AI in K–12 Education Navigating the Challenges: Conference White Paper

How can K–12 schools integrate artificial intelligence while strengthening students’ capacity to think, learn, and act independently? Prepared for the 2026 AI in K–12 Education: Navigating the Challenges conference at the International School of Boston, this white paper brings together seven contributions from educators and school leaders. It examines six interconnected challenges: assessment and feedback, critical thinking, well-being, environmental responsibility, pedagogy and practice, and leadership. Drawing on research, institutional experience, classroom accounts, and proposed interventions, the contributions explore distributed leadership, AI governance and data protection, reflective teaching, writing feedback, mathematics intervention, adolescent relationships with AI, and AI-assisted research. A central concern is the distinction between improved task performance with AI assistance and the development of durable understanding and independent judgment. The collection connects practical approaches to broader questions of cognitive agency, human relationships, and intellectual sovereignty, the disposition to retain ownership of one’s thinking and responsibility for judgment. Acknowledging the limits of its contributions, the white paper provides a basis for professional inquiry and context-sensitive decisions. It advocates purposeful, critically examined AI use, guided by clear learning goals, teacher judgment, and ongoing evaluation of educational outcomes.