Evidence & Data for America's AI Report Card

Methodology & Scoring

Each of the 37 scored jurisdictions (36 U.S. states + Puerto Rico) was evaluated against a 7-criterion rubric on a 10-point scale.

The 7 Criteria (weighted):

• Teach vs. Ban (20%) — Does state guidance promote active integration or avoidance of AI?
• Critical Thinking (15%) — Is critical thinking named and built into curriculum?
• Student Effort / Cognitive Development (15%) — Does guidance address what students should do themselves before using AI?
• AI Literacy (15%) — Are grade-appropriate AI literacy standards defined?
• Teacher Training (15%) — Is professional development structured and specific?
• Assessment Adaptation (10%) — How should students be graded in an AI world?
• Equity (10%) — Does guidance address access and bias?

Score Legend: Scores of 7.0+ indicate states actively teaching students to think with AI. Below 6.0 indicates guidance focused primarily on restriction and compliance.

Source Verification: Every score is supported by direct quotes from primary source documents (PDFs, web pages, legislation). All quotes can be verified using Ctrl-F (browser Find) in the linked document.

Research Team: Kevin J. Roberts, M.A. and Henry Dan, B.S. (Data Science).