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Prices in USD as of Aug. 9, 2026 on U.S. Amazon site.

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📚 New AI resources this week

1️⃣ Students Created a National AI Policy Framework. Here’s What It Includes (via Education Week) — Nearly 100 students from across the country developed their own proposed guardrails for AI in schools, covering AI literacy, privacy, academic integrity, teacher responsibilities, and student choice.

2️⃣ Schools Are Building AI Rules Before They Know the Destination (via eSchool News) — With more than 70 AI-in-education bills introduced across 27 states this year, this piece argues that schools need to think beyond regulating today's tools and first determine what students actually need to know and be able to do in an AI-rich future.

3️⃣ Teachers Forge Ahead on Integrating AI (via EdSurge) — A new report shows teachers increasingly driving AI adoption themselves, while students are asking for better feedback and educators want tools designed specifically around classroom needs.

Last week’s poll: What are you focusing on for AI for the new school year?

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ AI guidelines and policy (11)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Teacher training and integration (19)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Choosing and vetting AI tools (4)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Assessment and academic integrity (5)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Other ... (4)

Training/integration: Addressing assessment and academic integrity goes hand in hand with teacher training and integration. Building lessons and assignments and assessments that have been built to consider a PROCESS that uses AI in appropriate places instead as a full thinking/learning replacer - this is an important part of teacher integration. — C. Kannekens

Training/integration: We have guidelines and policies in place. Prior to school beginning, we will choose and vet AI tools based on our state's privacy laws. We did a staff survey in May so we could prepare our training based on on staff interests. All must understand policies. From there, we hope to offer to each staff position a deeper understanding and practical uses (hopefully have luxury of time to practice.) We hope the training we build will allow staff to step away when they have reached their personal level of interest. — M. Arnold

Other: I'm excited for this years AI work. We have a reduced task force of teachers (those remaining are teacher leaders in a paid role) and we're adding four student members. We're going to use the 4DX (WIG) and SCRUM process to facilitate our work. We're moving on to the next step of AI literacy, developing a district AI Guidebook, and Incident Response Plan, building a better public-facing AI website, parent/family AI presentation, and refining which apps we approve (less is more). — C. Sussex

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🗳 Poll: An AI-forward school/district

Instructions:

🏫10 characteristics of AI-forward schools/districts

This term — “AI-forward” — is about technology, but for the most part, it really isn’t.

For many schools and districts, it’s really about taking the same processes that they use to make other important decisions — and applying those responsible processes to AI to do what’s best for everyone.

Here are some characteristics I’ve noticed in schools and districts that I would identify as “AI-forward” …

Too many schools' first — and sometimes only — AI conversation is about catching cheaters. AI-forward districts address that but they also ask the bigger question: how does this change teaching and learning? They talk about what responsible use looks like for teachers AND students (not just what gets you in trouble). To me, that shows whether a school/district is playing defense or actually being a leader.

Every decision — guidance, policy, which tools get approved, what they tell teachers to try in class — runs through the same filter: what does this do for students? Too many districts act on flashy promises from vendors too quickly. But an AI-forward school/district looks at what actually helps kids learn and stay well. They lean on pedagogy and learning science. But they also listen to what teachers say is working in their own classrooms. The learning is the point, and the tech supports learning.

Teachers and leaders in these districts poke around in the tools. They read what other educators are trying (like you’re doing in this newsletter!). They test things out themselves before they form an opinion. They’re curious instead of defensive. I LOVE when I interact with school leaders who are like this. It’s probably the single biggest predictor of whether a district adapts or gets left behind. If you’re guiding on something you've never used, people will sniff that out quickly.

AI brings out strong opinions. (You’ve probably seen this on TV and social media.) Lots of those opinions are missing a key word: "depends." AI-forward districts resist the urge to say “AI is all good” or “AI is all bad.” Instead, they ask more useful questions — good for what, in what context, for which task? Answering those questions is hard. It requires judgment. But when they work through those struggles, their teachers (and students) have better judgment.

In every district, some teachers are already AI high-flyers. They’re experimenting, iterating, hitting some walls, and figuring things out faster than anyone officially trained them to. AI-forward districts notice those teachers and do everything they can to support them. They don’t ignore them. They don’t try to slow them down. They put those teachers front and center in PD (with credit, not just extra work). It’s powerful because it spreads teacher-to-teacher rather than top-down as a mandate. That's the difference between AI feeling like something done to teachers versus something teachers are doing with each other.

When people push back — teachers, parents, community members — the instinct in a lot of districts is to explain, justify, and coerce until the pushback goes away. AI-forward districts do the opposite. They actually listen. They let that feedback shape what they do next. They don’t give in to every single objection. But policy gets better because they’re considering real concerns from their stakeholders. They know that compliance without buy-in doesn’t last.

The strongest AI plans aren't written by the tech director sitting in his office alone. Everyone has opinions and feedback, including IT, curriculum, counseling, legal, sometimes HR. AI touches all of those areas whether anyone planned for it to or not. A healthy mix of perspectives keeps policy from being either too tech-bro or too fear-based. It ends up more realistic because more perspectives shaped it. Plus, because everyone had a hand in creating it, they’re more likely to support it.

AI moves so fast that a policy written six months ago can already feel out of date. AI-forward districts review their policies and guidance regularly instead of saying "oh, we passed a policy, now follow it" and ending it there. Ongoing check-ins make guidance actually useful.

It's hard to ask teachers to experiment with AI when school leaders aren’t using it. In schools/districts doing this well, leadership has first-hand experience using the tools they’re considering — for emails, board prep, whatever. Their guidance land differently. You can tell the difference between a policy written from curiosity and one written from a legal pad.

Access to good tools and strong training isn't even all the way across a district. AI-forward leaders ask who might get left behind. That question doesn't always have an easy answer — and sometimes, it’s not easy to talk about. But the districts that talk about it end up with solutions that support more people across the board — and don’t create barriers or disadvantages.

I just added a place for us to discuss these characteristics — and for you to share others that you think are important — in the DTT online community.

It’s free to join and a great place for us to have conversations — and see what others have to say.