Mid-Year Impact Report

This Is What Teacher-Led AI Readiness Looks Like.

January – June 2026

The first half of 2026 made one thing clear: demand outpaced what we could offer across nearly every program, and teachers moved from cautiously curious to confident, critical users of AI in real time. This report captures what we built, who we reached, and what it's unlocking.

⬇ H1 2026 Impact Report ⬇ aiEDU One-Pager
Overview

From cautiously curious to confident, critical users.

The first half of 2026 made one thing clear: educators don't want to sit out the AI moment — they want to lead it. Across nearly every program, demand outpaced what we could offer. From January through June, aiEDU reached thousands of educators through district and statewide partnerships consisting of direct training, the Trailblazer Fellowship, the Spark the Future train-the-trainer model, and professional learning communities (PLCs). This report captures the highlights — what we built, who we reached, and what it's unlocking.

Highlights

Four things that defined the first half.

3X

Trailblazer Fellowship keeps scaling

Five cohorts combined synchronous sessions with asynchronous coursework over 12 weeks, certifying 122 educators across 30 states — 3X growth from aiEDU's Trailblazer pilot cohort of 41 teachers in 2024.

20X

Demand is outpacing capacity

The spring Trailblazer Fellowship drew more than 600 applicants for fewer than 175 spots, and the Community Catalyst Program received 139 letters of intent from 45 states — roughly 20x what we can currently fund.

10

New partnerships

Including our first statewide partnership with the Idaho Department of Education and a renewed partnership with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

Teacher-Led

Our work is closely aligned with educators

CEO Alex Kotran opened the national meeting of state education association leadership (NEA affiliates) with hands-on AI skills and "vibecoding" workshops, and — at the invitation of AFT President Randi Weingarten — joined closed-door roundtables shaping the AFT's 10-point plan on technology and AI in the classroom.

By the Numbers

The first half, at scale.

Figures reflect January–June 2026 only — not cumulative totals
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Educators reached (webinars, conferences, training)
0
Educators trained
0
Active district partnerships
0
Active school partnerships
0
Total curriculum resource downloads
0
Unique educators who downloaded resources
0
New resources built to help teachers develop student AI readiness
0
Community Catalyst letters of intent (45 states)
0
Vibecoding sessions delivered

By Program

Cohorts and educators who completed the program, January–June 2026

Trailblazer Fellowship 5 cohorts 12-week fellowship training educators in AI readiness.
0
educators completed
Spark the Future 5 cohorts Train-the-trainer model for scaling AI readiness locally.
0
educators completed
PLCs 6 cohorts Professional Learning Communities for ongoing peer collaboration.
0
educators completed
New this period

Our first National Spark the Future cohort

Spark the Future is aiEDU's train-the-trainer model for scaling AI readiness locally. This spring's first cohort run at a national scale posted a near-100% completion rate — the highest we've seen yet — and we're planning to run more.

aiEDU Trailblazer Fellowship

AI-ready students start with AI-ready teachers.

Two years ago, the Trailblazer Fellowship was a single cohort of 41 teachers working over a full year on one conviction: AI-ready students start with AI-ready teachers. Since then, we've evolved the model — this spring, fellows completed in 12 weeks what once took a full year. And demand is now outpacing what we can offer: a record application cycle drew more than 600 educators for fewer than 175 spots.

The Fellowship also marks a refinement of aiEDU's theory of change. We've come to see in-depth teacher professional development and engagement not as an end in itself, but as the tip of the spear for system-wide change management. When a core of educators goes deep on AI readiness, they become the champions who carry it into their curricula, classrooms, and ultimately their schools' and districts' decisions. Teacher confidence is what makes change possible at the system level — and it's where lasting adoption begins.

0%
of completing fellows were very or extremely satisfied
0%
reported considerable or significant growth in AI-readiness capacity
0
students reached through fellows' lessons

The real unlock wasn't a tool or a platform — it was teacher confidence, and it traveled straight into classrooms. The Spring 2026 Fellowship closed with 122 educators across 30 states earning certificates of completion.

