As artificial intelligence increasingly becomes part of daily life, policies regarding its use lag behind. A majority of teachers say they do not receive any formal guidance on using AI in school, according to the newest segment of Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation’s “Teaching for Tomorrow” study, called “Closing the Expectations Gap.”
Teachers are not only unclear on their schools’ AI guidelines but also on the expectations for excellent teaching in general.
The “expectations gap” – as referred to by Gallup – impacts teachers’ sense of satisfaction with their job, level of burnout and willingness to continue teaching, with those factors improving as expectations become more clear and realistic.
From February 9 to March 2, Gallup surveyed more than 2,000 K-12 teachers in American public schools, recruited from the RAND American Teacher Panel – a representative, probability-based sample group.
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Teachers today are expected to do “one-and-a-half jobs” and must be selective with their priorities as time and resources are short, says Andrea Malek Ash, Gallup senior researcher for this study. When their job expectations are unclear and unrealistic, teachers become even more strained.
Using AI in the Classroom
It is difficult for school policies to keep up with the speed at which AI is becoming part of education. This leaves teachers with little guidance on using teachers using AI in school – 82% say they receive no formal guidance at all. The majority of those that do receive guidance get it from informal sources.
“The fact that those formal policies are so uncommon does make me think there’s a hurdle to getting them started,” says Malek Ash.
Nearly 7 in 10 teachers (69%) say they receive no guidance on how to deploy AI in one-on-one instruction or tutoring. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) are not advised on using AI for grading and feedback, and almost half (47%) are not advised on using AI to create assignments and other class materials.
The numbers are even starker for teachers at higher-need schools, as they are even less likely to receive guidance on using AI: 49% of teachers at lower-income schools are advised on using AI to create worksheets and assignments compared to 59% of teachers at wealthier schools.
Teachers and students at schools with AI policies are more likely to use the tool, says Malek Ash.
In a previous Gallup study74% of Gen Zers reported that their schools have policies for using AI but just 25% of teachers say the same. “We believe that students are probably getting ad-hoc guidance from teachers, while teachers are reporting the incidence of an actual, formal policy that comes from the school or district,” says Malek Ash.
The Cost of Unrealistic Job Expectations
Though AI-use is a hot topic in education, the survey explored other challenges facing educators.
Teachers are somewhat split on whether they believe the expectations for excellent teaching at their school are realistic.
Slightly more than half of teachers (55%) think the expectations for excellent teaching are somewhat, not very or not at all realistic.
Teachers who feel the expectations are very realistic are more likely to be engaged at work and be satisfied with their job, while they are less likely to experience burnout. More than three-quarters of teachers who reported unrealistic expectations at school show frequent burnout.
The same goes for clarity from administration regarding school policies: Teachers with clear communication from their school leaders are more likely to be satisfied with their job and be engaged at work, and less likely to experience frequent burnout.
Clear communication is a tangible point of improvement for schools and it doesn’t cost money, says Malek Ash. The benefits for teacher well-being can be “enormous.”
The data also shows a positive association between teachers’ clarity on their job expectations and their retention rates – 94% of those who say the expectations for excellent teaching are extremely realistic (the highest on Gallup’s scale) plan to continue teaching the next school year, compared to 74% of teachers who say expectations are “not too realistic or not realistic at all.”
Malek Ash says the study’s message is for schools to be transparent in their communication with teachers, which in turn will improve teachers’ satisfaction, engagement, well-being and retention.