Major K-12 Textbook Publishers

This posting now complete...Overviews big 3 textbook companies & their science curricula.

Three major companies now dominate the global K-12 textbook market:

1. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt division of EMPG (pvt, Cayman Islands)
2. McGraw-Hill Education division of McGraw-Hill (NYC. NYSE: MHP)
3. Pearson Education division (Upper Saddle River, NJ) of Pearson PLC (London. LSE: PSON)

I. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT has several relevant divisions:
a. Houghton Mifflin School Dvision is preK-8. Includes online site: Education Place. www.eduplace.com
b. McDougal Littel is 6-12.
c. Supplemental Learning Materials includes Great Source Division which makes kits and flexible resources including those for science. (The other parts of the Supplemental Learning Division seem to exclude science.
d. Educational Technology division includes Edmark House Series for early learning and special needs which includes Sammy's Science Book. Looks like toddlers, kindergarten and really special needs.

II. McGRAW HILL has 4 gradeschool textbook imprints.
Summary: Macmillan K-6 & Glencoe 6-12 are their mainstream curricula. SRA and Wright are their alternative/remedial/supplemental/individualized lines. More online & computer.
a. Macmillan McGraw Hill: PreK-6. "A Closer Look"
b. Glencoe is a 6-12 textbook printer division of McGraw Hill & uses Glencod as the brand.
Middle school has one main series (Life, Earth and Physical Science) but available in 3 levels (red, green blue). Also available as 15 book series, breaking each of the 3 branches into 5 mini-books each.
High school has all the disciplines Bio, Chem, Physics, Anat, etc. Multiple different titles for each. Eg. About 15 bio textbooks including 3 different AP books.
c. SRA K-12. Seems to all educations supplements geared toward practicing/drilling for test scores or for helping stuggling studesn.
iLabs 6-12 is online version.
Snapshots 1-5 video-based supplemental for students that stuggle with science concepts & vocab.
Science Labs 3-12 are boxes of attractive study cards that tell you just what you need to know to answer test questions, no more. "The perfect tool to reinforce and test core science skills". http://srareadinglabs.com/science_lab/data/fact_sheet_lep.pdf
Real Science Kits for k-6 "Meet national science standards with exciting multimedia lessons" for teachers with "varying science backgrounds" through sight, sound and activity.
d. Wright Group Also looks kinda remedial. For "differentiated instruction and state-of-the-art technology tools that help every student learn no matter what their individual need, ensuring success"

[Danny's curriculum not published by Glencoe. It's published by It's About Time which is in the little Education division of Herrf sic Jones Company. Which mostly sells class rings, gowns, awards, etc.]

III. PEARSON

Pearson Elementary Science Curricula
Scott Foresman is main series
Success Maker just like middle school. computerized.
Waterford Early Learning Another computerized program

Pearson Middle School Curricula

• Prentice Hall Explorer...main textbook series
  
• Event Based-supplements Explorer with small books on Volcano, Hurricane, Asteroid, Global Warming, Toxic Spill etc.
• Prentice Hall Explorer Forensic Science-single book
• Discoveries, Investigations and Adventures in L, E & P Sciences
• Concepts and Challenges: Apparently their hard (more challenging) textbook series. Also in Life, Earth and Physical Sci.
• Success Maker Enterprise: Individual COMPUTER curriculum geared to below, at and above graade level.
• NovaNet: ONLINE curriculum

Pearson High School Science Curriuli curricula curriculi curricula. Science everywhere curriculi curricula!
Extensive. Much like McGraw Hill. Too broad & complicated to summarize.

Pearson Education operates globally and has a range of competitors, both on a global basis as well as in each country in operates. In the United States of America, the main competitors in the K–12 (education) include Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a subsidary of EMPG and McGraw Hill Education a division of McGraw Hill Inc.. Internationally, competitors include: Macmillan Education, a division of Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH; and EMPGI an affiliate of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Business note on EMPG/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt...

EMPG is now in financial trouble. Maybe they will sell us their science curriculum assets! (kidding)

Education Media and Publishing Group, more commonly known as EMPG, is a holding company registered in the Cayman Islands. Its most important subsidary is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a US educational publisher, based in Boston. It also has an affiliate that focuses on markets outside the USA called EMPGI. In January 2009 the two big credit rating services, Moody's Investor Services and Standard & Poor's, slashed the rating of EMPG and warned that default on its crushing $6.7 billion debt is increasingly likely. At the same time, Reed Elsevier dropped its valuation of their 11.8% stake in EMPG to just €15m. This values the group at around 5% of its original claimed worth, leaving Chairman Barry O'Callaghan with few options now that S&P rates the group CC


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