Dive Brief:
- Over 60% of teachers said they received no guidance on how to apply artificial intelligence to parts of their jobs, such as for analyzing patterns in student learning, tutoring or one-on-one instruction, according to a survey released Wednesday by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation.
- Nearly 60% said they lacked any guidance on how to use AI to grade or provide student feedback, or supplement instruction. And just under 50% reported receiving no guidance on how to use AI to create assignments and other class materials, or how to modify materials to meet students' needs.
- Much AI guidance that teachers do receive is informal, with 82% reporting that they received no formal guidance on how to apply AI tools to their work across multiple types of work tasks, and over a third saying they receive no guidance at all. This is despite 6 in 10 teachers saying they use AI tools for work.
Dive Insight:
Of teachers who said they received some form of guidance, 46% said they received it informally for teaching preparation such as for planning lessons, followed by making assignments (45%) and assessments (43%).
“This leaves teachers to navigate a rapidly evolving landscape on their own,” said Andrea Ash, senior research consultant at Gallup, in an email to K-12 Dive on Tuesday. “We know from other data in this study that a lack of guidance — especially realistic and clear guidance — can make teachers’ jobs more difficult than they already are.”
Last year, data from the Center for Democracy & Technology showed that a large majority of both students (86%) and teachers (85%) reported using AI during the 2024-25 school year.
And between 2023 and 2024, the overall percentage of all districts training teachers on AI more than doubled from 23% to 48%, according to a report by Rand Corp. released last year.
However, low-poverty districts were significantly more likely to provide such training in fall 2024 than high-poverty districts at 67% vs. 39%.
Based on districts’ reported fall 2025 plans, Rand projected at the time that this gap won’t close in the near future even as more districts provide training. Researchers suggested that districts serving students in high-poverty schools will “likely need additional support to prepare their teachers for AI."
In the Gallup and Walton report, researchers came to similar conclusions: Teachers in higher-needs schools were less likely to receive guidance on AI than those in wealthier schools.
The survey of more than 2,000 public school teachers was conducted between Feb. 9 and March 2 by Gallup.
The polling’s results also found that unrealistic job expectations — which 55% of respondents cited as a concern — are hurting the teaching workforce and are more likely to impact high-needs schools. Over three-quarters of teachers who said they face unrealistic expectations for excellent teaching are frequently burned out and also less likely to say they are engaged with or satisfied at work.
Teachers also frequently reported that school leaders' expectations clash with the realities of the job. For example, a majority of teachers said expectations from school leaders about student achievement conflict at least sometimes with students’ realities, the available time and resources, and the realities of teachers' daily jobs.
"These findings suggest that unrealistic expectations may be, at least in part, due to the limitations on teachers’ time and available resources, rather than a lack of capability or individual preparedness for teaching," the report said.
Some K-12 leaders and experts have previously cited AI as a potential solution to alleviate teachers' workload and improve retention, such as through aiding lesson planning, improving family communication strategies and providing translation services for tailored learning.
“The good news for district leaders is twofold: First, the solution doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to be a step in the right direction,” said Ash. “Second, good communication goes a long way.”
Teachers who receive higher-quality communication from leadership are more likely to feel like their job expectations are realistic and clear, said Ash, adding that it’s “a great starting point that also doesn’t have to cost anything.”
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