Administrative and Policy Considerations

AI guidance documents help districts lay a solid foundation for responsible AI use—aligning leadership teams, securing data, managing risk, and planning professional learning.

Without clear guidance, AI strategy can drift into risky deployments. Begin by running a guidance checklist with your leadership team:

• TeachAI.org AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit 
• Leon Furze's AI Assessment Scale
• CoSN’s K–12 Generative AI Readiness Checklist 
• CoSN/CGCS K–12 Gen AI Maturity Tool 
• ISTE’s AI in Education
•  AASA’s Guiding AI’s Responsible Use in Schools 

To ground your policy in proven principles, reference:

• OECD Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence 
• UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence 

AI policies codify rules and procedures for adopting AI—defining acceptable use, privacy protections (e.g., FERPA), equity considerations, and accountability measures. Start drafting or updating yours by reviewing:

• NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) 
• UNESCO’s Guidance for Generative AI in Education & Research 
• AASA’s policy templates for school leaders 
• U.S. Department of Education’s Artificial Intelligence Guidance

Protecting student and staff data is critical when using AI tools in schools. Follow these key steps and trusted resources to safeguard your district:

• FERPA & COPPA Compliance
• CISA Secure by Design Pledge
• CoSN Privacy Toolkit
• Common Sense Education’s privacy evaluations and ratings
• Student Data Privacy Consortium

The following resources could be used by a cross-functional AI governance team to lead risk assessments, audit tool compliance, and regularly revisit your AI policies.

• CoSN – AI Leadership Toolkit
• TeachAI.org – AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit
• ISTE – Standards for Education Leaders

These resources are available to support teams in planning professional development.

• TeachAI.org AI Literacy
• Digital Promise’s AI Literacy Framework
•  AI4K12 
• Advanced Learning Partnerships (ALP) Resources
• Edutopia Effective Professional Learning on AI
• CoSN Generative AI Readiness Checklist
• AI Literacy Framework: European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Choosing the right AI solution involves more than exploring features. These rubrics and frameworks are a guide through key dimensions—curriculum alignment, privacy, bias, accessibility, cost, and more—to help districts or classrooms make consistent, informed decisions.

•  Rubric for Evaluating AI Tools in Education (Control Alt Achieve / Eric Curts)  
•  Teacher Rubric & Checklist for Assessing AI Tools (TCEA)  
•  DOMS™ AI-Ed Tools Evaluation Rubric (Dr Philippa Hardman) 
•  Rubric for AI Tool Evaluation: Fundamental Criteria (eCampusOntario) 
•  AI Risk Assessments (Common Sense Media) 
•  A Rubric for Evaluating E-Learning Tools (EDUCAUSE) 
•  Unified Evaluation Rubric (Advanced Learning Partnerships) 
•  Unified Evaluation Rubric User Guide (Advanced Learning Partnerships)