Education Publishing: market research reports

Until the 21st century, textbooks defined educational publishing for the K-12 and higher education markets. Around this core over the years, the educational publishing industry expanded with standardized testing, workbooks, test prep, story books and classroom magazine supporting the delivery of core curriculum material through textbooks. In the latter part of the 20th century as the development of technology proliferated, instructional courseware and modular software programs, tools and services bounced off the use of audio-visual materials in classrooms to change the nature of how instructional materials and tests are delivered.

In the 21st century, technology has disrupted the traditional business models of the roughly $13 billion educational publishing industry, putting more emphasis on delivery of online courses and course material across the grade spectrum and in meeting the demand for professional development services for educators. E-textbooks, video-streaming, digital delivery, gaming and cloud computing are the catch-words of educational publishing in the early 21st century.

Changing polices at the federal level and new demands at the state and local levels are creating new challenges for traditional educational publishers, as well as opening new channels for upstart or non-traditional companies to enter the education market from preschool through higher education—from federal grant programs like School Improvement Grants or Race to the Top, ongoing initiatives like the federal Head Start and state-sponsored prekindergarten programs, one-to-one laptop initiatives, Apple iPad or Amazon Kindle pilot programs, to free open-source or open-access digital textbooks, prepackaged online courses and blended learning initiatives.