Staff Guidance

 

This document provides guidance in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)¹ tools by employees of Darien Public Schools in support of administrative efficiencies and enhanced educational outcomes. These guidelines apply to all AI systems.  

We believe:

• While adhering to principles of integrity and responsible use, AI provides opportunities to spur creativity and foster curiosity. 
• All students should develop future ready technology skills, including the mindful and ethical age-appropriate use of AI, to enhance and support their digital literacy, learning, and productivity in school and beyond.
• Our staff benefits from access to AI resources to improve efficiency and student outcomes. 
• AI tools have the potential to make learning more accessible and inclusive for all students.
• Teachers are role models for our students demonstrating critical thinking and ethical reasoning when using AI and setting expectations for how students communicate their usage of AI tools.
• There are consequences for inappropriate use of AI tools.

This guidance complements district policies and guidelines on technology use, data protection, academic integrity, and supports our Vision of the Graduate. Adjustments to this guidance² will be made as artificial intelligence technologies evolve.

 

Staff Use of Artificial Intelligence

Use of artificial intelligence tools may provide opportunities to enhance teaching practices, streamline administrative tasks, and personalize student learning experiences.

General Considerations when using AI:

• Focus on a few carefully chosen tools that directly support your goals. 
• Use the Darien LearnPlatform to identify AI tools that are permitted for use. Software tools not listed on the LearnPlatform need to be approved for use through the Request feature.

When Developing Learning Materials with AI:

• Critically review and verify content provided by AI tools for accuracy and potential biases. 
• Ensure the use of AI technologies or AI generated resources align with and complement learning objectives established in curriculum standards. 

When Evaluating Student Work using AI Tools:

• Protect student privacy and personally identifiable information³.
• Understand that AI driven plagiarism detectors (ie. TurnItIn or GPTZero) are not reliable in detecting AI written work and have a higher likelihood of flagging work of non-native English speakers as AI written. (See AI-Detectors Biased Against Non-Native English Writers)
• Review and clarify AI generated student feedback. AI may be helpful with providing immediate suggestions and feedback, but it should not be the final decision-maker in assessments or evaluations. 

When using AI Tools with Students:

• AI tools support and enhance an existing foundation of knowledge and skills and do not replace computational and critical thinking.
• Provide opportunities to demonstrate learning and understanding in a variety of ways.
• Best instructional practices remain critical, including monitoring progress when work is in process, conferring with students, and providing specific and appropriate feedback.
• Encourage students to use only approved generative AI tools in support of an appropriate learning experience. 
• Set clear age-appropriate boundaries for when and how AI can be used by your students in classroom activities⁴. 
• Some students may independently create accounts and use AI tools without permission or guidance. Enforce academic integrity standards. Enforce academic integrity standards. Plagiarism⁵ policies apply to AI-generated work as they do to other forms of copying or unauthorized help. 
• Help students develop critical thinking skills to analyze, evaluate, and assess AI-generated content. Educate students on the limitations of AI, including potential biases or inaccuracies.

Notes

(1) These guidelines apply to all AI systems that may be used for education, administration, and operations, including, but not limited to generative AI models, intelligent tutoring systems, conversational agents, automation software, and analytics tools. 

Artificial Intelligence is defined in Connecticut Public Act 23-16 as an artificial intelligence system that: 

• performs tasks under varying and unpredictable circumstances without significant human oversight or can learn from experience and improve such performance when exposed to data sets, 
• is developed in any context, including, but not limited to, software or physical hardware, and solves tasks requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning, learning, communication, or physical action, 
• is designed to: think or act like a human, including, but not limited to, a cognitive architecture or neural network or act rationally, including, but not limited to, an intelligent software agent or embodied robot that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning, learning, communication, decision-making or action, 
• is made up of a set of techniques, including, but not limited to, machine learning, that is designed to approximate a cognitive task.

(2) The Darien School District’s Technology Council developed these guidelines using multiple strategies, including input from district educators, work shared by Holly Clark, recommendations and sample guidance found in the AI Toolkit from TeachAI.org, guidance shared by other school districts, the State of Connecticut’s Department of Administrative Services Guidance on Artificial Intelligence, The White House’s BluePrint for an AI Bill of Rights, research conducted by GoodNotes, and suggestions offered from ChatGPT‑4o in November and December of 2024.

