Education Insights
2026-2027:
Learning with Purpose
New research on career readiness, classroom relevance, and the future of learning
While students and educators value career readiness, students do not always experience it consistently in everyday learning.
Explore how schools and districts can make career readiness more visible, more connected to instruction, and more meaningful for students as they build confidence, skills, and a clearer sense of what comes next.
webinar
Thursday, September 17 | 1:00PM-2:00 PM ET
From Someday to the School Day:
Exclusive New Research on Connecting Classroom Learning to Students' Futures
Students are thinking about their futures earlier than ever, but career readiness is not always visible in everyday learning. Join us to explore new findings from the 2026–2027 Education Insights Report and discuss how schools can move from isolated career moments to sustained experiences that help students see purpose in what they are learning.
As Seen In:
As Seen In:
Key Findings
Key Findings
Students and educators agree that career readiness matters.
It builds the skills students need for the future while strengthening the motivation, confidence, and relevance that support learning today.
Almost all district leaders believe that career readiness is just as important as academic outcomes.
Nearly all teachers say career-readiness experiences meaningfully influence how students think about their futures.
STUDENTS
About 90% of students say early exposure to careers helps them feel more confident about the future.
But students start thinking about the future before systems often support them.
Career interests begin forming early, but career readiness is often most prioritized and visible in later grades.
IN
STUDENTS
Report forming their career interests before high school.
IN
Teachers
Believe students learn about careers too late.
Career readiness needs to move from priority to practice.
Even when career readiness is prioritized, it does not always reach students as a regular part of classroom learning.
4x
Administrators are nearly four times more likely than students to say career learning happens at least weekly.
37%
Only about one-third of teachers say career readiness is embedded into regular instruction.
The opportunity is to turn broad support into consistent, visible career connections students experience in everyday learning.
Pop Quiz
What does career readiness look like from every point of view?
The answers may surprise you. Explore new findings from the 2026–2027 Education Insights Report and see where students, teachers, and administrators agree, differ, and reveal what schools may be missing.
The answers may surprise you.
Your Score
Explore
Everyone Agrees Career Readiness Matters. The Hard Part Is Doing It.
Amy Nakamoto, Chief Commercial Officer at Discovery Education, explores why broad agreement on career readiness hasn’t always translated into consistent student experiences. Read what your schools can do to make career-connected learning start earlier, happen more often, and become part of everyday instruction.
Frequently
Frequently
Asked Questions
What topics does this report explore?
The 2026–2027 Education Insights Report examines how students and educators experience career readiness, when students begin thinking about their futures, and what schools need to make career-connected learning more visible and consistent across grade levels.
Who participated in the survey for this report?
The 2026 Education Insights Report brings together the voices of 1,009 superintendents, curriculum leaders, principals, teachers, and students from rural, suburban, and urban communities across the United States. Their perspectives create a meaningful snapshot of today’s classrooms, highlighting key educational data that shape learning nationwide. Additional details about sampling and methodology are included in the report.
How was the research conducted?
Hanover Research conducted a national survey in May 2026 on behalf of Discovery Education. To add depth beyond the statistics about education, Discovery Education conducted live interviews with stakeholder groups. These conversations brought context to the numbers, allowing us to pair district and school leadership, teacher, and student engagement statistics with authentic experiences from classrooms.
Why did Discovery Education conduct this research?
Discovery Education conducts this ongoing research to better understand trends in U.S. education and deliver actionable insights for schools and districts. By analyzing student career-readiness statistics, and broader education data in the United States, we equip educators with clear strategies to support meaningful learning and prepare students for the future, including addressing student needs, adapting to changes in career readiness, and exploring emerging topics like AI in education.
Who is the report for and how can educators use it?
The report is designed for K–12 teachers, school and district leaders, curriculum and instruction teams, career-readiness leaders, policymakers, and others working to connect classroom learning to students’ futures. Schools and districts can use the findings to inform strategic planning, curriculum conversations, professional learning, career-readiness initiatives, community partnerships, and efforts to make career-connected learning more consistent across grade levels.