As districts navigate shifting priorities, tighter budgets, and rapid technological change, Edmentum CEO Jamie Candee reflects on engagement, acceleration, college and career readiness, and what K–12 systems need most in 2026.
INTERVIEW | by Victor Rivero
As school systems face widening learning gaps, chronic absenteeism, evolving workforce demands, and increased scrutiny of edtech investments, district leaders are reexamining what truly accelerates learning and supports students at scale. In this conversation, Jamie Candee—President, CEO, and Board Director of Edmentum—shares how she’s seeing district priorities shift, how learning acceleration is being redefined, and how schools are responding to the pressures and possibilities shaping K–12 education today.
‘…seeing district priorities shift, how learning acceleration is being redefined, and how schools are responding to the pressures and possibilities shaping K–12 education today.’
What’s the clearest shift you’re seeing in district priorities right now – and how is that changing the way Edmentum shows up for educators?
Several changing dynamics are influencing districts’ priorities right now, and we’re taking intentional steps to address each of them. I’m going to call out just a few of the shifts here:
Flagging student engagement is the first. Currently, about 50% of students are in what’s called “passenger mode,” as defined and researched in Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop’s The Disengaged Teen. This is the low agency, low engagement quadrant, where students are often coasting along doing the minimum. Engagement is foundational to learning: this statistic clearly indicates the need to strengthen that foundation.
Edmentum is working to get students into “explorer mode,” the high agency, high engagement quadrant currently occupied by only 4% of middle and high school students. The 500+ digital courses we provide for districts combined with experienced, state-certified virtual teachers enable districts to give students access to any course they want to take, taught by a qualified instructor they will actually get to know, regardless of any teacher shortages, lack of enrollment, or other resource concerns. Our end-to-end college and career readiness platform is a critical part of this, which I know we’ll talk more about.
‘…get students into “explorer mode,” the high agency, high engagement quadrant currently occupied by only 4% of middle and high school students.’
In short, we’re making it so there’s no reason to tell a kid “no” when they express their academic interest.
Another important dynamic, relatedly, is chronic absenteeism. A quarter of students are absent for at least 10% of the school year, and districts are also experiencing enrollment declines that affect funding and make it challenging to serve their entire population. Schools must demonstrate to students and families an ability to meet their interests and needs.
This reinforces the importance of moving students into explorer mode by providing access to desired courses and learning pathways, and it also means prioritizing flexible learning environments. Lack of engagement is one reason students may be chronically absent, but obligations at home and other challenges also prevent many learners from participating in the traditional school schedule. Digital curriculum can expand both choice and access, and that’s been a focus for us. We did a study in Clover, South Carolina that demonstrated this: students who took at least one course with Edmentum Courseware had 23% fewer absences, a statistically significant result.
The third dynamic I’ll touch on briefly is the shift in job requirements brought on by the rise of AI. Employers are having trouble finding workers with the right skills, and K–12 schools (and institutions of higher learning) need to prepare students for postsecondary readiness in an economy that’s shifting quickly and continuously. They’re attempting to catch up in real time.
This is another area where our end-to-end approach to college and career readiness is crucial. Our solution brings career discovery, academic planning, high-impact curricula, and certification preparation together in one place, accessible to all students. And, at a higher level, we help states and districts turn their college and career readiness vision into scalable action.
Because we emphasize the importance of time spent in schools, we’re well-positioned to hear from leaders about their up-to-date needs and to observe firsthand how current challenges are impacting the learning environment. There are many more—and the trends will continue to evolve—but these are some of the key shifts right now.
Edmentum talks a lot about ‘learning acceleration’ and ‘amplifying teachers.’ What does that look like in practice in 2026 – where are you investing most: product, services, implementation, or something else?
