AI in Florida Schools

Florida educators agree on AI’s importance, but diverge on priorities, concerns, and needs by role.

Why it matters

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the education landscape, offering tools that promise to streamline teaching, personalize learning, and address long-standing equity challenges. But for teachers, school leaders, and district administrators, the opportunity is matched by a daunting task: discerning when, where, and how to use AI in ways that support students and educators. AI can help educators reflect on current practice while enabling innovation. But scholars caution that AI’s success in schools depends not only on technical capability, but also on thoughtful, ethical integration grounded in the real needs of teachers and students.

“This moment demands urgency, collaboration, and intentional design to ensure AI supports the people who matter most: our students and teachers.”

—Trey Csar, Impact Florida Chief Impact Officer

What we did

Impact Florida survey over 100 teachers, school leaders, and district administrators across 35 Florida districts to understand educators' needs, priorities, and concerns related to AI tools and technology in education. The resulting insights can inform the adoption, implementation, and considerations of AI in education across the state.

What we learned

Teachers, school leaders, and district leaders are aligned on the value and urgency of exploring AI in education, but their specific priorities, preferred uses, and core concerns vary substantially by role.

Educators at every level are concerned about data privacy and lack of professional development for using AI tools.

Mathematics instruction (13.9%) was the most frequently selected instructional priority across all survey responses, just edging out reading and literacy (13.2%).

AI tools that support teachers with lesson planning, grading, and feedback were the most desired (18%).

Data privacy was the top concern about AI in education, cited by 22.0% of all participants, higher than concerns about professional development (15.4%), AI’s bias (10.4%), or societal impact (9.9%).

Teachers prioritize tools that support daily instruction and student engagement, but express concerns about lack of training and guidance.

Teachers' top priorities include student absenteeism (16.3%), math instruction (12.8%), and student engagement (12.1%).

Teachers' top priorities include student absenteeism (16.3%), math instruction (12.8%), and student engagement (12.1%).

Teachers' top priorities include student absenteeism (16.3%), math instruction (12.8%), and student engagement (12.1%).

School leaders prioritize tools to support literacy instruction and manage student behavior while also voicing the highest concerns about AI’s broader societal impact.

Reading and literacy instruction is the dominant priority for school leaders (25.3%), significantly higher than district leaders (12.9%) and teachers (7.1%).

School leaders are also more concerned about AI’s role in society (20%)—roughly triple that of teachers (7.3%) and district leaders (6.3%).

School leaders want AI tools focused on teacher instruction (20.7%), teacher planning (15.5%), and data dashboards (13.8%).

District leaders focus on math instruction and system-level data tools, with concerns centered on data privacy, infrastructure, and the need for professional development.

District leaders prioritize math instruction (13.9%), reading and literacy instruction (12.9%), and system-level tools like data dashboards (10.6%).

Their concerns are more infrastructure and privacy-focused, with 26.3% citing data privacy and 18.8% citing lack of professional development tools.

Their desired AI tools include teacher assistant (17.6%) and instruction (16.5%) tools, as well as dashboards, English learner supports, and tutoring tools (10.6% each).

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What Comes Next

Informed by this feedback, we’re putting together an upcoming webinar featuring education developers whose tools are designed to meet the needs of districts, schools, and teachers. Contact Trey Csar to request more information.