The National AI Institute for Exceptional Education is working in partnership with the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Education Science to investigate how AI can be harnessed to support special educators and their students. This federal investment signals to educators, families, speech therapists, and the public that the federal government is committed to supporting vulnerable students. With an interdisciplinary and cross-institution team, the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education will soon release tools to help identify and support students with language disorders.
Turning Education R&D Investments into Impact
The National AI Institute for Exceptional Education is creating tools to help students with speech and language challenges with the support of strategic federal investments in education R&D.
$ 20 million
The National AI Institute for Exceptional Education receives key support from a $20 million grant jointly provided by the National Science Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences.
The impact of these investments is clear:
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Two new AI tools will be released to support millions of students with disabilities.
A New Institute Is Harnessing AI To Improve Learning For Exceptional Children
For years, there has been a shortage of school-based Speech and Language Pathologists. These professionals provide critical services for students with language disorders, as well as for students with autism, dyslexia, and other disabilities. With school districts struggling to staff their speech and language pathologist positions, many of the 7.3 million students with disabilities in America are at risk of falling behind in their development.
How can schools provide these students with the support they need when they don’t have enough practitioners? This question led to the creation of the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education which is working in partnership with the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Education Science to investigate how AI can be harnessed to support special educators and their students.
“This is a national crisis and a topic of importance to so many people. Family members reach out and say that the work being done resonates so much and that they appreciate the federal government funding these innovations.”
How It Works
The Institute is housed at the University at Buffalo and is a partnership of multidisciplinary faculty from eight other institutions: Cornell University, Penn State University, Stanford University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Nevada-Reno, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Washington.
NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan recently visited the University at Buffalo to celebrate the Institute’s launch. “Through this new AI Institute, NSF is reinforcing its commitment to our nation’s global leadership in AI and in R&D, here in Buffalo and across the country,” Panchanathan said. “Together, the NSF-led AI Institutes are harnessing the power of AI to strengthen our nation’s education system, grow a skilled and diverse workforce, boost the economy and bolster national security.”
The federal funding that supports this AI Institute not only creates opportunities for experts in the field to collaborate, but it also signals to educators, families, speech therapists, and the public that the federal government is invested in finding solutions to a long-standing problem that affects vulnerable students.
While the Institute is still in its early stages, lead researchers have identified two issues that impede the delivery of school-based speech and language services.
The first is found within the screening process. The lack of a universal screening system means that some students are identified late. These students require much more support once they are identified than those who received an early intervention. This adds additional stress to a system that is already stretched thin. A similar cycle is seen within intervention: Without enough speech pathologists in schools, it is common for students to receive inadequate individualized and ability-based support or intervention. This means that down the road, students may require even more support, putting even more stress on the already limited system.
Impact
So far, the Institute has developed two umbrella projects to interrupt and address these problems: the AI Screener and AI Orchestrator. The AI Screener will allow for universal early screening for all children, and the AI Orchestrator will be used by teachers and SLPs to provide individualized interventions for students who already have Individualized Education Plans.
“We really hope this funding can make this into a product to put into the hands of teachers, schools, districts, and daycare centers, so people can get the benefit of universal screening.” Dr. Xiong said.
Utilizing these technologies, early identification and intervention will become more accessible without putting further strain on speech pathologists and teachers. The goal is for these systems to alleviate stress on the system while improving the support that is offered to students.
Dr. Xiong is hopeful that the AI Screener and AI Orchestrator will start to roll out for public use in 2026. By the end of 2028, the researchers plan to have proven the benefits of the AI Institute to secure additional funding and keep this crucial work going.
Without the financial support of NSF and IES, the AI Institute for Exceptional Education would not exist—and the important work that is being done would be impossible. If these AI innovations can be brought to scale, millions of students with disabilities will receive support that they would not have access to otherwise. Federal investments in education research and development will help to fill labor shortages for specialties like speech and language pathology and improve their productivity, and continued investment in this Institute will signal to the public that education, especially for students with special needs, remains one of our nation’s top priorities.