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EYE ON THE INDUSTRY
Future Trends Supplementals Should Watch
By Charlene Gaynor
CEO, The Association of Educational Publishers
This article is the first in a series by AEP Chief Executive
Officer Charlene Gaynor outlining future trends that promise
to have the greatest impact on publishers of educational materials. For
years, experts have predicted revolutionary changes in education
brought about by factors such as teacher retirement, the No Child
Left Behind Act, one-to-one computing, and digital delivery of
educational content. In many cases these changes have already
begun to take place, but in some instances, developments have
yet to be seen.
In this installment Gaynor examines the increasing presence of
government influence on decision-making at the state and local
levels, on postal rates, and on the future of digital content and
intellectual property rights.
GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE
Accountability Mandates
Accountability has become
part of the educational landscape and only promises to influence
the industry more as NCLB expands into other core subject areas
and high schools. However, while
no one contends with the intentions of the bill, the implementation
of certain NCLB mandates has proven more difficult than originally
thought.
Since the start of her term last January, Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings has dealt with some of the most aggressive attacks
on the law to date. Last year several states filed suit over
NCLB mandates, and others passed legislation in direct opposition
to the federal law. The Education Department has paid close
attention to complaints against NCLB and in April announced a new "common
sense" policy toward the bill's implementation that promises
flexible interpretations of certain mandates on a case-by-case
basis.
In regard to the publishing community, it has been unclear how
some of the bill's research requirements apply to supplemental
materials - if at all. Strict literal interpretations of
accountability mandates have made district decision-makers wary
of products that may not meet the stringent "gold standard" of
efficacy research, which calls for randomized clinical trials. In
other cases, unclear language has caused confusion about the use
of supplemental materials in early intervention programs and other
federally funded education initiatives.
In the coming year, AEP plans to bring these issues to the attention
of legislators during NCLB reauthorization with the hopes of securing
similar common sense policies toward supplemental materials. As
government influence over research standards and funding continues
to grow, federal acknowledgement will mark a major step in the
recognition of supplementals as necessary components in classroom
curriculum.
Postal Rates
Despite Congressional intent to preserve
affordable postal rates for schools and libraries, over the years
rates have continued to increase dramatically to cover rising U.S.
Postal Service costs. The
latest increase, 5.4 percent, went into effect January 8. Although
do exist for publishers of classroom periodicals, most are percentage
discounts; therefore, any rise in postal rates still means an increase
in shipping costs. As a result, many of these rates have
become ineffectively high and out of line with historical precedent,
and many publishers have been forced to seek out alternative shipping
methods.
AEP recently joined the Literacy Rate Coalition, a unified front
of education organizations that feel the USPS should reaffirm its
commitment to the education of today's youth by facilitating the
dissemination of classroom learning materials. The goal of
the coalition is to establish a postal rate provision for publishers
shipping educational materials to schools, libraries and literacy
programs.
Another USPS rate case may begin as early as the first half of
this year. AEP will post updates in the Government Relations
section of its website at http://www.aepweb.org/govrelations/index.htm.
Digital Content
The reauthorized Individuals with
Disabilities Act (IDEA) was signed into law on December 3, 2004,
and included provisions for a National Instructional Materials
Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). The
NIMAS is a standard file format intended to facilitate the conversion
of textbooks and other instructional materials into alternate formats
such as Braille, audio, or digital text. The ultimate goal
of establishing this standard is to increase accessibility to students
with physical or mental disabilities that inhibit their ability
to read printed text.
If publishers haven't already begun thinking of their products
in digital terms, NIMAS is one factor that will help bring this
issue to the forefront. Recognizing content - rather than
physical product - as your asset changes a publisher's business
model in a number of ways. While it opens up new revenue
possibilities, it also raises a number of questions about licensing
and distribution rights, many of which are the same questions for
which music industry executives have yet to find answers.
AEP's role in the near future is to raise awareness about the
NIMAS and to represent the interests of supplemental educational
publishers as the standards are updated and implemented.
The next part in the Eye on the Industry series will
focus on the changing demographics of teachers brought about
by higher teacher turnover and retirement rates. It will
be featured in AEP Online on February 7.
Questions, ideas, or
in need of more information? Please contact Stacey
Pusey at 302-295-8349.
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