Montclair State University Researchers Among First to Study AI's Impact on Character Development of Middle Schoolers

Researchers at Montclair State University’s Institute for Research on Youth Thriving and Evaluation (RYTE) have received a $257,505 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study how artificial intelligence affects character development in middle school students.

“Developing Student Agency and Purpose in AI-Supported, Independence-Driven Learning Environments” is one of the first empirical studies to analyze youth development within a fully AI-integrated educational ecosystem.

Key Study Details:

• Focus: Among the questions researchers are hoping to answer are things such as: How AI can support character strengths, such as agency, curiosity, interest, contribution, self-awareness and persistence to help students flourish — or what RYTE Co-Director Jennifer Urban refers to as “making humans better humans.”
• Participants: Recruitment is underway for 100 middle school students (grades 6–8) across Alpha School campuses nationwide.
• Methodology: Mixed-methods approach combining real-time assessments, long-term tracking and student interviews.

While much research on the use of AI exists and is ongoing — generating both excitement and concern — RYTE Institute researchers and graduate students are looking at the positive potential uses.

“Just like major technological advances that came before, AI promises to change life as we know it,” says Senior Research Scientist Elyse L. Postlewaite, who is co-leading the project with Urban. “It is already changing how we work, how we educate and how we communicate. But how will AI impact who we are as humans; how will AI impact our character? This is the type of big question our study begins to address."

Urban adds: “Who are we at our core as people, and what makes us good people who want to contribute to making society a better place? Those are the outcomes that we're interested in." 

The Templeton grant provides RYTE researchers an opportunity to contribute to the timely “national conversation about how AI could be integrated into K-12 education in ways that supports, rather than undermines, students' development,” Postlewaite says.

In partnership with Alpha School— a growing network of private, AI-integrated schools serving K-12 students across the U.S.—researchers will study how learning environments affect adolescent growth. Rather than relying on adult perspectives, the project centers student voices to understand their lived experiences in tech-integrated classrooms.

Alpha School has received extensive media coverage for its “AI-powered, 2-hour learning model” followed by personalized learning with “guides.” 

“These parents have decided to send their kids to a school that's different and innovative because they believe this is what's best for their kids,” says Urban. “This study is a way to test the potential benefits AI can provide and then share the findings with the rest of the world.”

Anglin “Angie” Thevaraja, a Family Science and Human Development PhD student in her final year, is one of several graduate students who will be involved in the RYTE study. “It is very important and timely that if education continues moving toward greater integration of AI and technology, that we have research examining what those environments mean for young people's development and their purpose development.”

Alpha School’s Life Skills Researcher and Program Designer Elaine Zebrowski, who graduated Montclair in 2026 with a Ph.D. in Family Science and Human Development, says: “ A strong sense of purpose is also linked to greater flourishing and positive outcomes across the lifespan. What we learn can help parents, educators and schools everywhere better understand how to create environments that support a strong sense of who young people are, what matters to them, and how they want to contribute to the world.”

The research will run throughout the current academic year, establishing a baseline for multi-year tracking.

About the RYTE Institute

The Institute for Research on Youth Thriving and Evaluation (RYTE) at Montclair State University’s College for Community Health conducts interdisciplinary research, evaluation and program design focused on understanding and strengthening the systems and settings in which people learn, develop and thrive.