WashU’s Institute for School Partnership (ISP) will play a central role in a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary initiative focused on the safe, developmentally appropriate integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12 and higher education.
Made possible with a newly-awarded Spark Grant, the Initiative is co-led by ISP Associate Director Rachel Ruggirello, WashU Professor of Political Science and Vice Provost of Innovation Betsy Sinclair, and WashU Professor and Vice Provost for Artificial Intelligence Nathan Jacobs.
Drs. Ruggirello, Sinclair and Jacobs will unite a cross-disciplinary team of faculty, technologists, and K-12 educators to co-design AI-related instructional tools grounded in the learning sciences. Collaborators will include experts from WashU’s Center for Teaching and Learning, Digital Intelligence and Innovation (DI2) Accelerator,Information Technology, WashU Libraries, and the ISP.
ISP Research and Practitioner Team Centering the Effort
ISP Research and Evaluation Specialist Alison Brockhouse and Instructional Specialist Alex Gerber will bring a deep expertise in K-12 collaboration and community-engaged research that anchors the project’s connection to real classrooms.
“By grounding this work in educators’ perspectives and experiences, we’re positioned to develop a cohesive, scalable framework for AI integration that is both ethically sound and genuinely useful in real classrooms — not just in theory,” said Brockhouse.
Working with regional school districts, the ISP team has recruited a cohort of seven K-12 educators from diverse school contexts to participate in and extend the impact of WashU’s AI Curriculum Corps (AICC). The ISP will lead the effort to work with educators to adapt and translate AICC experiences into K-12 contexts — generating practice-based insights into how AI integration shapes student learning, engagement, and well-being.
From Local Insight to National Impact
Spark funding will support St. Louis K-12 teachers’ participation in the AI Curriculum Corps, building shared knowledge about safe and innovative AI use in real classroom contexts, but the insights gathered will do more than inform local practice.
“This work will generate the qualitative evidence needed to inform a broader, interdisciplinary AI literacy framework — one designed to support coherence across educational transitions, from elementary school through college,” says Ruggirello. “Through sustained partnerships with area educators, we’re building a critical foundation that can serve as a model for authentic research-practice partnerships nationwide.”
For more information about the ISP’s role in this initiative, contact Rachel Ruggirello.