AI in school libraries report

A recent report examined K-12 teaching about AI. Some of the key recommendations are based more around how we assign and assess student work, rather than on AI as a specific technology. For example, the report suggested moving away from AI detectors or other adversarial approaches to assessment re-design and instead seeking more valid evidence of student understanding. 

Harris, C. et al. (2026). TeachingAbout.AI K-12 Field Report.  Teaching About. https://teachingabout.ai/report-for-the-k-12-field/

For Classroom Teachers

• Move from punishment to a restorative protocol for suspected AI misuse: conversation, redo opportunity, explicit teaching about the purpose of the assignment.
• Pilot Black Box Assessment in two or three units per grade band where the work has traditionally been a take-home product. Capture and credit the rough draft, the revision, and the rationale—not only the final paper.
• Use AI feedback as preparation for human feedback, not as a substitute. A chatbot can scaffold a first draft; only a teacher can tell a student what the work means and provide recognition.

For Principals and Instructional Leaders

• Reframe district planning documents from “AI policy” to “teaching and learning in an AI-mediated context.” The shift is not cosmetic; it changes what counts as a relevant solution and who needs to be in the room.
• Issue explicit, written permission from district leadership: this is the year we redesign. Specify what divergence is allowed, what evidence is requested, and what supports are available.
• Replace “AI ban” and “AI mandate” framings with explicit harm-reduction policies. Name the harms (engagement-driven design, parasocial bonding, deepfake abuse) and the mitigations.

For School Librarians

• Empower school librarians as in-house consultants on task redesign. Their co-teaching role across subject areas makes them well placed to coach colleagues through structural redesign one unit at a time.
• Use the LibraryReady.AI PreK–12 scope and sequence as a backbone. It is grade-banded, librarian-friendly, and built for exactly this work in all levels of classrooms.
• Treat school librarians as the in-district R&D unit. Their broad view across classrooms, their information-evaluation skills, and their relationship to the LibraryReady.AI scope and sequence make them ideal redesign partners.

Harris, C. et al. (2026). TeachingAbout.AI K-12 Field Report

Reading Instruction Report

 Drawing on the spring 2023 American Instructional Resources Survey, the authors examine teachers' use of foundational reading activities in their instruction. These activities correspond to the four foundational reading skill domains for kindergarten-through-grade-5 students that are set forth in the Common Score of State Standards: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.

The authors compare teacher responses by grades taught, characteristics of their schools and classrooms (e.g., students' race or ethnicity, English language proficiency, disability status), and by state policy context.

Key Findings

• Roughly two-thirds of elementary and one-third of middle and high school English language arts teachers frequently engaged their students in foundational reading activities.
• Secondary teachers who served schools with a majority of students of color and who taught classes with more than 10 percent English learners were more likely to engage their students in these activities.
• Elementary teachers with many students with Individualized Education Programs were less likely to frequently engage their students in these activities.
• Secondary teachers in states with reading legislation were significantly more likely to frequently engage their students in these activities than those in other states.

Shapiro, A., Lee, S., Woo, L. (2024).  Exploring foundational reading skill instruction in K12 schools. RAND.

https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA100/RRA134-23/RAND_RRA134-23.pdf

Academic integrity, copyright in K-12 schools

 569 school library practitioners in 85 countries participated in a study to investigate the current landscape of academic integrity and copyright literacy policies and instruction in K–12 schools. The researchers identified challenges and opportunities in this crucial domain, underscoring the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to teaching academic integrity and copyright literacy regardless of the specific curriculum followed by each school. The study found that many K-12 schools lack policies on academic integrity and copyright, with variability in teaching practices, highlighting the need for improved education and collaboration between school library professionals and teachers. 

Hossain, Z., Celik, O., & Hertel, C. (2024).  Academic integrity and copyright literacy policy and instruction in k-12 schools: a global study from the perspective of school library professionals. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 4, article no. 4.

https://edintegrity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s40979-024-00150-x

Reading Intervention Programs Literature Review

 Noticing that most scholarly efforts to examine the efficacy of reading intervention (RI) programs reviewed quantitative analyses of changes in reading tests, investigators reviewed 20 years of research, specifically examining two key facets of RI: placement and curriculum. What they discovered was a perpetuating cycle of instruction that keeps students trapped in intervention programs.

