Scale AI and education partners launch free, 12-hour AI training for K–12 teachers

K–12 teachers nationwide can now take a free AI course that asks them to create something for their own classrooms. Scale AI, the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Lindbergh Schools launched Fundamentals of AI for Educators on October 30, 2026, pairing 12 hours of self-paced training with a certificate and digital credential.

The course is available through UMSL’s Advanced Workforce Center. Its stated purpose combines practical classroom use with ethical judgment: helping teachers use AI responsibly, strengthen instruction and prepare students to engage with the technology. Scale engineers and education experts developed the program alongside the university and Lindbergh Schools.

A classroom project, not just a badge

The practical assignment is a classroom-ready instructional resource that integrates AI into a specific learning objective. That gives participants a concrete output to take back to their teaching, rather than ending the course with recognition alone. The program describes this resource as something educators can apply directly in class.

According to Scale’s launch announcement, the curriculum addresses three connected areas:

• Using AI effectively and ethically in classroom work.
• Identifying opportunities to personalize instruction for students.
• Helping students develop critical thinking, creativity and responsible technology use.

Teachers who finish receive a certificate of completion and a microcredential—a digital badge they can display on professional profiles. The credential recognizes completion of this program. Scale presents the broader benefits, including stronger instruction and students’ responsible use of technology, as the course’s intended outcomes.

Local classroom experience shapes national delivery

The summer pilot helped shape the curriculum around educators’ practical needs, according to Scale. At the launch, participating teachers demonstrated the course and discussed their experiences incorporating AI into teaching. The event also recognized Lindbergh educators who had completed the pilot.

The partners divide the work across three roles. Lindbergh contributes classroom experience and curriculum expertise; Scale supplies technical knowledge and resources; UMSL provides the infrastructure for nationwide access. That arrangement takes a locally developed program beyond Missouri while retaining the school district’s role in its design.

AJ Segal, head of Scale’s STL AI Center, framed accessibility and classroom relevance as priorities. He said teachers need practical training that reflects classroom realities, and described the St. Louis partnership as a starting point for reaching educators and students well beyond Missouri.

A course toward the 2029 pledge

The launch advances Scale’s June 2025 commitment under the White House’s Pledge to American Youth. The company pledged to help train 1,000 teachers and equip 500,000 students with foundational AI skills by 2029. Those figures are future commitments, not counts of people trained through the new course.

Scale’s rationale for starting with teachers is that they work with successive groups of students, allowing training to reach beyond a single class. The company says it will continue exploring partnerships with educators and institutions as it works toward those goals. This launch establishes one training route within that larger commitment.