Digital Promise, TNTP Partner to Develop AI Guidance for Schools

Approximately four years after the advent of publicly accessible, generative artificial intelligence, some districts still lack research-backed playbooks and models for how they should use the technology in everyday operations. And without clear and strategic direction from policymakers, districts across the U.S. have taken disparate approaches to AI integration, leading to inconsistency in implementation, uneven outcomes for students and teachers, and uncertainty around how to scale the technology effectively.

Two nonprofits, Digital Promise and TNTP, will use funding from Salesforce to test different approaches to implementing AI in schools. Over three years, the partnership will draw insights from educators and students to create replicable, district-level AI strategies, according to a recent news release.

The news release said the effort aims to reach up to 15 million students by 2028, though it does not specify how that figure will be measured or which districts will participate.

“AI has the potential to be the most powerful learning tool we've ever put in front of young people, but only if we're clear about what we're actually trying to build: real capability. The kind that puts students on a path to genuine opportunity,” TNTP CEO Dr. Tequilla Brownie said in a public statement. “This partnership is about ensuring AI delivers on that vision — by testing what works in real classrooms, grounding it in research, and producing guidance the field can actually use.”

The news release said the initiative is committed to five principles: using AI to support teachers and students, but not replace human judgment or creativity; prioritizing evidence to guide AI adoption recommendations; aligning AI with curriculum and pedagogy; serving college or workforce readiness and long-term economic mobility for students; and developing practical tools and advice consistent with human-led teaching.

“AI should earn its place in schools by enhancing educators’ capacity to teach and learners’ ability to engage deeply, not by replacing human judgment or creativity,” Digital Promise CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said in a public statement. "By combining our strengths in learning sciences, educator co-design, and research-backed innovation with TNTP’s deep expertise in instructional coherence and systems implementation, we can build the evidence and practical models school systems need to adopt AI responsibly and effectively."

The partnership with TNTP is the latest of several efforts by Digital Promise in recent years to help school districts meet the moment with AI, following the announcement of an AI product certification program in 2025 and the launch of Yourway, an AI-powered personalized lesson-building tool, in 2024.