The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $11 million to the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) to launch a multistate initiative to prepare thousands of K-12 educators to teach foundational computer science (CS) and artificial intelligence (AI).
The initiative, dubbed AI Professional Development Weeks (AI PD Weeks), will operate in Indiana, South Carolina, Minnesota, New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois, and at least three other unnamed states over the next two years, NSF said in a press release.
NSF said it expects the initiative to support between 2,500 and 3,000 teachers and improve AI and CS learning opportunities for 500,000 to 600,000 students.
“Artificial Intelligence is transforming every sector of our economy, and American students must be prepared not just to use AI, but to understand it and create with it,” said Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF director.
AI PD Weeks aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year, which ordered certain federal agencies to support the integration of AI into K-12 schools through increased public-private partnerships to equip students with better AI tools and education.
“This investment will equip thousands of educators with the tools needed to bring AI and computer science into the classroom, turning the Executive Order into action and preparing the next generation to become innovators, builders, and leaders. We are thinking beyond AI towards what the White House calls the ‘Future of Intelligence,’” Stone said.
The teaching model will combine intensive and strand-based summer professional development, NSF said. AI PD Weeks will also offer “sustained community support through established state and local networks,” the agency added, which it explained will create “a scalable infrastructure for rapidly expanding AI teaching capacity.”
Teachers who take part in the program will sharpen their understanding of core computer science concepts behind AI; build confidence creating age-appropriate lessons and projects that ask students to use, design, and critique AI systems; and expand AI integration across computer science classes and other suitable subjects, NSF said.
Beyond supporting educators, AI PD Weeks will also examine how teachers integrate AI concepts, tools, and ethics when supported by professional learning and sustained community, NSF added.
“AI is arriving in classrooms faster than AI literacy – and that gap is growing. Computer science provides the foundation students need to truly understand AI, and CS teachers are uniquely positioned to close that gap,” explained Jake Baskin, CSTA executive director.