Artificial intelligence is moving into K-12 instructional materials faster than the field’s ability to understand what those changes mean for curriculum quality. AI features are being added to established programs, while new AI-native products are emerging to tutor students, adapt content, support lesson planning, score work, and recommend next steps.

These tools are already shaping classroom experiences. Yet educators and district leaders often lack consistent, independent information about what AI features actually do, how they interact with curriculum and instruction, and what evidence supports their use.

EdReports’ new brief, AI in K-12 Instructional Materials: What We’re Seeing, offers an initial look at this rapidly changing market. Drawing on a qualitative scan of 10 curriculum and education technology providers, as well as broader research and market analysis, the brief establishes a baseline of what we can see today and identifies questions that require deeper study.

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What the research shows

Several findings stand out:

• AI does not fit neatly into traditional curriculum categories. It is changing what existing and new products can generate, recommend, adapt, analyze, and deliver—often across multiple instructional roles.
• AI changes where educator judgment enters the instructional experience. Some tools keep educators “in the loop” before AI-generated content reaches students, while others interact with students and adapt their experiences in real time.
• Evidence has not kept pace with product claims. Publicly available evidence specific to AI functionality remains limited, and research on an established product may not apply to newly added AI features.
• The field has made more progress evaluating AI-related risks than instructional quality. Existing frameworks frequently address privacy, safety, bias, and transparency, but there is not yet a consistent way to determine whether AI strengthens learning or preserves curriculum coherence.

Together, these findings point to a central challenge: AI is already changing instructional materials, but the information and evidence needed to understand those changes have not kept pace.

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This brief does not define “high-quality AI,” rate individual products, or conclude that AI improves or harms student learning. Instead, it is an early step in EdReports’ broader effort to understand what AI changes about curriculum quality. As the market evolves, the fundamental goal remains the same: Students should experience high-quality, coherent content, and educators and decision-makers should have credible information to make that possible.