Download our free activities calendar for fun lessons to do with your class, plus engaging ways to commemorate and celebrate events throughout the year.
Download our free activities calendar for fun lessons to do with your class, plus engaging ways to commemorate and celebrate events throughout the year.
Get our free administrator’s guide to building a positive school culture, filled with practical advice, real-world examples, and resources for further exploration.
Download our free activities calendar for fun lessons to do with your class, plus engaging ways to commemorate and celebrate events throughout the year.
Get our free administrator’s guide to building a positive school culture, filled with practical advice, real-world examples, and resources for further exploration.
The top education trends in 2026 show a movement from doing more to doing what works. We highlight the biggest difference for teachers and students in two key areas: technology and instruction.
Current trends in education in 2026: Connected systems
The latest trends to watch aren’t about adding more technology or chasing the next shiny idea. They’re about making better use of what schools already have. Imagine AI that uses your curriculum and learning data to demonstrate real student gains. Results will lead the way.
PREDICTION #1
AI outputs will drive student outcomes.
Andrew Goldman, Executive Vice President, HMH Labs
AI will do more than generate lesson plans and prompts. It will drive outcomes that matter. When integrated with HQIM, grounded in pedagogy, and guided by analytics, AI will become a core instructional tool that can use your curriculum, standards, and learning data to deliver differentiation at scale. It will anticipate student needs, surface just-right texts and scaffolds, and knit cross-curricular connections. And when districts ask “How did this improve learning?”, the best AI systems will demonstrate it. That’s the pivot: AI moving from convenience for educators to measurable impact on student learning.
PREDICTION #2
Learning platforms will begin to learn.
Matthew Mugo Fields, President, HMH Integrated Platform
Districts have hit peak EdTech sprawl—too many tools, too little connection. The next era isn’t about adding one more clever app; it’s about platforms that pull curriculum, assessment, intervention, and professional learning into a single, coherent experience. We’re going to see the rise of learning platforms that learn: environments where every assignment, benchmark, and small-group lesson feeds a shared intelligence that suggests next steps, surfaces patterns across classrooms, and helps leaders invest in what actually works. AI is the catalyst, but coherence is the goal—teachers get planning and feedback copilots that understand their curriculum, students experience more continuous and personalized support, and districts finally start moving from fragmented solutions to a true instructional operating system.
PREDICTION #3
Data-informed systems will better connect instruction and intervention.
Suzanne Jimenez, National Director, Innovation and Insights at HMH
Schools will leverage AI to strengthen the continuum of services that balances inclusive classroom instruction with timely, targeted intervention. Educators will have access to intuitive tools to better understand student needs and adjust instruction accordingly, using technology to support—not replace—professional judgment. When students need additional support, schools will use student learning data to deliver intensive instruction that accelerates growth and improves access to grade-level curriculum. The result will be a more responsive system, one that recognizes learning differences, adjusts to student progress, and prioritizes growth for every learner.
PREDICTION #4
Connected systems will define instruction in 2026.
Lindsay Dworkin, Senior Vice President, Policy & Government Affairs at HMH
More students than ever had access to high-quality instructional materials in 2025, yet achievement gaps persisted. The focus in 2026 will shift from access alone to results. Using research-backed materials remains essential, but how teachers use those materials matters even more. It’s no longer enough to ask whether materials are high-quality. They must be aligned with assessments, integrated with actionable data, embedded in professional learning, and implemented with coherence and integrity. High-quality instructional materials are only one part of the puzzle. The real priority will be building connected systems that work together to unlock every student’s full potential.
PREDICTION #5
Education technology will prioritize human connection.
Dr. Carol Kelley, Superintendent, Salem City School District, New Jersey
Thenew trend to watch in 2026 is technology that prioritizes people over process. As a superintendent focused on recruiting and retaining staff and growing enrollment, I’m seeing demand shift toward tools that go beyond operations to actively build community. It’s no longer enough for technology to push information to families. Leaders want solutions that enable genuine two-way engagement, recognize staff contributions, celebrate student achievement, and keep families meaningfully connected to school life. When technology strengthens relationships, it creates the conditions for learning and well-being to thrive. The smartest technology investments focus on the human connections that make schools work.
