Artificial intelligence topped the list of state technology officials’ priorities for the first time, according to an annual survey released by the State Educational Technology Directors’ Association on Wednesday.
More than a quarter of respondents—26%—listed AI as their most pressing issue, compared to 18% in a similar survey conducted by SETDA last year. AI supplanted cybersecurity, which state leaders previously identified as their No. 1 concern.
About 1 in 5 state technology officials—21%—named cybersecurity as their highest priority, and 18% identified professional development and technology support for instruction as their top issues.
Forty percent of respondents reported that their state had issued guidance on AI. That’s a considerable increase from just two years ago, when only 2% of respondents to the same survey reported their state had released AI guidance.
State officials’ heightened attention on AI suggests that even though many more states have released some sort of AI guidance in the past year or two, officials still see a lot left on their to-do lists when it comes to supporting districts in improving students’ AI literacy, offering professional development about AI for educators, and crafting policies around cheating and proper AI use.
“A lot of guidance has come out, but now the rubber’s hitting the road in terms of implementation and integration,” said Julia Fallon, SETDA’s executive director, in an interview.
SETDA, along with Whiteboard Advisors, surveyed state education leaders—including ed-tech directors, chief information officers, and state chiefs—receiving more than 75 responses across 47 states. It conducted interviews with state ed-tech teams in Alabama, Delaware, Nebraska, and Utah and did group interviews with ed-tech leaders from 14 states.
AI professional development is a rising priority
States are taking a myriad of approaches to responding to the AI challenge, the report noted.
Some states—such as North Carolina and Utah—designated an AI point person to help support districts in puzzling through the technology. For instance, Matt Winters, who leads Utah’s work, has helped negotiate statewide pricing for AI-powered ed-tech tools and worked with an outside organization to train 4,500 teachers on AI, according to the report.
Wyoming, meanwhile, has developed an “innovator” network that pays teachers to offer AI professional development to colleagues across the state. Washington hosted two statewide AI summits to help district and school leaders explore the technology.
And North Carolina and Virginia have used state-level competitive grant programs to support activities such as AI-specific professional development or AI-infused teaching and learning initiatives.
“As AI continues to evolve, developing connections with those in tech, in industry, and in commerce, as well as with other educators, will become more important than ever,” wrote Sydnee Dickson, formerly Utah’s state superintendent of public instruction, in an introduction to the report. “The technology is advancing too quickly for any one person or state to have all the answers.”
