On July 10, 2026, the Governor signed into law legislation that aims to limit the use of Artificial Intelligence (“A.I.”) in teacher evaluations. Public Act 104-0565 prohibits an evaluator from using A.I. to assign a teacher’s numerical score or qualitative rating, including ratings such as “excellent,” “proficient,” “needs improvement,” or “unsatisfactory.” The law also prohibits A.I. from being used for any evaluation task that requires professional judgment.
Likewise, teachers are prohibited from using A.I. tools to generate evidence of professional practice to submit to the evaluator for consideration in their evaluation. However, both evaluators and teachers are permitted to use A.I. for support in completing administrative tasks as determined by the joint committee.
School districts will need to convene this joint evaluation committee to determine how A.I. tools may be used for support in completing administrative tasks in the evaluation process. This “joint evaluation committee” refers to the joint committee that school districts used to implement student growth when student growth used to be a required component of evaluations. Any evaluator or teacher using an A.I. tool during the evaluation process must disclose to the other the name of the A.I. tool used and the specific purpose for using it.
For school districts, the main takeaway is that A.I. may support the evaluation process, but it cannot replace professional judgment or substantive or foundational work related to evaluations. Districts, through their joint evaluation committees, should review A.I. tools and develop protocols for how A.I. may be used by evaluators and teachers during the evaluation process and explain what kind of use of A.I. would be prohibited so educators and evaluators understand what is acceptable and is not acceptable use of A.I. in the evaluation process.
Source: P.A. 104-0565 (amending 105 ILCS 5/24A-5)
