AI can draft a lesson, organize information, and tame a blinking cursor. What it cannot do is earn a student’s trust, recognize a breakthrough, or know when the plan needs to change.
That is where educators come in.
For special educators, SLPs, school psychologists, and related-service professionals, AI is not the expert – it’s the assistant.
Educators Are Already Getting Time Back
AI in education is no longer an experiment happening somewhere in the future. Teachers are already using it, and many say it is making a measurable difference.
A 2025 Gallup and Walton Family Foundation study found that six in 10 public-school teachers used an AI tool during the 2024–2025 school year. Teachers most commonly used it to prepare lessons, create worksheets and activities, and modify materials to meet student needs
According to that same study, teachers also reported quality improvements across many facets. Among educators using AI:
- 64% said it improved the quality of materials they modified to meet student needs.
- 61% said it produced better insights about student learning or achievement data.
- 57% said it improved the quality of grading and student feedback.
That is the real promise of AI in education: not fewer educators, but fewer hours lost to starting from scratch.
A Faster First Draft, Not an Automated IEP
For a special education teacher, “personalization” is not a trendy feature; it’s the job.
AI can help create multiple versions of an activity, simplify directions, generate vocabulary supports, suggest visual aids, or break a larger assignment into manageable steps. It can also support parts of the IEP process by helping educators:
- Organize de-identified notes and data into a clearer outline
- Brainstorm measurable goal language for the team to review
- Draft progress-monitoring questions or data-collection templates
- Translate special education jargon into family-friendly language
- Suggest accommodations or instructional strategies for consideration
- Create a concise first draft of a progress update
- Prepare talking points and questions for an IEP meeting
AI can help organize the information and strengthen the first draft, while educators and families bring the insight that makes an IEP truly individual. Together, better tools and human expertise can create a clearer path forward for every student.
School Psychologists Are Already Testing the Possibilities
School psychologists are one of the clearest examples of how AI can help with the workload without replacing the professional.
In a 2026 American Psychological Association report on a study of 199 school psychologists, approximately two-thirds said they had used AI during the previous six months. Roughly one-quarter used it professionally at least once a week. The most common uses included:
- Generating individualized recommendations
- Assisting with report writing
- Answering work-related questions
- Creating summaries
- Explaining evaluation results in more accessible language for families
AI users reported a median time savings of three hours per week. Just as importantly, 94% said they edited AI-generated material before including it in a final document.
That 94% may be the most important number in the study. It shows the right division of labor: AI produces a starting point; the school psychologist supplies the accuracy, ethics, context, and professional judgment.
For SLP’s, Clinical Judgement Stays in the Driver’s Seat
For school-based speech-language pathologists, AI can be a capable assistant. It can help with the time-consuming work around therapy, including lesson planning, documentation, data organization, and material creation.
Using an approved tool and de-identified information, SLP’s can use AI to:
- Generate articulation word lists featuring specific sounds and positions
- Create short stories, games, or activities around a student’s interests
- Brainstorm prompts for language, fluency, and social-communication practice
- Adapt one activity for different ages, goals, or ability levels
- Draft session outlines, data-tracking templates, or progress-update summaries
- Turn clinical terminology into clearer, family-friendly language
- Create fresh ways to practice the same skill without reinventing the session
Using an approved AI tool, SLP’s can quickly generate articulation lists, themed activities, conversation prompts, vocabulary exercises, session outlines, and family-friendly explanations. That can be a real advantage when managing a full caseload. Instead of spending an evening searching for the perfect activity, the SLP can create several starting points, refine the strongest one, and tailor it to the student.
The key, however, is using AI responsibly. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association offers practical and ethical AI training for school-based SLPs, along with generative AI guidance for clinicians covering professional responsibilities, policies, and independent review. AI can generate 20 activity ideas before lunch, but the SLP still determines which one fits the student, how to adapt it, and when it is time to try something new.
AI Use is Growing. Training Needs to Catch Up.
Educators are adopting AI quickly, but many schools are still developing the policies and training to support them. According to a 2025 RAND Corporation report, 53% of surveyed ELA, math, and science teachers used AI for school during the 2024–2025 school year, an increase of more than 15 percentage points from earlier surveys. Yet only 35% of district leaders said they provided students with AI training as of spring 2025.
Access to that support is not always equal. Earlier RAND Corporation research found that teachers and principals in higher-poverty schools were less likely to report using AI than their counterparts in lower-poverty schools. Only 18% of principals overall said their school or district provided AI guidance, and the rate was 13% in the highest-poverty schools compared with 25% in the lowest-poverty schools.
The takeaway is not that educators should slow down; it’s that schools need to help everyone move forward responsibly. Approved platforms, hands-on professional development, strong privacy standards, and clear guidance can help educators use AI confidently, ethically, and equitably.
Better Tools Create More Room for Human Expertise
AI works best when it removes friction without removing professional judgment. It can help an educator begin a lesson, organize information, adapt an activity, or explain a complex idea more clearly. That leaves more time for the decisions no tool can make on its own: noticing what a student needs, changing direction in the moment, and building the trust that makes progress possible.
That matters even more in specialized roles. A special education teacher knows when an accommodation looks right on paper but isn’t working in practice. An SLP may notice nuances that data alone can miss. A school psychologist knows an evaluation result is just one part of a student’s story. AI can support that expertise, but it cannot replace it.
“The question is not whether AI can generate a lesson, activity, or a first draft – it can. The opportunity is giving educators more time to apply the expertise, judgment, and creativity that technology cannot replicate. When we pair smarter tools with qualified professionals, students can get the best of both.” – Kirsten Erwin, SVP of Education Staffing, Onward Education
With clear guardrails, practical training, and thoughtful human review, AI can make the first draft faster, the blank page less intimidating, and a full workload more manageable. The strongest future for AI in education is one where technology handles more of the repeatable work, giving educators more time to do what only they can do: understand their students, make informed decisions, and build the relationships that move them forward.
Better Support Starts with the Right People
At Onward Education, we know that better tools matter, but the right professionals make the difference. We connect schools with special education teachers, SLPs, school psychologists, behavioral professionals, and other specialized educators who turn plans into progress every day.
Connect with Onward Education to learn how we can support your students and school community.
