👩‍🏫 AI tools give teachers six weeks of extra time per year

• Six out of ten teachers have used AI tools in their work this school year, with higher usage among high school teachers (66 percent) and early-career teachers (69 percent).
• Teachers who use AI weekly save 5.9 hours per week, equivalent to six weeks per school year.
• Most teachers who use AI tools say the tools improve the quality of their classroom work.

AI usage grows among teachers

A study from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation shows that 60 percent of American teachers have used AI tools during the 2024-25 school year. High school teachers and teachers with five years or less experience use the technology most frequently.

Thirty-seven percent of teachers say they use AI tools when preparing to teach at least once a month, making it the most common application. Other common applications include making worksheets (33 percent), modifying student materials to meet students' needs (28 percent), doing administrative work (28 percent), and making assessments (25 percent).

Teachers at schools that have an AI policy are more likely to use AI in their teaching than those at schools that do not (70 percent vs. 60 percent). Only one in five teachers (19 percent) work at schools with an AI policy.

Significant time savings for active users

Teachers who use AI tools at least weekly estimate they save 5.9 hours per week on average. Over a school year, these time savings add up to six extra weeks that teachers can reinvest in other areas.

Qualitative data from the survey shows that teachers use the saved time to provide more nuanced student feedback, create individualized lessons, write emails to parents, and get home to their families at a more reasonable time.

Teachers who invest more time in learning and using AI also derive greater benefits from the technology. Weekly AI users save an average of 5.9 hours each week, while monthly users estimate saving the equivalent of 2.9 hours per week.

Improved quality of work tasks

Most teachers who use AI tools say the tools improve the quality of their everyday work tasks. 64 percent see better quality in the materials they modify to meet student needs. 61 percent generate higher-quality insights about student learning or achievement data. 57 percent say AI improves the quality of their grading and student feedback.

Teachers who use AI more frequently are even more likely to see higher quality in their work tasks when using AI. In many cases, teachers who use AI at least weekly are twice as likely as less-frequent users to say that AI results in "much higher-quality" work.

Schools with policies see greater benefits

Schools with AI policies receive a 26 percent greater "AI dividend" than schools without such policies (2.3 vs. 1.7 hours saved per week per teacher). With more teachers using AI tools, schools with an AI policy earn a greater AI dividend.

Most teachers (68 percent) have not engaged in any training provided by their school or district on how to use AI or AI tools. Teachers are more likely to teach themselves how to use AI than to receive training from their school or district (52 percent vs. 31 percent).

Potential for improving accessibility

57 percent of teachers agree that AI will improve the accessibility of learning materials for students with disabilities. Special education teachers are even more likely to agree that AI will yield this benefit (65 percent).

Roughly half of teachers agree that AI will reduce teacher workload (50 percent), improve the quality of real-time feedback for students (50 percent), and make learning materials more engaging (46 percent).

Teachers who use AI tools have a more confident outlook on AI tools' ability to improve student outcomes. 48 percent of weekly AI users think AI will increase student engagement, compared with 25 percent of non-users.

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