A university-run program focused on bringing artificial intelligence into the K-12 classroom is expanding into more school systems after receiving $1 million from Google.
Five new districts or regions will join the University of Pennsylvania’s Pioneering AI in School Systems program in December, it announced, supported by Google’s philanthropic arm.
The funding represents a significant expansion for the program, which was launched by the university’s Graduate School of Education this spring in a single district, the 198,000-student Philadelphia system.
The goal of the initiative is to encourage “ethical and effective AI use at every level” of the K-12 system through a three-tier professional development model, program leaders said in a statement. Topics include access, data privacy, model bias, and ethical implementation.
“By equipping educators with the tools, knowledge, and ethical frameworks they need, we are helping to shape a future where AI enhances learning and promotes equity in every classroom,” Michael Golden, vice dean of innovative programs and partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, said in a statement.
The program, offered free of charge, provides separate trainings for district administrators, school leaders, and educators. District leaders learn about policy development and strategic vision, while school leaders focus on building capacity and supporting teacher development, the university said.
Educators’ PD is centered around how to engage AI in classroom-based learning, practice, and resource sharing.
The new participants will be systems in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware, according to the announcement.
This investment by Google comes at a time when conversations about AI policy in K-12 education are gaining momentum, and generative AI’s presence in educational tools and services is growing.
In August, Ohio became the first state to require all of its K-12 schools to develop AI policies, EdWeek Market Brief previously reported. Other states may follow by passing similar legislation.
The efforts put pressure on school district leaders to familiarize themselves with the emerging tech and the known best practices.
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Google chose to support the Penn program because of the national need for a strategy to improve human capacity for using AI, Tequila Lamar, Google’s education engagement lead, said in a statement.
“It provides the blueprint for effective and equitable AI professional development,” Lamar said. “By building expertise at every level — from district administrators setting policy to school leaders and educators — this initiative creates a comprehensive, system-level framework that has the potential to become a national model for public education.”
