Change Is in the Air for the U.S. PreK-12 and Higher Education Markets in 2017

ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether expressed as anticipation or anxiety, a sensation of change is percolating through the U.S. PreK-12 and higher education segments and in the instructional materials industry that serves the education market.

With passage of Every Child Succeeds Act last year, state began to shake off almost two decades of Washington, D.C.-led regimentation; states and local districts began reasserting leadership over the direction of education on their home turf.

The nomination of Betsy DeVos to be the next U.S. secretary of education signals directional change at the federal level—in terms of support for traditional public schools vs. charter schools and choice, and in the regulatory climate for the higher education sector.

As Simba Information, a leading provider of education market business intelligence, looks ahead to 2017, the following are seven trends that it expects to shape market dynamics:

• Future schools: Growing interest in project-based learning, collaboration and maker spaces, robotics and virtual reality could change the physical configuration of schools, their spending priorities and the opportunities they present to the market. Virtual reality, for example, is making its way into the hands of students. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is one publisher incorporating virtual reality field trips into new social studies programs. Virtual reality apps are found in top 25 lists at Amazon, the Apps Store and Google Play.
• Googlization of schools: More and more teachers are managing their work with free tools from Google and the company is responding with more tools for educators. The percentage of teachers using Google Classroom, a free platform for managing assignments and communicating with students, was more than three times that of any other learning management system, according to Simba's K-12 Classroom Technology Survey Report 2016. Chromebooks, which represented less than 2% of education market device sales a few years ago, now are found in more than one-quarter of classrooms, according to the Simba report.
• Computer science rising: Twenty states currently allow computer science, coding courses to be applied to math graduation credits. The Delaware General Assembly in spring 2017 is poised to consider mandating that all state high schools offer computer science courses beginning in 2018.
• Charter school expansion: Kentucky has approved a framework for charter schools, in case the state Legislature authorizes establishing them. Kentucky is one of seven states that do not offer charter schools. Nashville, TN school district is weighing a moratorium on charter schools. Of the district's 159 public schools, 28 are locally authorized charter schools.
• De-emphasizing big tests: While U.S. Education Department still requires testing in K-12 schools, new rules emphasize relaxation of time spent on testing. The department awarded nearly $8 million grants to Maryland and Nebraska to develop new ways to measure achievement in science that could serve as models for other states.
• Aging Higher Ed Act: Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act has been on hold for years, but passage could be in sight. We'll wait to see the new administration's approach to student aid and the current focus on student outcomes.
• OER: Open educational resources are gaining recognition in higher education, though still not widely used. Quality is key to acceptance. Publishers in recent years have opened their platforms to accept OER. Pearson now has released its Learning Design Principles for product design (used in its REVEL platform) under Creative Commons license for public use.

Simba in 2017 will continue to track the developments around these and other market trends as they affect the instructional materials industry through its bi-weekly newsletters Educational Marketer and Electronic Education Report and a series of research reports on both the PreK-12 and the higher education segments.

About Simba Information:
Simba Information is widely recognized as the authority for market intelligence in the media and publishing industries. Its extensive information network delivers top quality, independent perspectives on the people, events and alliances shaping the industry. Simba routinely assists clients and the press with publishing and media industry analysis. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Kathy Mickey
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SOURCE Simba Information