0X
more applicants than available Fellowship spots
0
Applicants
0
Available spots
Annie Jones, High School English Teacher, Holbrook, AZ
"The fellowship reminded me that AI readiness is really about empowering students to think, question, evaluate, and maintain their own voice in a world where AI is becoming more present in everyday life."
— Annie Jones, High School English Teacher, Holbrook, AZ
Teacher Spotlights

Meet three of our Trailblazers.

Kelsey Gillespie

Kelsey Gillespie

3rd Grade Teacher · Perkins Local School District, OH

Came to AI looking to learn and became the innovator her students and colleagues needed.

Read their story →
Dionna Rogers

Dionna Rogers

Lead Teacher & AI Champion · East Harlem Elementary & Middle Schools, NY

Serving as an AI Champion across her schools, bringing AI readiness to every classroom she touches.

Read their story →
Cassie Owens Moore

Cassie Owens Moore

School Librarian · Seneca Middle School, SC

Working at the intersection of every subject, grade, and learner.

Read their story →
Applications for the next Fellowship open August 10 →
Events

Empowering educators as builders, not users.

The way aiEDU shows up at events is changing — on purpose. For three years the field has heard that AI is getting more capable; we don't need to give another "state of AI" talk. Understanding vibecoding is itself a core part of AI readiness — it's a direct, hands-on way to grasp what AI can actually do, which is why we're leaning into "vibecoding" workshops instead.

The reason is simple: for the roughly 95% of people who don't write code, vibecoding gives them a firsthand experience of directing AI rather than just consuming it — and that's exactly the fluency we want educators to be able to model and pass on as they prepare students for what comes next. So rather than deliver another keynote, aiEDU brought these hands-on workshops to the field's biggest stages.

0
Vibecoding sessions delivered
0
Hands-on events overall
0%
of attendees don't write code — vibecoding meets them where they are
SXSW (with Google DeepMind) ASU+GSV Summit Career-Connected Learning NEA Affiliates National Meeting
Vibecoding workshop with Google DeepMind at SXSW in March, packed room of educators working on laptops
Vibecoding workshop with Google DeepMind at SXSW in March
Community Catalyst Program

Funding AI literacy where it's needed most.

Community Catalyst funds the school districts, educational service agencies, and nonprofits building real AI literacy where it's needed most — prioritizing rural and Indigenous communities historically left out of national conversations about technology and education. Grants range from $25,000 to $50,000 and run about 12 months beginning in summer 2026.

0X
the demand our current funding capacity can support
0
Letters of intent, 45 states
0
Grantees funded, 6 states
In the News

Our voice is reaching further.

In the first half of 2026, aiEDU earned media placements across national news, education trade press, and regional broadcast. Highlights included Politico's "5 Questions for Alex Kotran," recurring placements in The Hill and The 74 on AI-in-education policy, and a post on Google.org's renewed support, picked up by six outlets in 48 hours.

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Media placements
0
Outlets
0M
Potential impressions
0K
Owned-channel followers & subscribers

Beyond earned coverage, aiEDU's owned channels — LinkedIn (Alex Kotran and aiEDU), Substack, and YouTube — drove 761,000 content impressions and email opens over the trailing 12 months.

A sample of the coverage from the first half of 2026:

Politico: “5 Questions for Alex Kotran”
TIME: “The Internet’s New Favorite Insult: ‘Did AI Write That?’”
The Hill: “States race forward on education AI regulations despite Trump objections”
The 74: “At These Universities, Using AI Isn’t Shunned — It’s a Graduation Requirement”
Cision: “Google.org Renews Support for aiEDU to Scale AI Readiness for Educators Nationwide”
The Hill: “As AI pushes students to reconsider majors, universities struggle to adapt”
SCSP.ai: “AI+Education Summit: Preparing America for the Age of Intelligence”
Education Week: “AI Can Help Teachers Craft Their Assessment Portfolios. Is That Cheating?”
Want to dive deeper?
Visit aiedu.org Contact our team 2025 Impact Report