Trending In Education

We’re back in Austin for the 2026 SXSW EDU "March Madness of Learning Trends" LIVE panel. Host Mike Palmer is joined by AJ Gutierrez (CEO of Equal Opportunity Schools), Jasmine Maze (Senior Managing Director at Teach for America’s Reinvention Lab), and Justin Serrano (CEO of Littera Education) to reveal a bracket of 16 trends shaping the future of education. The conversation moves past the usual AI hype to focus on human capital and accountability. Justin Serrano introduces the "outcomes economy," describing a shift in procurement where school districts move away from buying software and toward outcomes-based contracting that holds providers accountable for student results. AJ Gutierrez highlights the continued efficacy of high-impact tutoring, noting that regular personalization within the school day remains one of the most rigorously evaluated and successful approaches to K-12 recovery. Jasmine Maze provides a necessary critique of AI as a simple productivity engine. She argues for a focus on "teacher eff