Edmentum and Roadtrip Nation Partner to Embed Real-World Career Stories Directly into Core Courses
Collaboration will integrate curated videos with digital curriculum to help districts introduce research-backed relevance to students’ learning
Bloomington, Minn. and Costa Mesa, Calif., Feb. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Edmentum, the leading provider of innovative, comprehensive, and proven learning acceleration solutions that empower student success from K–Career, today announced a new partnership with Roadtrip Nation, the Regional Emmy-winning nonprofit organization known for its public television show where young people travel the country in iconic green RVs to explore the career paths of professionals who've found fulfilling work. This partnership marks Roadtrip Nation’s first integration into core, credit-bearing curriculum—co-designed with Edmentum to align authentic career storytelling directly to course instruction. The short, story-driven career videos will be embedded into the Edmentum Courseware digital curriculum for secondary grades—opening up access to students using Courseware as their curriculum with local teachers, as well as those learning with virtual instructors from Edmentum’s EdOptions Academy—illustrating the relevance of students’ learning by demonstrating how the curriculum connects to potential career paths.
Increased Core Curriculum Relevance to Improve Student Agency and Engagement
This student-centered learning design enhancement addresses two of the critical challenges facing schools and learners today; the first of these is low student engagement, which becomes chronic absenteeism when left unaddressed, threatening students’ ability to graduate and access meaningful postsecondary opportunities. As described in Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop’s The Disengaged Teen, half of students are currently in “passenger mode,” characterized by limited engagement and a low sense of agency, which results in a lack of motivation to do more than the minimum. By contrast, the objective is for students to enter “explorer mode,” with high agency and engagement, currently occupied by roughly 4% of middle and high schoolers.
Building relevance into the curriculum and increasing students’ access to courses and content that they desire are the keys to improving agency and engagement. The integration of Roadtrip Nation videos into Edmentum Courseware advances these objectives—evidence from a San Jose, Calif. study showed that nearly 7 in 10 students participating in the Roadtrip Nation Experience viewed their education as relevant to their life—while building on proven results already researched in the Courseware platform. A study in Clover, S.C. showed that students taking at least one course in Courseware had 23% fewer absences driven by the enhanced access and flexibility provided by the digital curriculum.
“Relevance—making clear connections between students’ learning and the world, indicating how their developing skills and knowledge translate to rewarding opportunities, and demonstrating, authentically, that learners are in control of their own futures—is the catalyst for learning transformation. It changes students’ perception of school; no longer simply a station they must visit along their life’s journey, it becomes the launchpad into their future,” said Jamie Candee, President and CEO of Edmentum. “Roadtrip Nation has an incredible track record in telling stories that resonate with young people. In bringing curated videos directly into our research-backed digital curriculum, we are ‘leveling up’ learning by removing frequent barriers to engagement, strengthening efficacious curriculum with video content that students truly love, and helping schools establish relevance at scale.”
Curated, Embedded Videos Ensure Access and Spark Curiosity
Unlike traditional lecture-style videos, Roadtrip Nation’s short, student-friendly storytelling is designed to spark curiosity. The partnership will benefit students and educators in several important ways, including:
- The videos will complement, rather than replace, the Courseware curriculum built on research-based learning design principles certified by Digital Promise, deepening the learning experience.
- Content selections are pre-curated from Roadtrip Nation’s video library by curriculum experts, eliminating the need for teachers and counselors to spend their own time finding materials.
- Rather than leaving students as passive viewers, the student-led interview style puts students in conversation with real professionals.
Connecting Core Subjects to Career Fields Better Prepares Students for the Future
In addition to student engagement, the second critical challenge addressed by this partnership is students’ preparedness for life after high school. Students and their families currently have a limited understanding of the postsecondary options available, and less than 30% of students feel “very prepared” to pursue any of the postsecondary pathways they are considering.
Roadtrip Nation’s interviews, which feature professionals from a wide range of fields discussing their jobs and career journeys, build awareness of available career pathways while establishing relevance for learners. In a Stanford University study, Roadtrip Nation’s curriculum helped more than 6 in 10 students discover career paths they hadn’t previously considered. Combined with the high-quality curriculum in Courseware, this will strengthen students’ connection to their learning, forming a foundation for better performance and preparedness for their next steps.
“Too often, what comes after high school is a black box for many young people,” said Mike Marriner, Co-Founder and President of Roadtrip Nation. “We’ve seen how powerful it can be when students hear real people talk honestly about their paths—especially when you reach students early in their academic journey.”
This partnership complements Edmentum’s suite of solutions that help schools reimagine the path to graduation and enhance college and career readiness at scale. Roadtrip Nation videos will be integrated into the curriculum of core high school subjects on a rolling basis beginning at back-to-school 2026-27, followed by middle school core courses. In the future, a selection of videos will also be embedded in the MajorClarity college and career planning platform. School district leaders can learn more on the Edmentum website.
About Edmentum
Edmentum believes that every student deserves the opportunity to thrive everywhere learning occurs—whether they seek to catch up, stay on track, or chart their own path. When you pair Edmentum's comprehensive, research-backed learning acceleration solutions with empowered and supported educators, you can change the direction of students' lives. We partner with K–12 educators in all 50 states and 100+ countries worldwide to design, implement, and sustain the programs that deliver on this shared promise of learning acceleration for every student. www.edmentum.com.
About Roadtrip Nation
Roadtrip Nation humanizes career exploration through stories and empowers individuals to connect their interests to fulfilling lives and careers. Through its award-winning public television series, New York Times bestselling book "Roadmap," and educational programs and tools that provide visibility and insights into career possibilities and pathways, Roadtrip Nation gives people from all backgrounds confidence and belief in their ability to persist through challenges and define success for themselves. Roadtrip Nation, a part of Strada Collaborative, has been showcased at the United Nations Social Innovation Summit, Clinton Global Initiative, NBC Education Nation, TEDx, Talks at Google, SXSW, and the Harvard Social Enterprise Forum, and their programs currently reach over 16 million students each year. www.roadtripnation.com.
Ross Romano Edmentum communications@edmentum.com
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