Learned, J., Frankel, K, & Brooks, M. (2022). Disrupting Secondary Reading Intervention: A Review of Qualitative Research and a Call to Action. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 65(6), 507-517. https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jaal.1234

Libarian-Teacher Co-Instruction Study

A recent three-year study examined how school librarians and classroom teachers co-teach to facilitate learner-centered instruction, including inquiry and maker learning. The research team found that that co-teaching occurred through co-planning prior to and throughout the units. School librarians reported to have used various instructional methods such as scaffolding, modeling, mentoring, and coaching. Classroom teachers reported to have brought differing expertise as the content-area experts. The co-teaching relationships evolved over time, and the findings suggest school librarian-classroom teacher co-teaching significantly facilitates learner-centered instruction in schools. 

Koh, K., Ge, X., & Prytrlls, J. (2022). Librarian-Teacher Co-Teaching and the Role of School Librarians in Facilitating Inquiry and Maker Learning. School Library Research. www.ala.org/aasl/slr

Library Instruction and teaching experience research

 New research examines the relationship between years of traditional classroom teaching experience and teaching in school library instructional environments. A longstanding shortage of certified school librarians in Maryland inspired David E. Robinson and Scot W. McNary to examine the preparation of school librarians with varying levels of prior teaching experience. Their primary research question was: in the role of teacher, what is the relationship between years of teaching experience and school librarian candidates’ effectiveness in planning, implementing, and reflecting on school library-based instruction.

Robinson, D., &  McNary, S.  (2021). School library instruction: Does teaching matter? School Library Research. 

https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/pubs/slr/vol24/SLR_SchoolLibraryInstruction_V24.pdf

Survey of digital material use by teachers

This researh adds new insights from English language arts (ELA), math, and science teachers on their use of digital materials. Drawing on data from the spring 2019 American Instructional Resources Survey, researchers share the digital materials that ELA, math, and science teachers across the United States reported using regularly for instruction during the 2018–2019 school year. Researchers then examine how teachers' use of these materials compares with their use of comprehensive curriculum materials, as well as teacher-reported barriers to digital material use. Researchers also explore several hypotheses regarding factors that might influence digital material use.

Key Findings

• Most teachers use digital materials both for planning and classroom instruction. However, they use these materials to supplement other curriculum materials rather than as main materials.
• For all subjects, the top digital materials used during instructional time include a mix of general resources, such as YouTube, and content-specific resources, such as ReadWorks and Khan Academy.
• Teachers who used standards-aligned curricula, who had more low-income students, or who attended certain teacher preparation programs were more likely to use digital materials.
• Expense was the most commonly cited barrier to digital material use, even more so among teachers with more low-income students.

Tosh, K., et al. (2020). Digital instructional materials: What are teachers using and what barriers exist? Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2575z17.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=NPA:2435:6021:Apr%2016,%202020%207:40:01%20AM%20PDT&utm_campaign=NPA:2435:6021:Apr%2016,%202020%207:40:01%20AM%20PDT

Technology’s Impact on Education – Digital Learning Tools in Classes

Education Week released a special report investigating the impact technology is having in K-12 schools as digital learning tools flood classrooms across the country. The report reveals that technology is failing to reach its full potential in K-12 schools, despite the rapid infusion of new devices and technologies into the classroom. Further, disparities in technology access and adoption, and in the ways new tools are integrated into instruction, may be fueling a new digital divide that threatens to exacerbate long-standing inequities and separate education’s haves and have-nots along new fault lines.  

Herold, B. (2017). Technology counts 2017: Classroom tech: Where schools stand. Bethesda, MD: Education Week.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/06/14/poor-students-face-digital-divide-in-teacher-technology-training.html

Blended Classrooms and Student Achievement

Blackboard partners with districts nationwide to help them deliver their vision for blended learning and improve student achievement through their ebook. According to the report, students now learn through both online learning and supervised brick-and-mortar instruction. They watch flipped lessons on their devices, teach each other concepts, work in groups or alone, and interact individually with the teacher. They do just about everything except sit quietly in rows of desks.

Key information provided in this report includes:

• Data on how blended learning has taken off
• Best practices for supporting blended classrooms
• Top functions your technology must perform to enhance a blended experience

Blackboard (2018). A blended classroom: 5 ways to blend with Blackboard. Washington, D.C. Blackboard. https://www.slideshare.net/BlackboardInc/bb-e-bookblendedv8-1