The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) submitted comments responding to the U.S. Department of Education’s Proposed Supplemental Priority and Definition on Advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education. We are encouraged by the Department’s leadership in issuing guidance on AI and its potential to improve educational outcomes, and we urge the agency to ground its priorities more firmly in the science of human learning and development.
As AI becomes more integrated into schools and the workplace, social and emotional skills such as empathy, collaboration, critical thinking, and resilience are more essential than ever. We recommend explicit support for projects that strengthen these human-centered foundational skills alongside AI use—both to enhance applications and to mitigate potential harms.
Our comments also call for a stronger focus on educators and educators in training. We recommend a human-centered approach to professional development that equips teachers not only with technical knowledge of AI but also with strategies to use it ethically, inclusively, and in ways that promote student well-being. In addition, we encourage federal investment in teacher preparation programs to build future educators’ capacity to integrate AI responsibly while fostering foundational human skills.
AI should enhance—not replace—the vital role of relationships in education, which decades of research confirm are central to student success. CASEL is committed to understanding the implications of emerging technologies for students’ social, emotional, and academic development, and to ensuring social and emotional learning remains essential in preparing students for success in an AI-enabled world.