Formative Spaces
The Newsroom
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2026
Beyond the headline
FORMATIVESPACES.COM

Research files / K–12 policy

AI in Schools

Compare official AI policies for students, families and schools.

Reviewed file · October 6, 2026 Sources & Notes

The Visual Edition

School AI rules in charts

Compare student use, family notice and legal deadlines in 16 charts. Read the official sources. Download and share branded graphics.

Open the visual edition →

New research reports

Who Sets the Rules for Classroom AI

State law, district approval and teacher permission can set separate limits on classroom AI. Family choices and human-review requirements also vary.

Find a policy

More filters

Date filters use exact start dates that official sources establish. They exclude dates given only as a month or school year, and dates the source does not specify.

Reset

3 matching documents

Current documents & guidance · United States. Clear all filters

Official AI policy instruments, including scope, document status, timing, and links to sources
Place & authorityWhat it saysWho / what it coversStatus & timingDetails
United StatesFederal Trade CommissionChildren’s online privacy: 2025 final amendments

The COPPA amendments limit covered operators’ retention of children’s personal information and require a written retention policy. The rule has distinct effective and compliance dates.

The rule covers websites and online services that meet its definitions and collect personal information from children under 13. It does not cover every school or every AI product.

Final ruleThe rule took effect June 23, 2025. The general compliance date is April 22, 2026.Read record: Children’s online privacy: 2025 final amendments, United States →
United StatesFederal Trade CommissionCOPPA policy statement on education technology

The FTC explains COPPA limits on unnecessary data collection and unrelated commercial use when covered education-technology operators rely on school authorization.

The statement covers COPPA-covered education-technology operators and children covered by COPPA. School authorization is limited to the requested educational service. The statement does not create a new AI-specific rule.

Agency interpretationPublished statement checked October 6, 2026Read record: COPPA policy statement on education technology, United States →
United StatesNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyGenerative AI risk management profile

NIST’s voluntary generative-AI risk profile describes privacy risks from training-data exposure and sensitive-data inference. It provides context for evaluating tools, without creating a school mandate.

Cross-sector AI developers, deployers, evaluators, and governance teams. The profile is not specific to K–12 and does not approve products or impose district duties.

Voluntary frameworkJuly 2024 voluntary cross-sector profileRead record: Generative AI risk management profile, United States →

Compare one question

Select 2–4 documents. The comparison uses the same topic, actor, grade, use, and date filters for each.

Result sources

United States: Children’s online privacy: 2025 final amendments

COPPA is not specific to AI. This file includes it as federal privacy context for covered services used in education. The general compliance date governs date searches for the retention provisions shown here. Other provisions may have different schedules.

  1. Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 76 (Tuesday, April 22, 2025): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-04-22/html/2025-05904.htm · Final regulatory text, §312.10. Checked October 6, 2026
United States: COPPA policy statement on education technology

This record is an agency interpretation of COPPA. It does not establish a new statutory enactment, a universal school consent power, or blanket coverage of every AI service. Read it alongside the separately sourced 2025 final amendments.

  1. Policy Statement of the Federal Trade Commission on Education Technology: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Policy%20Statement%20of%20the%20Federal%20Trade%20Commission%20on%20Education%20Technology.pdf · Prohibition Against Mandatory Collection. Checked October 6, 2026
United States: Generative AI risk management profile

The voluntary federal framework provides context across sectors. It does not impose a binding education rule. The source gives July 2024 as the publication month. This file does not assign an exact effective day.

  1. Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework: Generative Artificial Intelligence Profile: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ai/NIST.AI.600-1.pdf · Introduction. Checked October 6, 2026

Release 2026-10-06-875e416b4116. This printout includes the current result page and any selected comparison.

Sources & Notes

How to read this file

Each row describes one official law, policy, model or guidance document. Related provisions appear together. State models and guidance can require local adoption. Proposals do not establish enacted requirements. Each record includes status, dates, scope and exceptions.

The default view shows adopted policies, current published documents and guidance. Future enacted changes, proposals, and historical bills have separate views.

Source numbers link to the official publication and the relevant section. Each source includes an excerpt, a text fingerprint and a review date.

What this file covers

This release contains 24 reviewed instruments: 3 federal instruments, documents from 15 state jurisdictions, and policies or guidance from 3 district governance units. Counts show records in this file. They do not measure national adoption.

Research coverage is partial. We did not search every state or district. A missing record does not show whether AI use is allowed or prohibited. We give an exact start date only when a source establishes it.

New York City covers several local education agencies (LEAs). It has no single NCES district ID in this file. Other pilot districts use the 2025–2026 directory from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Coverage by state and district pilot

District pilot

Release 2026-10-06-875e416b4116. Each record shows its latest source check. A failed source check does not change a published finding or its review date. Public summaries and provision references are available below. Raw evidence copies and private review files remain private.

Public policy summaries & provision references (JSON) · This published release. Structured data preserves scope, dates, exceptions and source locations.

Related reporting

Explore Formative Spaces research →

Looking for courses or programs? Explore AI learning resources for students →