AI Diffusion Gaps. Unequal Integration of AI Across K-12 Schools.

Autor/inn/en	Campos, Christopher; Singleton, John D.
Institution	National Bureau of Economic Research
Titel	AI Diffusion Gaps. Unequal Integration of AI Across K-12 Schools.
Quelle	Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research (2026) PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext (2) Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Reihe	NBER working paper series. w35347
Beigaben	Illustrationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Monografie; Graue Literatur
DOI	10.3386/w35347
Schlagwörter	Künstliche Intelligenz; Schule; Lehrer; Schüler; Arbeitspapier; USA
Abstract	Although use of generative AI tools has quickly become widespread in education settings, emerging evidence suggests that effects on learning will depend on how that use is supported and guided. This paper reports findings from an original national survey of K-12 school principals designed to measure institutional integration of AI in schools through policies, teacher training, guidance for student use, leadership engagement, and the availability of AI-enabled tools. We find that AI use has spread rapidly across schools, largely as a productivity aid. Students mainly use AI for homework help and writing, while educators primarily use it for lesson planning and administrative tasks. The development of teacher training, guidance, and school policies has lagged adoption. We next document two diffusion gaps across schools: First, lower AI integration is associated with a higher share of disadvantaged students (a one standard deviation increase in disadvantage is associated with a 0.07-0.11 SD lower score on an index of AI integration); Second, private and charter schools score 0.23-0.44 SD lower on the AI integration index than traditional public schools. Although several surveyed school-level factors strongly predict AI integration, they do little to explain these gaps. Differences in district size account for roughly one-third of the disadvantage gap between public schools. These findings suggest that the factors associated with greater AI integration differ from those needed to narrow disparities in how schools support and guide AI use.
Erfasst von	ZBW - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Kiel
Update	2026/4