Poll: Lack of AI Guidelines, Unclear Expectations Increase Teacher Burnout | Education News
Poll: Lack of AI Guidelines, Unclear Expectations Increase Teacher Burnout | Education News
Publish Date: 2026-05-27 00:01:00
Source Domain: www.usnews.com
As artificial intelligence increasingly becomes part of daily life, policies regarding its use lag behind. A majority of teachers say they do not receive any formal guidance on using AI in school, according to the newest segment of Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation’s “Teaching for Tomorrow” study, called “Closing the Expectations Gap.”
Teachers are not only unclear on their schools’ AI guidelines but also on the expectations for excellent teaching in general.
The “expectations gap” – as referred to by Gallup – impacts teachers’ sense of satisfaction with their job, level of burnout and willingness to continue teaching, with those factors improving as expectations become more clear and realistic.
From February 9 to March 2, Gallup surveyed more than 2,000 K-12 teachers in American public schools, recruited from the RAND American Teacher Panel – a representative, probability-based sample group.
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Teachers today are expected to do “one-and-a-half jobs” and must be selective with their priorities as time and resources are short, says Andrea Malek Ash, Gallup senior researcher for this study. When their job expectations are unclear and unrealistic, teachers become even more strained.
Using AI in the Classroom
It is difficult for school policies to keep up with the speed at which AI is becoming part of education. This leaves teachers with little guidance on using teachers using AI in school – 82% say they receive no formal guidance at all. The majority of those that do receive guidance get it from informal sources.
“The fact that those formal policies are so uncommon does make me think there’s a hurdle to…