Thank you for the question. It’s a good one, and it’s important to start by defining what we mean by “acceleration.” Acceleration, as demonstrated by research and as we intend it, unlike remediation, is not about making up for something that’s lost: it’s about maximizing forward momentum. It applies to every student, regardless of their current proficiency or mastery. A coherent approach to acceleration helps students recover skills they lack while also enabling learners to move ahead when they’re ready for something more advanced.
‘A coherent approach to acceleration helps students recover skills they lack while also enabling learners to move ahead when they’re ready for something more advanced.’
Regarding investments in this area, it’s some of everything. Ultimately, the goal is to close gaps in access and implementation, and specifically to support implementation with integrity.
Products alone don’t move outcomes; we need excellent teachers. But we also know that teachers can’t be at their best if they’re not provided with tools that have the right research backing. To amplify teachers, we are tirelessly committed to developing tools that are proven to augment outcomes, so they have the confidence that implementation will lead to impact.
We’ve also made strategic investments in AI to enhance content development, allow us to align more rapidly and precisely with academic standards, and improve accessibility for diverse learners.
Another key trend I want to highlight, which relates especially to this area, is budget scrutiny and the end of “trial-and-error” in edtech purchasing. With the expiration of COVID relief funds, a general reduction in budgets, and a clear emphasis on efficacy, it’s critical that districts know their investments will pay off in the form of student achievement. Likewise, there’s a need for consolidation. Our investments are made with these district leadership needs in mind, including the launch last year of the Exact Path Impact Report—which equips leaders to predict, measure, drive, and demonstrate student growth across the entire district.
You’ve led Edmentum through major growth, including acquisitions. How do you decide what to build vs. buy – and how do you integrate new capabilities without creating more complexity for schools?
“What enables us to best serve the critical needs of educators and students both most effectively and most quickly?”
That’s the fundamental question we have to answer. We won’t compromise on quality, but we also know many students will fall through the cracks if we take too long to turn around a solution.
To give an example within our college and career readiness solution, another option beyond the build vs. buy binary is partnership; this is often a strategic approach. Last year, we formed a partnership with Interplay Learning to bring virtual trade prep in nine of the most in-demand skilled trades—including HVAC, electrical, and plumbing—into our career-connected learning solution. We knew these are fields in which Gen Z has expressed strong interest, and where there is economic opportunity right now, and we also identified that Interplay’s immersive approach is high quality and dissolves the common barriers to access. So this partnership has been an excellent way to serve student needs.
‘…we formed a partnership … to bring virtual trade prep in nine of the most in-demand skilled trades—including HVAC, electrical, and plumbing—into our career-connected learning solution. We knew these are fields in which Gen Z has expressed strong interest, and where there is economic opportunity right now…’
I mention the partnership first because our recent acquisition of MajorClarity resulted from similar thinking. We knew that integrating career exploration with academic planning and postsecondary preparation—and adding that to our expansive career and technical education curricula—would significantly enhance the student experience and better equip graduates for their next steps. We also knew that developing the tools internally would be a long-term project, and that students deserved a solution now. When we found we had the opportunity to acquire MajorClarity, it delivered on all of our objectives: it brings unified college and career readiness (CCR) into one solution, closes the persistent gap between states’ and districts’ intentions around CCR and the realities of practical implementation, and it helps us do it quickly—so today’s students can benefit right away from a best-in-class experience.
We estimate going the acquisition route versus building in this case accelerated our roadmap by three years. That is significant, precious time in a student’s academic career. Think about how many secondary students can be served in that time, and how much better prepared they’ll be for what comes next.
In other cases, like with our human-centered approach to high-impact virtual tutoring, we aimed to build something functionally different from the common approaches trending elsewhere in the market. In such a case, it made the most sense to build because we had conviction that a new solution would be uniquely valuable to learners.
In each circumstance, returning to that question at the top—what is the most effective, and then most rapid way to serve educator and student needs?—can guide us to the right answer.
If you could redesign one part of the K–12 learning experience that most limits student progress today, what would it be – and what is Edmentum doing about it right now?
