A cross-sectional look at teacher reactions, worries, and professional development needs related to generative AI in an urban school district

Abstract

Public interest has surged around artificial intelligence (AI) due to new capabilities demonstrated by new AI chatbot technologies, such as ChatGPT. This study investigates teachers’ immediate perceptions, concerns, and professional development needs with respect to AI in a large urban school district. Using a mixed methods approach, we analyzed survey responses from 1,454 teachers to understand how teacher attitudes toward AI chatbots are associated with characteristics such as grade level taught, subject area, and teaching experience. Findings identify key concerns and benefits teachers report for themselves and for their students regarding the adaptation of AI chatbot usage in educational settings. Teachers in secondary school settings were less willing to allow AI chatbot usage, relative to those in elementary settings. While elementary and middle school teachers prioritized basic AI literacy as a professional development need, high school teachers emphasized strategies for guiding students to use AI and detecting AI-generated work. These findings offer insights for developing targeted professional development programs and policies for effective AI integration across K-12 settings.