Massachusetts education officials have released statewide guidance urging schools to use the technology thoughtfully, with an emphasis on equity, transparency, academic integrity and human oversight.
“AI already surrounds young people. It is baked into the devices and apps they use, and is increasingly used in nearly every system they will encounter in their lives, from health care to banking,” the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s new AI Literacy Module for Educators says. “Knowledge of how these systems operate — and how they may serve or undermine individuals’ and society’s goals — helps bridge classroom learning with the decisions they will face outside school.”
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the learning module for educators, as well as a new Generative AI Police Guidance document on Monday ahead of the 2025-2026 school year, a formal attempt to set parameters around the technology that has infiltrated education. Both were developed in response to recommendations from a statewide AI Task Force and are meant to give schools a consistent framework for deciding when, how and why to use AI in ways that are safe, ethical and instructionally meaningful.
This resource helps educators build AI literacy through practical support, real-world examples, and guided reflection. This is not a classroom toolkit — instead, the focus is on developing educators’ own understanding – no matter their beliefs, emotions, or experiences with AI.
This resource was authored by a team from the Center for Emerging Educational Practices at the Collaborative for Educational Services, led by Dr. Rebecca Mazur. That team was guided by DESE’s AI Task Force, DESE’s Office of Educational Technology, led by Jackie Gantzer and AJ Coté, DESE’s Digital Literacy and Computer Science Team, led by Paula Moore and Alva Laster, and DESE’s AI Strategy Consultant, Greg Kulowiec of The Kulowiec Group.
Dr. Mazur described the work: “Our team has a wealth of expertise about instruction, educational technologies, and what really matters to teachers and students. We came to AI with that background, and the voices of so many critical scholars whose work has helped us understand technology over time — people like Emily Bender, Ruha Benjamin, Kate Crawford, Sepehr Vakil, Justin Reich, and so many others. Our role is, in part, to translate their wisdom into accessible, practical learning for educators that is grounded in research, not in the marketing language of technology companies.
Our close work with practicing educators keeps us in conversation with their needs and perspectives; when we created the AI literacy resource for DESE, we knew we had an opportunity to do some good work on behalf of our state’s instructional force. DESE’s office of Educational Technology was incredibly receptive to what we wanted to do, and their AI strategy consultant, Greg Kulowiec, was also a big resource and supporter of this work. I don’t know how other states operate, but I feel so much pride when I think about the approach that our state’s EdTech policy makers are taking to AI — it’s about equity, ethics, integrity, and what will be right for teachers and students. It’s not about “innovating” at any cost or buying into narratives pushed by industry or media.”
AI Literacy for Educators can be found on the DESE website.