This story is part of 海角精品黑料鈥檚 2026 Back to School coverage.
School systems around the D.C. region are beginning to embrace artificial intelligence in different ways.
In Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland, AI is being used to help students improve their storytelling skills. In Virginia’s Fairfax and Prince William counties, the technology is helping teachers with tasks ranging from lesson planning to other classroom duties.
But is it working?
Even as schools race to implement more AI tools, effective of their effectiveness remains limited. Researches said there is still relatively little high-quality research examining AI鈥檚 impact on K-12 education.
鈥淭here are a lot of tools being used in schools right now, and there’s just not a lot of evidence on how these tools are affecting students and teachers,鈥� said Lily Fesler, a senior researcher at the AI Hub for Education at Stanford University.
But some trends are beginning to emerge.
In some cases, AI appears to have a positive effect on K-12 student learning. Sometimes, it isn鈥檛. Fesler said outcomes often depend on how students are using the technology.
鈥淪everal studies have shown that giving students general purpose AI chatbots to study for an exam isn’t likely going to increase student exam scores and can actually decrease performance,鈥� Fesler said.
“Students often do better on tasks when they have access to those AI chatbots but then have trouble retaining that knowledge when those chatbots are taken away,” adding “What’s likely happening there is that students can be offloading some of the cognitive burden of the task onto the AI assistant, which can make studying feel easier, but also means that students aren’t retaining that knowledge.鈥�
Education-focused AI tools have shown more promising results, she said.
鈥淪tudents who use tutoring-specific AI assistants don’t show that same decline in test performance as students who use general-purpose AI chatbots,鈥� said Fesler.聽鈥淎nd AI tools can help students with things like more individualized feedback, feedback on writing assignments, which can also improve the quality of future essays that students write.鈥�
She said only about 20 high-quality research studies have examined these issues so far, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions. The rapid growth in AI programs and tools also creates challenges for school systems trying to determine which tools are most effective.
鈥淚 think the main thing for schools to be thinking about with student use is really how students are engaging with the tools and whether it’s encouraging students to be engaging more thoughtfully and deeply, and whether it’s giving more actionable feedback for students,鈥� Fesler said.
鈥淥r whether it’s really a tool for students to be offloading some of their thinking onto the AI chatbot.鈥�
When that happens, she said, students generally less likely to retain information.
AI’s impact on teachers
Like workers in many professions, teachers increasingly turning to AI to help with lesson planning and other job-related tasks.
Research suggests some tolls can improve classroom instruction, through findings remains limited and some concerns have emerged.
Fesler said some promising studies have examined AI assistants designed for online tutoring. Other tools can help teachers better understand student performance and allow educators to tailor instruction.
鈥淲hat a lot of teachers are doing with these tools is lesson planning, and there are studies showing that these AI tools can save teachers a lot of time in lesson planning,鈥� said Fesler.
Once they get the hang of it, teachers can upload instructional materials and ask AI tools to adapt lessons for specific classrooms. But the effectiveness of those plans can vary based on the subject matter, students and the teacher’s approach.
In some cases, researchers have found potential downsides.
鈥淲e also need to be a little cautious about this because another study found that teacher use of AI can also decrease student motivation in the classroom,鈥� warned Fesler.
More research will be needed to determine the most effective uses of AI in schools, she said.
鈥淎gain, this is conducted on very few studies, and 鈥� we鈥檙e still learning about this,鈥� Fesler added.
鈥淏ut I think there is kind of consistent findings that AI tools can save teachers a lot of time and can provide teachers with useful information about students in their classrooms.鈥�
Early research suggests the biggest lesson may not be whether AI is used, but how it is used. While many questions remain unanswered, studies indicate AI can provide meaningful support for students and teachers, even as educators continue to evaluate where the technology is most effective and where it may create new challenges.
