Leading Educators Launches AI-Powered Math Pilot with Boston Public Schools, KIPP North Carolina Public Schools, and Richland School District Two

New multi-district pilot explores how AI can strengthen curriculum use, professional practice, and student outcomes in math

Chicago, Ill. (February 16, 2026) — As school systems across the country move quickly to adopt artificial intelligence, many leaders are finding themselves pulled into decisions about tools before they have had the opportunity to determine how AI should fit into a coherent instructional strategy.

To address this challenge, Leading Educators has launched a new multi-year, multi-district learning pilot designed to explore how AI can be integrated responsibly into curriculum-based professional learning—starting with math, where curriculum quality has improved but where effective professional learning remains difficult to scale.

Developed in partnership with Playlab and supported by a coalition of philanthropic organizations, the network is one example of Leading Educators’ broader AI learning agenda, which is focused on testing how AI can strengthen instructional coherence rather than fragment it.

Over the next year, educators across approximately 26 schools in three school systems—Boston Public Schools, KIPP North Carolina Public Schools, and Richland School District Two—will test AI-enabled supports embedded directly into curriculum-specific math professional learning routines for grades 3–10. The work is designed to explore how AI might strengthen the efficacy and scalability of professional learning without increasing burden on educators or disrupting instructional priorities.

“Our goal isn’t to automate teaching or push AI use because it’s trendy,” said Albert Kim, Chief Innovation Officer at Leading Educators. “This technology is already entering classrooms. We want to help systems critically understand, optimize, and integrate AI within a clear instructional vision—so it amplifies the human work of teaching and learning.”

Unlike many AI efforts that begin with tools, the math pilot starts with instructional priorities, leadership practices, and the professional learning structures districts already use. Only then do participating systems explore where AI may be useful in strengthening coherence, saving time, and supporting better instructional decisions.

About the Work Underway

The math pilot sits within a larger body of AI-focused innovation work that Leading Educators is co-designing with school systems, educators, curriculum publishers, and support organizations. Across this portfolio, the organization is guided by three core principles:

• Think deeply: Use AI to unlock—not replace—critical and creative thought
• Connect meaningfully: Use data and design to foster connection, not isolation
• Learn faster together: Model what it means to adapt with purpose and integrity

Together, these efforts are intended to generate clear, field-facing signals about how AI can be anchored in the instructional routines and learning systems already known to drive results.

Within the network, districts are exploring how AI-enabled supports might strengthen lesson internalization, instructional planning, and coaching—recurring responsibilities for teachers and instructional leaders that are often constrained by limited time and uneven support.

From the outset, educators and leaders have been positioned as co-designers, helping shape both the AI-enabled supports and the professional learning conditions required for responsible use. The work launched in November with classroom observations, empathy interviews, leadership sessions, and foundational professional learning, and is expected to expand to additional systems over time.

What This Means for the Field

While the work is still underway, Leading Educators is clear about the broader implication: AI alone does not fix fragmented instructional systems. When embedded within coherent professional learning and supported by strong leadership practices, however, AI may help educators and leaders do the work they already know matters most.

Over the next two years, this collaboration will generate deeper evidence through more rigorous study, including randomized comparisons and cost analyses. Leading Educators plans to share open-source resources, research briefs, and practical guidance so other districts can learn and adapt.

About Leading Educators

Leading Educators partners with school systems and states to build educator and leader capacity so every student experiences relevant, knowledge-rich, and future-ready instruction with predictability.

The organization designs, tests, and embeds sustainable, high-impact instructional supports—including teacher collaboration, coaching, curriculum adoption, professional learning, and strategic planning—so systems achieve aligned, continuous improvement. With more than 21 ESSA-aligned studies demonstrating positive student outcomes, Leading Educators combines proven impact with forward-looking innovation to help systems accelerate results today while shaping the future of teaching and learning.

Media Contact:
Adan Garcia
Senior Director of Communications
[email protected]