Diverging Paths: Critical Policy Analysis of AI Integration in Two Urban Texas School Districts

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Imagining Digital Futures: AI, Cell Phones, and Technology Policy in the Digital Age of Schooling

Abstract

This paper presents a critical comparative analysis of how two large, rapidly growing urban school districts in Texas are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) into K–12 education. Grounded in Diem et al.’s (2014) Critical Policy Analysis and Jencks’ (1988) conceptions of educational justice, the study highlights contrasting philosophical orientations—compliance-based restriction in District A versus student-centered innovation in District B. Using publicly available documents and firsthand observation, this inquiry explores how divergent AI policies reflect deeper beliefs about equity, opportunity, and the purpose of education. The analysis raises critical questions about whose futures are being imagined in AI policy development and offers implications for equity-driven, ethically grounded policymaking in the digital age.

Author

• April Miles, Texas State University