More than half of educators say they're "excited" or "curious" about AI in schools, and 65% say parents and caregivers are supportive — yet the systems meant to guide that enthusiasm haven't caught up. Only 21% feel very prepared to manage AI use in their classrooms, and 70% say they lack formal policies that are well understood or applied, according to a survey conducted by K-12 Dive on behalf of Superhuman (formerly Grammarly).
This viewpoint aligns with a recently released Walton Family Foundation and Gallup study, “Teaching for Tomorrow: Closing the Expectations Gap,” which found that only 18% of teachers report receiving any formal guidance from school administrators on how to use AI tools.
“While most educators recognize that AI matters and is here to stay, we see that many schools are still trying to balance innovation with humanity,” says Yolanda Wiggins, Senior Researcher at Superhuman. Another surprising disconnect involves teacher autonomy. Just 3% of respondents said individual teachers influence AI use decisions, and only 2% believe they personally have complete control over how AI tools are used in their own classrooms, independent of school- or district-wide policies.
“Teachers don't need to be convinced of the benefits of AI, but they still very much need clear guidance on what responsible use looks like in practice,” Wiggins says. “When policies feel disconnected, implementation becomes inconsistent very quickly.”
The clearest area of impact is student writing. More than 80% of educators say its quality has improved since AI tools became widely available. Educators also report efficiency gains, citing writing assistance, lesson planning, and instructional material creation as their top use cases.
The top use case where educators see AI making a meaningful difference is student writing, with more than 80% of respondents saying it has improved. They also have achieved efficiency gains in areas such as writing assistance, lesson planning and instructional material creation.
Alongside the high perceived value of AI, there is also high institutional risk, with almost half of respondents saying their biggest concerns about using AI in high school education today are ethical issues/bias and data privacy/security.
And access compounds the problem; even as adoption grows, the ability to use AI effectively remains inconsistent across schools. The notable downside is that students may graduate with vastly different levels of AI fluency and preparedness depending on their schools’ approaches, which could impede their college or career readiness.
As schools look ahead to the next six to 12 months, Wiggins advises leaders to be intentional. “When we work with schools, we advise them to evaluate tools based on true educator and student use cases. Not every AI tool needs to be adopted immediately, and we're already seeing a shift from reactive AI policies to more thoughtful long-term integration.”
Explore the report to learn more about the gaps the survey revealed, along with actionable advice for school leaders and district decision makers looking to integrate AI in ways that serve students and families by equipping the educators who support them.
Superhuman (formerly Grammarly) is the AI productivity platform on a mission to unlock the superhuman potential in everyone. The Superhuman suite of apps and agents brings AI wherever people work, integrating with over 1 million applications and websites. The company’s products include Grammarly’s writing assistance, Coda’s collaborative workspaces, Mail’s inbox management, and Go, the proactive AI assistant that understands context and delivers help automatically. Founded in 2009, Superhuman empowers over 40 million people, 50,000 organizations, and 3,000 educational institutions worldwide to eliminate busywork and focus on what matters. Learn more at superhuman.com.
