Key points:
- AI literacy is a matter of professional practice, not simply tech training
- Building an everyday equitable practice for AI in schools
- Career readiness in the AI era needs decision practice, not just tool access
- For more news on AI in teacher prep, visit eSN’s Digital Learning hub
A new national framework from AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) aims to help educator preparation programs (EPPs) navigate the rapidly changing role of artificial intelligence in education.
The framework, AI Framework for Educator Preparation, developed through collaboration among members of the AACTE Programmatic Advisory Committee on Innovation and Technology, AACTE leadership, Board of Directors, and external reviewers, reflects a shared commitment to ensuring that AI strengthens educator preparation while keeping human relationships and professional expertise at the center.
“Artificial intelligence presents both tremendous opportunity and significant responsibility for educator preparation,” said Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Ph.D., AACTE President and CEO. “AACTE’s Framework reflects our commitment to ensuring that technology serves, not supplants, the expertise, ethics, and professional judgment of educators.”
The widespread adoption of AI is changing what educators need to know and what they need to be able to do. EPPs have a critical role in ensuring that future educators can evaluate AI-generated information, recognize bias and limitations, protect student privacy, promote equitable access, and make sound decisions about how AI fits into teaching and learning.
The framework centers this work on four interconnected areas:
- Ethical and policy guardrails: AI literacy, privacy, equity, accessibility, and responsible governance.
- Clinical practice and implementation: Evaluating AI systems and integrating them thoughtfully into teaching and learning.
- Cognitive architecture and advocacy: Understanding metacognition, cognitive load, algorithmic bias, and how AI can support rather than diminish human thinking.
- Professional expertise and human judgment: Ensuring educators remain responsible for instructional decisions, student relationships, ethical reasoning, and culturally responsive practice.
Together, these areas position AI literacy as a matter of professional practice, not simply technology training.
This new framework marks the beginning of AACTE’s continued work on AI and educator preparation as technologies and their applications in education continue to evolve, and is available as a resource for EPPs seeking to prepare future educators for an AI-enabled profession.