Statewide Guidance on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Elementary and Secondary Education

Illinois' statewide AI guidance for K-12, mandated by Public Act 104-0399, positions AI as a tool to inform — not replace — the teacher-student relationship and gives districts a framework for policy, literacy, and safe use.

Illinois State Board of Education — Statewide Guidance on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (June 2026). Submitted to the Governor and General Assembly to fulfill 105 ILCS 5/2-3.118a and Public Act 104-0399, which charged ISBE with developing statewide guidance for school districts and educators on the use of artificial intelligence in elementary and secondary education. The guidance is not organized around AI as a technology to be adopted for its own sake; it is organized around the enduring educational premise that the teacher–student interaction is the centerpiece of teaching and learning. AI may assist with planning, access, feedback, communication, operations, and resource development, but it must remain a means to inform teaching and learning rather than a substitute for educator judgment, student relationships, or the developmental and civic purposes of public schooling.

Four guiding tenets frame the document: (1) teaching and learning are shaped by human relationships and by the experiences, interests, and assets each child brings into school; (2) schools serve academic, developmental, and civic purposes concurrently; (3) artificial intelligence is a means to inform teaching and learning rather than an end in itself; (4) informed use requires deliberate, context-sensitive, and locally determined purpose and use.

Core AI Concepts for Schools: the guidance defines and gives K-12 use examples for Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, Generative AI, Vibe Coding, Agentic AI, and Open vs. Closed Source AI. Examples include automated categorization of student work into proficiency bands for formative feedback, analysis of open-ended survey responses to identify themes, student writing supports (outlines, revision suggestions, sentence starters), and curriculum-aligned chat assistants hosted within district-approved systems.

District Next Steps for AI Policy, Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), and Instructional Use Policy (IUP): districts are asked to define terms (AI, Generative AI, AI literacy), articulate a student AI usage continuum (AI Free, AI Assisted, AI Enhanced, AI Empowered) to guide grade- and task-appropriate engagement, review and update existing Acceptable Use, Academic Integrity, Bullying, and Privacy policies to address AI-specific concerns, and decide whether to create a standalone AI policy or add AI-specific addendums to existing policies. The guidance emphasizes Digital Citizenship and AI Literacy Curricula by grade band, professional development for staff, students, parents, and community members, and attention to student privacy, safety, accessibility, equity, and accountability.

ISBE will post the guidance on isbe.net and hold a webinar in early August to walk districts through the guidance ahead of the school year. The document was developed with a Blue Ribbon Panel including Vilas Dhar (Patrick J. McGovern Foundation), Rebecca Winthrop (Brookings), Vicki Zubovic and Jason Hovey (Khan Academy), Julia Wynn (CodeAI), James Larimore (EdSAFE AI Alliance), Bruce Reed (Common Sense Media), Joseph Fatheree (Oak Ridge Schools), Tina Halliman (SPEED SEJA 802), and ISBE leadership.