AI PD weeks: CS foundations for creating with AI

The National Science Foundation Division of Information and Intelligent Systems awarded the Computer Science Teachers Association, LLC a $1.726 million cooperative agreement on April 1, 2026, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070) to develop and implement AI Professional Development Weeks—an intensive summer model combined with sustained community support that equips K-12 teachers across multiple states to integrate artificial intelligence and foundational computer science concepts into classroom instruction.

The project delivers a replicable AI Professional Development Week and Mini-Week model, implementation toolkit, and openly available resources designed to prepare thousands of teachers to help hundreds of thousands of students engage meaningfully with AI and computer science content. The initiative combines strand-based summer professional learning with sustained community support through existing state and local networks, creating scalable infrastructure for expanding AI teaching capacity across varied state and local contexts. Research activities include systematic collection of pre- and post-assessments, surveys, instructional artifacts, and participation records to document how teachers integrate AI concepts, tools, and ethical considerations into instruction, and to identify the infrastructure, partnerships, and conditions that enable professional development to scale efficiently.

The award runs from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2029, with place of performance in New York, New York.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming work, civic life, and learning, yet most k-12 teachers lack the preparation needed to understand how AI systems work, how they connect to foundational computer science, and how to design instruction in which students meaningfully create with AI rather than simply consume AI-generated outputs. This project responds to the national need for teacher preparation by extending a proven, multi-state computer science teacher professional development model into a coherent, AI-focused initiative that will prepare k-12 teachers to integrate AI and computer science concepts at scale. AI professional development weeks combine intensive, strand-based summer professional learning with sustained community support through existing state and local networks, creating a scalable infrastructure for rapidly expanding AI teaching capacity. This project will expand AI and computer science learning opportunities for hundreds of thousands of students by equipping thousands of teachers across multiple states with the content knowledge and instructional strategies needed to teach foundational AI and computer science content. This project examines how teachers integrate AI concepts, tools, and ethical considerations into instruction when supported by intensive professional learning and ongoing community. IT also documents the infrastructure, partnerships, and conditions that enable AI-focused professional development to scale efficiently across varied state and local contexts. Research activities include systematic collection of pre- and post-assessments, surveys, instructional artifacts, and participation records. Findings contribute to research on teacher knowledge development, AI pedagogy, and large-scale teacher learning systems at a moment of urgent national need. The project will produce a replicable AI professional development week and mini-week model, implementation toolkit, and openly shared resources that states and districts can adopt to build sustainable AI teaching capacity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.