AI in Schools: 5 Critical Questions Parents Should Ask Teachers This Year

By Janice Robinson-Celeste

As children return to classrooms, the U.S. Department of Education is putting schools and education technology companies on notice: simply putting a child in front of a screen does not make something educational.

In new federal guidance released August 20, the Department urged schools to look closely at whether classroom technology actually improves learning, how much time students spend using it, and whether schools are being transparent with families. The guidance arrives as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly intertwined with schoolwork, often faster than the conversations happening at home.

For you, that creates an important opportunity at the beginning of the school year. Instead of asking only, “Does my child use AI at school?” there are better questions that can reveal much more about what technology is doing in your child’s classroom.

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. Department of Education says educational technology should have a clear instructional purpose and evidence that it benefits learning.
• Schools are being encouraged to give families greater transparency about technology use and screen time.
• New research suggests many teenagers are already using AI for schoolwork without much AI-literacy instruction.
• You can use five straightforward questions to start a conversation with your child’s teacher or school.

AI Is Already in the Backpack

This isn’t a conversation about some distant technological future.

A nationally representative August survey of 1,017 U.S. teenagers by Common Sense Media’s Youth AI Safety Institute found that 70% use AI for schoolwork. Among teens using AI, 63% reported using it to get answers for schoolwork in some way. Yet only 27% said a teacher had talked with them about what AI is and how it works.

The Education Department’s latest guidance takes a broader view than AI alone. It says technology should serve a genuine instructional purpose, be supported by evidence, minimize unnecessary screen time, and be implemented transparently.

And it offers five remarkably simple questions that every education technology product should be able to answer.

1. What Learning Problem Does This Technology Solve?

Start here.

Ask your child’s teacher what the technology is supposed to accomplish. Is it helping your child practice reading? Providing accessibility support? Offering advanced material? Giving the teacher faster feedback about where your child is struggling?

“Technology” isn’t an educational objective.

The Department says schools should focus on learning impact and choose tools based on evidence, not novelty. That means you can reasonably ask what educational problem a particular app, platform, device, or AI system is there to solve.

2. When Should My Child Use It?

A tool might be useful for one assignment and unnecessary for another.

Ask when your child is expected to use the technology and, equally important, when the teacher expects your child to work without it.

That distinction is becoming especially important with generative AI. Common Sense Media found that 38% of teens who use AI said it causes them to generate fewer of their own ideas, while 39% said they feel they are missing out on learning when they use AI to complete assignments.

You don’t necessarily need a school to ban AI. You need to understand the boundaries.

3. Is This Tool Appropriate for My Child?

The federal guidance asks, “For whom should it be used?”

Turn that into a personal question.

Is the tool appropriate for your child’s age, abilities, learning needs, and developmental level? If your child receives special education services or accommodations, ask how the technology supports those needs rather than creating another barrier.

Technology can expand access, including for students with disabilities, according to the Education Department, but schools still need to consider whether a particular tool works for the particular students using it.

4. How Long Is My Child Using It?

Ask about actual screen time, not simply whether screens are present.

The Department specifically called for greater transparency about how much time students spend on screens, how technology is being implemented, and whether that time contributes to meaningful learning.

That gives you a much more useful question for your child’s teacher:

“About how much of the school day is my child using a device, and what is that screen time replacing?”

You may discover that a laptop is being used for a few targeted activities. Or you may learn that much more of your child’s day is digital than you realized.

Either way, now you know.

5. What Evidence Shows That It Improves Learning?

This may be the most powerful school AI question for parents.

Ask what evidence convinced the school or district that the product helps children learn.

The Education Department says schools should review technology’s effectiveness regularly and be willing to change course when evidence shows a tool isn’t improving learning.

You aren’t asking the teacher to produce a research paper at pickup. You are asking a reasonable question: How do we know this is helping my child?

Why This Matters for Black Parents Right Now

Access to technology isn’t the only equity question.

An August 2026 Bellwether report on parent voice and artificial intelligence found that families are entering the AI era with different levels of access, awareness, previous technology experience, trust in schools, and knowledge about how AI may affect their children’s futures. The researchers warn that ignoring those differences risks deepening existing inequities.

The report also found that parents have not been meaningfully included in many decisions about how AI is being used in schools.

That makes asking questions particularly important. You don’t need to understand how a large language model works to have a voice in decisions affecting your child’s education. To calculate your child’s screen time at home check out our screen time guide for children as young as age two.

What About Your Child’s Data?

Add one more question when AI or outside apps are involved:

What information does this tool collect about my child, and who can access it?

The Education Department’s Student Privacy Policy Office says schools must consider federal student-privacy requirements when educational applications access personally identifiable information from education records. It also warns that online services can introduce privacy and security vulnerabilities.

Ask which platforms are school-approved, what student information they receive, and whom you should contact if you have privacy concerns.

In Summary

You don’t have to become a technology expert before school starts.

You need to remain an expert on your child.

Ask what the technology is supposed to accomplish, when it should be used, whether it’s right for your child, how long your child uses it, and what evidence shows that it works. Then ask what happens to your child’s data.

The goal isn’t to fear every new tool entering the classroom. It’s to make sure technology serves your child’s education instead of your child quietly serving as the test case for the technology.

And that conversation can begin with five questions.