Current trends in education in 2026: Drawing on evidence
Educators are drawing on research to strengthen math, reading, and writing skills, build knowledge through rich content, and create learning experiences that engage students across subjects. The following five trends reflect how educators are refining instruction based on the evidence of how students learn best.
PREDICTION #6
Writing will become a bigger part of reading instruction.
Francie Alexander, Senior Vice President, Efficacy & Consulting Research at HMH
Reading instruction will put more emphasis on writing. In any subject, writing strengthens reading comprehension and critical thinking. Research increasingly shows that writing—especially sentence-level work—helps students process, organize, and retain what they read. Some are even calling 2026 “the year of the sentence,” reflecting a renewed focus on helping students craft strong sentences as the foundation for paragraphs and essays. As students write, they build knowledge, expand their vocabularies, and deepen their understanding of themselves and the world. Writing gives them a voice, and with that voice comes competence and confidence.
PREDICTION #7
Math engagement will depend on responsive tasks and questioning.
Dr. Juli Dixon, Professor Emerita of Mathematics Education at the University of Central Florida
In professional development sessions, teachers are increasingly asking for support on how to boost student engagement. As students live in a digital world where algorithms deliver content connected to their interests, the question for math instruction is: How do we design learning experiences that are just as responsive? We do it with instruction that relies on multifaceted tasks that challenge student thinking. And we pair that with purposeful teacher questioning that can determine where students need more support or greater challenges. These questions can be as simple as: How do you know? What could you do next? How is your strategy the same or different from a peer’s? Just as digital algorithms respond instantly, the tasks we choose and the questions we ask must create the personal connection that motivates students to persevere.
PREDICTION #8
The “science of” approach will expand beyond reading.
Dr. Nathan Clemens, Department of Special Education, University of Texas at Austin
Spurred by the science of reading, educators will continue to refine their teaching practices based on research evidence—not only in literacy, but across disciplines. In reading, school leaders will keep prioritizing core curricula and intervention programs aligned with best practices. In 2026, this same “science of” approach will increasingly extend into mathematics and science, as educators reevaluate instructional methods and supplemental supports through an evidence-based lens. The emphasis will be on aligning curriculum, instruction, and support systems with what research shows works best for students.
PREDICTION #9
Relationships will matter more than ever in math classrooms.
Dr. Jennifer Wolfe, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Arizona
We’re living in a time when human connection feels increasingly fragile. So the question for 2026 is how we can continue to center human connection in our classrooms. One of the most important trends in math education is the emphasis on responsive teaching that strengthens relationships and centers students’ ideas and experiences. This means creating space for rough-draft thinking that allows students to build understanding together, through collaborative discourse. How students think out loud reveals what they’re thinking as well as anything they’d produce on paper or on a screen. Without careful attention to relationships, we risk losing the human side of learning.
PREDICTION #10
Literature will play a central role in knowledge-building curriculum.
Dr. Carol Jago, HMH Author and Associate Director, California Reading & Literature Project at UCLA
The buzz around a knowledge-building curriculum is echoing across America’s schools. As teachers help students garner information about the world—history, geography, science, and art—they are finding literature to be a powerful vehicle for building background knowledge. When students read stories set in times and places other than their own, they learn about those times and places and the people who inhabited them. They stretch their imaginations to envision futuristic and fantasy worlds. Narratives create a context for new information and help students remember what they are learning. Stories also offer emotional connections to characters students would never otherwise encounter. Reading builds empathy and a sense of belonging. As James Baldwin said, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” Children’s minds are made for stories.
Emerging trends in education
With the help of experts, we’ve highlighted some of the current trends in educationshaping classrooms. But the story doesn’t end here. Education is always changing, and new ideas, practices, and approaches are always popping up. What are you seeing in your schools or communities? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Instagram, or via email at shaped@hmhco.com.
If you’re curious to see how past trends panned out, check out these blogs:
