The number of teachers using AI to develop individualized education programs, or IEPs, for students with disabilities is surging, but so too are questions about what role the technology should play.
Among licensed special education teachers, 57% said they used AI to help with IEPs or 504 plans during the 2024-2025 school year, according to a new report from the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology. That’s up 18% from just one year prior.
Special educators reported using AI to identify trends in student progress, summarize the content of IEPs or 504 plans, choose specific accommodations, write the narrative portion of the plans or, in some cases, to write plans in full, the report found.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
“The increased use of AI in this context is not surprising,” Ariana Aboulafia, project lead for disability rights in technology at the Center for Democracy & Technology, wrote in a brief about the findings. “But it is not clear that teachers, administrators, and students are aware of the potential risks of using AI in this context or how to potentially use AI tools constructively to help develop IEPs without negatively impacting disabled students and potentially even violating their legal rights.”
The brief warns that educators risk running afoul of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires that IEPs be unique and individualized documents, as well as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, and state-level privacy laws, particularly if they use freely available AI tools like ChatGPT. In addition, the Center for Democracy & Technology report raises concerns about accuracy, bias and other issues with information generated through AI.
Perry A. Zirkel, a professor emeritus of education and law at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania who specializes in special education law, said that AI presents many of the same pros and cons as other electronic software for IEPs and 504 plans.
“On the plus side, they save time, which for teachers can be crucial,” he said. “On the negative side, they may lead to denial of meeting the individual needs of the student based on the constraints of the technology for customization and accuracy.”
James D. Basham, a special education professor at the University of Kansas and director of the Center for Innovation, Design, and Digital Learning, said he suspects that AI use among special educators is likely even higher than the findings suggest. Basham said his center and other groups are working to provide educators resources to help them learn how to use AI properly.
“There are potentially enormous benefits for students with disabilities and their families when teachers have time to focus on ensuring each student has an appropriately individualized education program,” Basham said. “Of course, this assumes the teachers have the appropriate preparation in using AI to ensure they use it effectively.”