(3) AI tools must comply with federal and state regulations: 

• FERPA - schools must ensure that AI tools safeguard students' personally identifiable information (PII) and evaluate how AI systems collect, store, and process educational data to ensure it remains secure and is used only for authorized purposes. 
• COPPA - AI chatbots, personalized learning platforms, and other technologies collecting personal information and user data on children under 13 require parental consent. 
• IDEA - AI tools must support accessible and inclusive learning, such as providing adaptive technologies and personalized learning experiences that accommodate diverse abilities. 
• CIPA - Schools must ensure AI content filters align with CIPA protections against harmful content.
• Section 504 - AI tools and technologies must be accessible to students with disabilities.
• Connecticut General Statutes §§ 10-234aa through 10-234dd regulate the use of student data by educational institutions and contractors, establishing privacy protections and safeguards for student information.

(4) Teachers may use the sample AI Acceptable Use Scales to clarify what level, if any, is an acceptable use of AI on a given task. Copy and modify the scales as appropriate for your grade level or team. The AI Acceptable Use Scale was developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction based on the work of Dr. Leon Furze, Dr. Mike Perkins, Dr. Jasper Roe FHEA, & Dr. Jason MacVaugh. Link to original work.

From the AI Toolkit, sample language for a class syllabus:

AI tools may be used for brainstorming or preliminary research, but using AI to generate answers or complete assignments without proper citation or passing off AI-generated content as one’s own is considered plagiarism.

From the AI Toolkit, sample Student Agreement for AI Use:

AI can help me learn better and is important for my future, so I promise to use it the right way and make appropriate choices.

I will use AI tools responsibly and will not use AI in a way that could harm myself or others.

I will only use AI to support my learning and will follow my school’s rules and teacher’s instructions on when and how to use AI on an assignment.

I will be honest about when I use AI to help with assignments, and I will not turn in work that is created by an AI as my own.

If I use AI, I will review its work for mistakes.

I will check with my teacher when unsure about what is acceptable.

Documentation for Student Handbooks

Link to PDF file.

(5) Library media specialists can assist with citation requirements for AI, if needed. Teachers may choose to have students submit an AI disclosure statement that indicates how AI was used (brainstorming, outlining, feedback, editing, etc). It is also acceptable for teachers to request an AI chat transcript to show how students used AI in the completion of work.

Last Modified:
April 22, 2025

What software resources are available?

Explore our software portal. If the software is on the approved list and free to use, then you are good to go. Some programs are approved with conditions. Take a look at the details. Paid programs may have a limited number of licenses.

What is the process for adopting technology?

Are you interested in using a new software program with your students? That's fantastic!

New technology-based resources in the classroom should improve the efficiency and/or effectiveness of educational tasks for teachers and/or instructional outcomes for students. Teachers know best what benefits their students, but vetting requests for new resources helps to identify compliance with State and Federal legislation related to privacy considerations along with any potential additional technical or budgetary requirements.

This slideshow explains how to create your account to Darien's Software Library so that you may access more detailed information about programs and request software.

Please reach out to Tim McGuire for any clarification.

PICRAT is a model for technology integration developed by Dr. Royce Kimmons of Brigham Young University. It is focused on two core ideas: Horizontally, how does the planned use of technology impact the learning experience? Vertically, what are the students doing with technology? Effective technology uses may fall anywhere on the matrix but PIC-RAT is meant to encourage teachers to reflect on their practice and consider ways to move their technology toward a range of experience types.

PICRAT puts the focus on learning and the learner, with reflection built into the model. We want to see students completing activities that promote creativity and collaboration, thus higher vertical, and engaging with activities that couldn’t be done without technology (further to the left horizontally) when it makes sense to do so. However not every planned experience with technology needs to be in the top right corner. Consider your planned learning activities that incorporate technology. If you find that the use of digital technology often is landing in the bottom left where the learner is passive, then let's work together to reconsider the overall approach to technology integration. 

Quick Guide to the Matrix:

Students' Use of Technology

• Passive - receive information
• Interactive - Opportunity to respond to information.
• Creative - create learning products providing synthesis of information.

Teacher's Use of Technology

• Replaces - Improves, but does not fundamentally change the nature of the lesson.
• Amplifies - Lesson not easily achieved with traditional classroom methods.
• Transforms - Impossible in the absence of digital technologies
   

Darien Public Schools considers current information about best practices when embedding technology tools in any learning environment. The following resources are valuable to anyone considering adopting a new technology tool in the schools:

Common Sense Media: For educators and parents providing reviews of resources for children.

Educator's Guide to Student Data Privacy: PDF document introducing key points related to student data.

Federal Department of Education - Office of Educational Technology: Provides general guidance for future-forward planning in the area of Educational Technology.

National Center for Education Research: Searchable database of grant-funded education research.

PICRAT: Technology Integration Matrix

Product Certifications: Digital Promise EdTech ESSA certified products.