Washington’s AI Education Policy Landscape

Student Population : 1,073,200

Official Policies

UPDATE: In March 2024, Washington’s OSPI released Version 2 of their “Human-Centered AI: Guidance for K-12 Public Schools”, in which they added to their “first in the nation” focus on Human-Centered AI, and added policies regarding data collection, third-party AI tools, and personal information.

In January 2024, the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction released a resource called “Human-Centered AI: Guidance for K-12 Public Schools”, as the state became just the 5th to release comprehensive guidance regarding the use of AI in the classroom.

No mention of Artificial Intelligence on SBEWA site besides notes on a meeting in 2020 acknowledging AI’s future capabilities to match a student’s learning with six posted “competencies”.

As of January 2024, The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will soon “issue guidance embracing artificial intelligence as an educational tool”, hoping to be at the forefront of AI Education policy alongside early leaders (California and Oregon).

On Washington’s official government site, there is a link to Tumwater School District’s site (a large district near Seattle), where there is a short article from February entitled “AI in Education – ChatGTP [sic] & More”

In the News

GovTech published an article on April 2nd, 2024, in which it provided a comprehensive explanation on Version 2 of the OSPI AI Resource.

Universities

UWashington provides information on AI content generators on their “Academic Misconduct” section of their Community Standards, stating that “Artificial Intelligence (AI) content generators, such as ChatGPT, present opportunities that can contribute to your learning and academic work. However, using these technologies may also violate the academic standards of the University”. In October 2023, Vice President for Student Life Denzil J. Suite wrote a letter to the university regarding “AI tools and academic integrity” which sent a similar message.