AI4MiddleSchools Expands Nationwide Effort to Prepare Middle School Students for an AI-Powered Future

Austin, Texas — As students and educators across the country head back to school, a growing multi-state partnership is helping middle schools prepare students for a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

AI4MiddleSchools is expanding its work to help educators teach students not simply how to use artificial intelligence, but how AI works, how it affects society, and how they can become informed creators of technology. The initiative brings together universities, education organizations, school districts, and educators to build sustainable AI education pathways for middle school students.

The expansion builds on foundational work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and industry partners. This year, we bring the AI4MiddleSchools program to new communities in Connecticut, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania while deepening implementation in Georgia, Texas, and Florida.

AI4MiddleSchools provides hands-on learning experiences grounded in AI4K12.org’s “Five Big Ideas in AI” and grade-band guidelines. Students explore fundamental concepts including machine learning, natural language understanding, computer vision, and automated decision-making while examining issues such as bias, ethical design, and the societal impacts of AI.

Preparing Students for the School Year and the Future

The return to school is an important opportunity for educators to help students make sense of the technologies that are rapidly changing their classrooms, communities, and future careers. AI4MiddleSchools is designed to give teachers the knowledge, curriculum, and support they need to bring meaningful AI education into the middle school experience.

AI4MiddleSchools began in 2021 as an NSF ITEST project called “AI for Georgia,” or AI4GA, led by David Touretzky at Carnegie Mellon University¹, Christina Gardner-McCune at the University of Florida², and Bryan Cox at the Georgia Department of Education, now at the Georgia Institute of Technology³. The project initially trained Georgia middle school teachers in the fundamentals of AI and partnered with those educators to co-design and pilot a middle school AI curriculum.

As the program expanded, additional teacher cohorts helped refine and extend the curriculum based on classroom experiences and feedback. Additional industry funding supported expansion to Texas in 2024, in collaboration with WeTeach_CS at The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center⁴, and to Florida in 2025, in collaboration with Northeast Florida Regional STEM2 Hub⁵.

Prior to this year, the program has trained 120 teachers and reached more than 1,700 students across Georgia, Texas, and Florida. Gearing up for this school year, the program trained over 75 educators across 6 states, with more to join later in a fall cohort. 

The next phase will expand the partnership's reach while strengthening the infrastructure needed to make AI education sustainable within schools and districts. Over the next three years, the project is forecast to reach approximately 15,000 students, 1,700 educators, 100–145 teacher leaders, and 100–150 administrators.

The work will include new teacher cohorts, regional training hubs, and an online professional learning platform designed to support teachers, school leaders, and district administrators. Together, these efforts are intended to help schools move beyond isolated AI initiatives and build sustainable, system-wide approaches to AI education.

The initiative also creates a bridge between middle school exploration and future high school and career pathways.

“As artificial intelligence increasingly shapes our digital world, providing Texas middle school students with essential AI education is crucial in preparing them for future career opportunities and will ensure they can safely and responsibly use AI today and in the future,” said Sheryl Roehl, EPIC Partnership Coordinator at The University of Texas-Austin WeTeach_CS program and state project lead for the WeTeach_AI middle school AI program.  “This Middle School AI partnership provides a critical bridge between early exposure and high school pathways in computer science. By increasing the number of middle schools offering AI content, Texas is ensuring that students continue to develop problem-solving, creativity, and computational thinking skills during these pivotal years.”

As schools begin another academic year, AI4MiddleSchools is working to ensure that students have opportunities to understand one of the most transformative technologies of their generation — and that educators have the support needed to make that learning accessible, meaningful, and sustainable.

For more information about AI4MiddleSchools and partnership opportunities, visit AI4MiddleSchools.org.