About this episode

The episode features a live panel discussion at SXSW EDU focusing on emerging trends in education, emphasizing human capital and accountability.

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 efficiency," which means using technology to remove administrative friction and "buy back" time for the relational, human work of mentoring and master design. Mike Palmer rounds…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Palmer

Guests: AJ Gutierrez, Jasmine Maze, Justin Serrano

Topics covered

• education trends
• human capital
• accountability
• outcomes economy
• high-impact tutoring
• AI in education
• strategic optimism

Keywords

• March Madness of Learning
• education
• trends
• AI
• tutoring
• outcomes economy
• strategic optimism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Equal Opportunity Schools, Teach for America’s Reinvention Lab, Littera Education

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