This guidance was developed to provide an Illinois-specific frame for informed, context-sensitive, and educationally grounded AI use. The guidance grows out of two Public Acts, including
Public Act 104-0399, which charged ISBE with developing statewide guidance on AI use in elementary and secondary education. It is meant to help Illinois educators navigate both the uses and the limitations of AI in prekindergarten through Grade 12 settings.
This guidance supports Illinois school districts as they grapple with the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. It is grounded in four core tenets:
- Teaching and learning are shaped by human relationships and by the experiences, interests, and assets each child brings into school
- Schools serve academic, developmental, and civic purposes concurrently
- Artificial intelligence is a means to inform teaching and learning rather than an end in itself
- Informed use requires deliberate, context-sensitive, and locally determined purpose and use
In plain terms, this guidance helps educators address critical questions such as:
- How can informed use of AI support and enhance teaching and learning?
- What does “informed use of AI" mean in light of supporting the healthy development of young people as individuals and engaged members of a broader society?
- How can schools create durable systems supporting informed AI use that foreground the experiences and responsibilities of those who interact with it?
- How might the experiences of educators, students, parents and caregivers, and other stakeholders inform decisions about the purpose and use of AI?
