By Sherri Widen
The OECD just released its Digital Education Outlook 2026. And if you’re an educator thinking about how to prepare students for the future, it’s worth your attention. The report explores how generative AI can transform teaching and learning, and its findings align remarkably well with what we know about durable skills development.
The Skills That Matter Most
The OECD identifies several capabilities that education systems should prioritize: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, self-regulated learning, and communication. Sound familiar?
These are precisely the skills at the heart of the America Succeeds’ K-12 Durable Skills Framework.The Framework aligns with what the OECD describes as the skills essential for navigating an AI-enhanced world. The message is clear: as technology handles more routine tasks, human skills become more valuable, not less.
Why Co-Designing With Educators Matters
One of the OECD’s strongest recommendations is involving teachers in developing AI tools from the start. The report specifically calls for “purpose-built educational GenAI systems co-created with teachers,” noting that off-the-shelf chatbots rarely align with actual classroom needs.
This is exactly the approach we’ve taken with the K-12 Durable Skills Framework. From the beginning, we’ve partnered with educators through convenings, surveys, and pilot classrooms to shape every aspect of our resources from the developmental continuum to the “Look-fors” language teachers use to recognize skill growth. Our pilot teachers aren’t just testing materials; they’re actively shaping what those materials look like.
The OECD confirms what our educator partners have shown us: tools designed with teachers work better than tools designed for them.
A Bold Opportunity: AI That Supports Durable Skills Integration
Here’s where we see exciting potential. The OECD describes how AI can augment teaching by helping with lesson planning, adapting materials to student needs, and freeing up time for the human-centered work only teachers can do.
America Succeeds has already co-developed a Gen AI tool with educators: the Learning Experience Accelerator. The tool helps educators integrate durable skills into their existing learning experiences, lessons, units, and projects. With this tool, educators:
- can pair durable skills with units and projects
- define success criteria for their grade
- plan how to teach, have learners practice, and provide feedback
- embed learner-centered strategies to support learners as they develop durable skills
Beyond lesson planning support, there are other Gen AI tools that could support the process of learning rather than only producing outputs, keeping human thinking and growth at the center. Here are a few examples:
- Feedback assistants could help teachers provide specific, actionable feedback on durable skills, making it easier to recognize and name durable skills like collaboration or critical thinking when it appears in student work.
- Socratic AI tutors could use questioning strategies rather than providing direct answers, prompting learners to reflect, reason, and develop their own understanding.
- Formative check-in generators could create quick, skill-focused reflection opportunities matched to specific lessons, giving educators low-lift ways to make durable skills practice visible and routine.
These are the kinds of educational AI the OECD envisions: tools that enhance teacher expertise rather than replacing it, keeping human skills development at the center.
The Bottom Line
The OECD report reinforces what we’ve always believed: durable skills aren’t competing with academic learning or technology integration. Instead, they are essential partners. When we design with educators, ground our work in research, and use AI as a tool for supporting human development, we create something genuinely useful.
What do you think? Would an AI tool that helps integrate durable skills into lesson plans be helpful in your practice? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Learn more about America Succeeds’ K1-2 Durable Skills Framework and upcoming opportunities for educators to contribute.