It’s a great question and there are a number of compelling options, but I’m going to highlight two:
One that we are focused on is reimagining the path to graduation, with two components: increased diploma access, combined with an emphasis on academic integrity. The education community needs to ensure students aren’t prevented from getting their diploma, but just as importantly, must make sure that diploma means something.
Put together, we call this “diploma integrity” and it is critical to students’ short- and long-term outcomes. People who earn their high school diploma experience improvements in economic opportunity, health, and overall well-being. These outcomes are not just individual, but generational. It is important that we understand just how wide-ranging the effects are.
But, there have been fair criticisms that some of the increase in graduation rates has been achieved through reduced rigor, such as in credit recovery programs that don’t have a clear set of policies and guidelines to ensure academic quality and integrity. To be clear, we believe those cases are the exception and we’ve seen plenty of examples where students can use their second chance not just to graduate, but to attend college. This requires that credentials are meaningful so they truly prepare students for success at the next level, and signal their preparedness to colleges and employers.
With that in mind, we’ve developed the only flexible, credit-bearing digital program with proven attendance and achievement results—the metrics that matter—while also filling gaps for districts by providing experienced, state-certified teachers, 95% of whom hold advanced degrees.
A second piece to highlight is the importance of putting the “and” in college and career readiness. Students are not served by the historical, traditional division that creates separate tracks for those perceived to be college-bound or career-bound; the division that implies the second group is necessarily “non-college” or that the first group wouldn’t be interested in thinking early about careers. Learners projected to be on either track are harmed when they don’t have access to early career exploration, an informed opportunity to align their secondary academic track and postsecondary plans according to their interests and aptitudes, and knowledge of the full range of available options.
‘Learners projected to be on either track are harmed when they don’t have access to early career exploration, an informed opportunity to align their secondary academic track and postsecondary plans according to their interests and aptitudes, and knowledge of the full range of available options.’
We believe the days of that divide are over, and we’re working to make it so. The college and career readiness work I’ve referenced—and specifically its emphasis on scaling achievement of these goals at the state level—is how we’re approaching it.
Anything else you care to add or emphasize concerning Edmentum in 2026, or the future of learning, AI’s impact on education, or your thoughts on the future? Anything at all?
We’ve covered a lot of ground, but I’d like to briefly mention two points that require urgent attention this year.
For one, I hope all of us in K–12 are focused on the importance of identifying and addressing persistent learning gaps. As the recent rounds of NAEP results showed, gaps between the highest- and lowest-performing students are widening. We need to be sure we’re equipping educators with tools and resources designed to work for all student groups. This is one of the things we’re most proud of with Exact Path: not only does the evidence show it’s 2–3 times more effective than traditional interventions, but the results hold for all student groups.
Secondly, AI’s impact is worth another mention. AI is rapidly transforming everything about the world. Over the past year, in my visits to schools, I’ve seen thoughtful approaches to AI and better questions about AI literacy and ethical use. But right now, only 18% of high school students have access to comprehensive AI education, according to the AI4K12 initiative. That means there’s a lot of ground to cover this year.
‘AI is rapidly transforming everything about the world. Over the past year, in my visits to schools, I’ve seen thoughtful approaches to AI and better questions about AI literacy and ethical use. But right now, only 18% of high school students have access to comprehensive AI education, according to the AI4K12 initiative. That means there’s a lot of ground to cover this year.’
Innovation is not an option; it’s a must, and we will continue to commit to innovation. We’re working to deploy AI to save teachers time on grading and improve student supports with live help. We’ve also built AI literacy into our curriculum, understanding that it is a foundational literacy of college and career readiness today.
We’ll maintain our focus on close collaboration with our district partners, because these needs will continue to evolve. It’s an honor to work alongside education leaders to create future-ready access and opportunity for their learners.
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Victor Rivero is the Editor-in-Chief of EdTech Digest and Executive Producer of Future Focus Forums (F3). Write to: victor@edtechdigest.com
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