About the Partnership

American Institutes for Research (AIR), North Carolina State University (NCSU), Partner to Improve (PTI), and educators from rural North Carolina school districts aim to establish and nurture a research-practice partnership (RPP), AI by 8.

This project highlights a culture of shared learning around early AI education, continuous improvement of the project, and a collaborative environment where researchers and practitioners support and value each other' contributions and expertise. The project will directly impact 30 teachers and approximately 600 students across rural areas of North Carolina. 

AI by 8 holds significant transformative potential for (1) understanding the factors that impact K-2 teachers' design and adoption of unplugged AI language arts instruction, (2) formulating emerging practices from teacher professional development to create and locally enact AI-focused English Language Arts (ELA) lessons, and (3) producing theoretical and practical advances in developing a set of K-2 AI lessons, especially for students from rural communities.