The federal government should invest in more robust research to guide the design, development, and implementation of safe and effective artificial intelligence tools in classrooms, argues a report from the Alliance for Learning Innovation, a coalition of nonprofit organizations, researchers, practitioners, funders, and private-sector leaders focused on advancing education research and development.
Research and development investment from the federal government could empower states and school districts with the evidence, tools, and support they need to create brighter futures for students and families, the report says. It could also lead to students experiencing higher achievement, improved well-being, and stronger engagement, it says.
Research on how AI affects K-12 students and educators is still extremely limited. For instance, Stanfordʼs SCALE Initiative analyzed more than 800 academic papers related to AI in K-12 education. Only 20 of those papers produced strong causal evidence.
The Stanford report found that the current evidence suggests that tools designed to foster independent reasoning may be more likely to support meaningful learning for students. It also suggests that AI tools can help educators complete their tasks more efficiently and improve their pedagogical practices.
Meanwhile, most teens are already using AI for schoolwork, whether their schools allow it or not, according to two separate nationally representative surveys from Britebound and Common Sense Media. Districts are trying to write policies, train teachers, and make purchasing decisions with remarkably little evidence to guide them.
“No state, district, or school should have to answer these questions alone, and the answers shouldn’t depend on whether they have the resources to run their own pilots,” said Sara Schapiro, the executive director of the Alliance for Learning Innovation, in a statement to Education Week. “The federal government is uniquely positioned to support research across states, districts, and student populations, giving every school system access to credible, timely evidence about what actually helps students learn.”
‘The absence of clear evidence and practical guidance is a real barrier’
The alliance report lists federal policy recommendations that ask Congress and the Trump administration to:
- Build a stronger evidence base for safe and effective AI in education;
- Improve AI-enabled tools and approaches in education;
- Build infrastructure to facilitate better AI-in-education R&D;
- Coordinate and carry out a unified AI-in-education R&D agenda; and
- Leverage AI to make federal R&D investments more effective and transparent.
Following through on these recommendations “will help communities access credible evidence and guidance; adopt and scale effective AI solutions; leverage AI safely, competently, and confidently; and engage in continuous learning and improvement,” according to the report.
The report comes as schools across the country are figuring out how to incorporate AI into instruction and operations, provide professional development for educators, and teach AI literacy for students, all while they navigate a growing backlash against the overuse of technology in schools.
In September, the nation’s two largest districts—the New York City public schools and the Los Angeles Unified system—hit the brakes on student use of AI tools as they consider how to incorporate the technology in the future.
Elsewhere around the country, a majority of school leaders are at least somewhat confident in leading AI implementation next year, said Ronn Nozoe, the CEO of the National Principals Association, in an email to Education Week. But for many leaders who are less confident, “the absence of clear evidence and practical guidance is a real barrier,” he said.
The lack of research hasn’t stopped many school leaders from implementing AI, though, Nozoe said. They are using their professional judgment and learning from peers to do what’s best for their school communities.
“Still, better evidence would help leaders make those decisions and ensure what works in one school can work in others,” he added.
Beyond research, school leaders want more time, training, and evidence-based strategies, Nozoe said.
“Federal investment in research and development is valuable if it leads to practical implementation,” Nozoe said. “When we surveyed our members about what would help most this year, respondents pointed to the basics: dedicated funding for AI-related PD, model policies and examples, and, most importantly, time for staff training and planning. That’s a strong signal that school leaders want guardrails and resources so they can move thoughtfully and responsibly.”
Bipartisan support emerges for research about the role of AI in education
The recommendations from the Alliance for Learning Innovation also come as the federal education research system has been roiled by the Trump administration’s funding disruptions, contract cancellations, and staff cuts.
The Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm, was among the divisions hardest hit by staff reductions last year, losing about 90% of its employees as the full department’s ranks shrank by about half. The president has also twice proposed to trim IES funding by two-thirds in the budgets he’s sent to Congress since returning to the White House last year.
In addition, IES went more than 15 months without holding any education research grant competitions, only announcing a new set in August.
“The [Trump administration’s] proposed cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences were a serious threat. A reduction of that magnitude would have severely weakened our ability to answer exactly these kinds of questions,” Schapiro said.
But after pushback from the R&D community, lawmakers from both parties rejected the proposed cuts earlier this year and maintained funding at roughly the prior year’s level.
“That’s an important signal of bipartisan support,” she said.
Additionally, a bipartisan group of senators reintroduced a bill last month that would drive evidence-based improvements and innovations for schools by making strategic investments in education research and development, Schapiro said.
“That doesn’t mean the funding challenges have disappeared,” she said. “But there’s a real opportunity for agreement here. Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, we should all want to know that the AI tools reaching our classrooms are safe and actually help students learn.”
Even with IES’ budget currently intact, Trump’s proposed cut for fiscal 2027 is still pending, as Congress has not yet passed a full budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
And IES’ slow pace of spending has continued, even though it eventually met a Sept. 30 deadline to spend its full budget from 2025. The White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to release more than half of IES’ 2026 budget to the agency so it can spend it. Typically, that funding release—called apportionment—takes place no more than six weeks after Congress passes a budget.
