Changing Dynamics in the PreK-12 Educational Publishing Industry

STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/  Perhaps the single greatest missed opportunity for traditional K-12 publishers in the last decade was passing on the call from New York state Department of Education for partners to develop PreK-12 curriculum materials aligned to Common Core State Standards in both mathematics and English language arts that schools could download for free.

The resulting productsEngageNY, the English language arts curriculum, and Eureka Math-have been extremely popular with schools and often are used as the core curriculum.

"Instead of being part of the solution, the major commercial publishers created new competitors," said Kathy Mickey, senior analyst and managing editor of the Education Group at Simba Information, the longtime provider of business intelligence in media and publishing.

How established publishers strategically approach the changing demand in the U.S. school market and the challenge of innovating ed-tech startups is the focus of the just released PreK-12 Instructional Materials Industry Competitive Analysis, 2018 from Simba Information.

School districts have shown sustained interest in creating their own curriculum and then finding various resources to use with it. Frequently, solutions are open educational resources, at lower prices if not free.

"Large publishers are streamlining their operations and focusing on what they see as their core opportunities," Mickey said. "And they are going in different directions. For instance, Pearson is trying to divest its U.S. K-12 curriculum; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is beefing up its supplemental offerings, and Cambium Learning Group is undertaking a strategic review of its business."

PreK-12 Instructional Materials Industry Competitive Analysis, 2018 examines the ways publishers are adapting to the changing market, including how mergers and acquisitions are reshaping the competitive landscape; target areas of rising technology start-ups; emerging trends in market demand; and how publishers are performing against market challenges and opportunities. The report includes strategic profiles of 13 leading core basal and supplemental publishers in the PreK-12 market.

About Simba Information
Simba Information is widely recognized as the leading authority for market intelligence in the media and publishing industry. Simba's extensive information network delivers top quality, independent perspective on the people, events and alliances shaping the media and information industry. Simba publishes newsletters and research reports that provide key decision-makers at more than 15,000 client companies around the globe with timely news, analysis, exclusive statistics and proprietary industry forecasts. For more information, please visit www.simbainformation.com.  

Contact:
Kathy Mickey
Senior Analyst, Education Group
Simba Information
203-325-8193
kmickey@simbainformation.com

 

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