larger organizational change and support structures. If any new AI innovations are to take hold in K-12 schools, teachers must be motivated and supported in trying something new. Priority 3 will guide districts toward building this culture of innovation through a case study of Fairfax County Public Schools’ AI Innovators Cohort.

Access Priority 3