Defining Engagement: Insights from Discovery Education and Simba's Market Analysis

What does it really mean when students are engaged in learning? Discovery Education’s new report, Education Insights 2025–2026: Fueling Learning Through Engagement, puts this question front and center. Based on nearly 1,400 survey responses from superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, and students, the findings show broad agreement on the importance of engagement, but also striking differences in how it is defined and supported.

At Simba Information, our policy and market research adds another layer to this story. By combining Discovery Education’s survey results with Simba’s analysis of fiscal pressures, policy mandates, and technology trends, we can better understand how engagement is being reshaped in classrooms today.

Engagement Is a Shared Priority

Discovery Education’s survey found:

• 93% of educators view engagement as essential for achievement.
• 99% of superintendents identify it as a top predictor of success.
• 92% of students say engaging lessons make school more enjoyable.

Despite this consensus, perceptions diverge. About two-thirds of students (63%) report they are highly engaged, while fewer than half of teachers (45%) agree. As Brian Shaw, Discovery Education’s CEO, explained: “Engagement is seen as essential to learning, but it is inconsistently defined, observed, and supported in classrooms.”

This matters because teachers often equate engagement with active participation, while superintendents tie engagement to test results, and students sometimes describe engagement as simply “staying on track”. Without shared definitions, strategies for improvement risk missing the mark.

What Gets in the Way

The Discovery report also surfaced key barriers:

• Students pointed to boredom, lack of challenge, and feeling overwhelmed.
• Teachers cited low motivation and distraction.
• Parents were more positive, though only 55% strongly agreed their child was focused at school.

Simba’s PreK–12 Policy & Budget Outlook 2025–2026 helps explain why these barriers persist. As districts navigate the end of ESSER funding, tighter budgets, and shifting mandates, professional development and innovation are often sacrificed in favor of core staffing. RAND surveys show teachers already work more than 50 hours a week, much of it on non-instructional tasks, leaving little time to design engaging lessons.

Technology and Engagement

Discovery Education’s data show that two-thirds of students believe AI can help them learn faster. Yet fewer than half of teachers report using AI tools themselves, and only about half (53%) say they feel optimistic about AI’s potential. Administrators are far more enthusiastic, with nearly all superintendents reporting excitement about AI’s role in schools. As Lisa Katz, Vice President of Research and Analytics at Discovery Education, noted: “Emerging technologies can help save teachers time, but only if they are implemented with purpose.”

Simba’s research confirms that districts are still catching up. As of early 2025, 43% lacked clear guidelines for generative AI. Many district leaders rank AI as a top technology priority, but classroom adoption remains uneven, reflecting both opportunity and caution.

Why This Matters Now

Policy and market dynamics are making engagement harder to sustain:

• Fiscal strain: Districts face average budget declines of 5–8% as ESSER funds expire.
• Attendance challenges: Chronic absenteeism, at 23.5% of students in 2023–24, remains well above pre-pandemic levels.
• Policy shifts: Literacy and math mandates emphasize measurable outcomes, while restrictions on SEL and DEI limit whole-child approaches. PEN America documented more than 10,000 book bans in 2023–24, concentrated in states like Florida and Iowa.

Together, these forces constrain how schools act on the priorities highlighted in Discovery Education’s survey.

Looking Ahead

Engagement is not just a pedagogical goal. It is quickly becoming a benchmark for whether schools are delivering value. Moving forward will require:

• Building shared definitions of engagement across roles
• Leveraging tools, including AI, that genuinely reduce teacher workload
• Ensuring literacy and math mandates are implemented in ways that engage as well as measure
• Addressing absenteeism by making learning relevant and rewarding

Discovery Education’s survey makes clear that students, teachers, and leaders all care about engagement, but they don’t always mean the same thing. Simba’s market analysis shows why, and how, fiscal realities and policy choices shape what happens in classrooms. Together, these perspectives offer a roadmap for schools and vendors alike: engagement is no longer optional; it is the measure of success.

Stay Informed

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About the blogger: Martha Scharping is the Education Analyst and Writer for Simba Information, the leading authority of strategic intelligence for EdTech companies, journal publishers, and other producers of instructional materials for K-12 and higher education.