Getting started with Claude for Teachers

This article explains Claude for Teachers, a program that gives verified US K-12 educators free access to professional Claude accounts, with teaching skills and a curriculum connector built for classroom prep.
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    https://claude.com/resources/tutorials/getting-started-with-claude-for-teachers

Availability

Claude for Teachers is available to verified K-12 school staff in the United States on claude.ai (web, desktop, and mobile).

This program is for educators. There are no student accounts and no student-facing capabilities.

Educators who sign up before June 30, 2027 will receive at least a full year of free access. 

Who’s eligible

Any staff member at a US K-12 school or district can verify, including:

  • Classroom teachers
  • Instructional coaches and aides
  • Librarians and media specialists
  • Special education staff
  • School and district administrators

The program is named Claude for Teachers, but eligibility covers all verified K-12 school staff. You must be 18 or older.

International educators are not eligible at this time.

How to get verified

  1. Sign in to your Claude account at claude.ai, or create one. You must use your school email.
  2. Go to Claude for Teachers and select Get verified.
  3. Complete verification through Goodstack. You’ll be asked for documentation to verify your school/district affiliation. 
  4. You can continue using Claude while you wait for verification, but the K-12 educator terms will only apply after verification is complete. Verification usually takes less than 24 hours, but in some cases can take up to 3 days. You can check your verification status in your Claude settings. 
  5. Once verified, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Your account upgrades automatically to premium Claude capabilities. You may need to refresh if you are already logged in to begin the educator onboarding. 

Already have an individual Claude Pro subscription? Verify on your existing account and it will move to the free educator plan. You’ll receive a prorated credit for any unused portion of your subscription. 

You will be asked to re-verify periodically to keep your educator access active.

What’s included

Increased usage limits

Full access to a professional Claude account with Claude for Team usage limits. 

Teaching skills

Skills built for lesson planning and differentiation.

Learning Commons curriculum connector

Connects Claude to K-12 academic standards and learning components, as well as high-quality curricula from Illustrative Math and OpenSciEd that are only available to verified educators.

Educator onboarding and sidebar page

A short setup that asks what you teach and where, so Claude tailors its responses to your classroom. You can revisit your educator settings anytime in the sidebar. 

Start using Claude for Teachers

After verification, you’ll see a brief educator onboarding the next time you open Claude. From there, try one of the suggested prompts: 

  • Plan a lesson. Tell Claude your grade, subject, and where your class is in the unit. Claude draws on Learning Commons and your state standards to draft a plan and student-facing materials for your review.
  • Differentiate. Share a lesson and the range in your room (reading levels, IEPs, English language learners) and Claude produces scaffolded variants.
  • Build an assessment. Ask for a do-now, quiz, or exit ticket tied to a standard, with an answer key.
  • Draft family communication. Claude drafts the email; you review and decide what’s right for your families.

In Claude Cowork (research preview), you can hand off a multi-step job — like building a full set of lesson materials or revising materials already saved on your computer — and come back to finished slide decks, student packets, and exit tickets saved as files. Learn more in Getting started with Cowork.

You can also connect to a range of other educator services. Please see the connector directory for the full list of connectors.

Privacy and student data

  • View our privacy documentation: teacher terms of service and a plain-English explanation of how we handle student data.
  • We never train our models on your conversations. Training is off for verified teacher accounts.
  • Student information is protected by our K-12 Data Processing Addendum, written to comply with FERPA.

For districts and administrators

Individual educators verify themselves through the steps above - there’s nothing a district needs to provision.

Schools and districts are eligible for discounted Claude for Nonprofits pricing. If you’re a district or school administrator looking to set up Claude for your organization with admin controls, SSO, and centralized management, see Getting started with Claude for Nonprofits.

Frequently asked questions

Can students use this product? No. Claude for Teachers is for K-12 educators. There are no student accounts. Users under 18 are prohibited from using Claude, and we use age assurance services to enforce this policy. 

How long will it stay free? Claude for Teachers will be free for at least a year for educators who sign up before June 30, 2027. We will provide updates if the offer is extended.

Do I have to teach from Illustrative Math or OpenSciEd to benefit? No. The Learning Commons connector grounds Claude’s drafts in state standards and widely used open curriculum as a reference. You’re not locked into any program, and Claude does not reproduce curriculum wholesale.

What if my verification doesn’t go through instantly? Goodstack may require up to three days to review documentation (such as a school ID or pay stub). Follow the prompts in the verification flow. If you encounter an issue with verification, contact Goodstack support.

Can I use my personal email? No. Verification requires your professional email.

Where can I receive guidance on AI use in education? Teachers can access our AI Fluency for K-12 Teachers, a course co-created with Teach for America, and a train-the-trainer module co-created with the American Federation of Teachers. The guidance is model-agnostic, Creative Commons-licensed, and practical, covering which classroom tasks AI is suited to and how to use it responsibly with students.

I’m at a university or college. Is this for me? Claude for Teachers is for K-12. For higher education, see Get started with Claude for Education at your university.

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