AI Governance in Education

OVERVIEW

What is AI governance in education?

AI governance is the policy, structural, and institutional layer that makes AI literacy durable. It moves beyond one-time professional development or single-platform certifications to embed AI literacy into the systems — licensing requirements, curriculum standards, professional learning infrastructure — that shape education at scale.

AI-LIFT’s governance approach is coordinated at the state level, aligning higher education, K–12, workforce development, and economic development systems so that AI literacy is integrated into the teaching and learning pipeline rather than added on top of it.

In September 2025, Drs. Amarda Shehu and Padhu Seshaiyer co-authored Reference Guide for AI Integration in Education
in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This reference guide, informed by the 2025 AI in Education Summit, provides a practical roadmap for integrating artificial intelligence across Virginia’s K–12 schools, community colleges, and four-year universities. It identifies six priority domains for action: policy development, curriculum and pedagogy, professional development, opportunity and access, industry and inter-institutional collaboration, and responsible AI in high-stakes educational environments. A central theme throughout is the need for equitable, inclusive adoption — ensuring students in rural and under-resourced communities have the same access to AI literacy and tools as those in well-funded districts. The guide emphasizes that AI should augment, not replace, human judgment and teaching, and calls for a statewide AI Tools Clearinghouse, unified literacy standards, and a three-year phased implementation strategy to move Virginia from fragmented pilots to coordinated, responsible AI integration.

Recent Event:

AI governance in education was a central theme at GMU AI Day (April 29, 2026, Fuse at Mason Square), where researchers, faculty, policymakers, and practitioners gathered to explore responsible AI integration, institutional governance, and building AI literacy at scale. Check out the event highlights and recordings here