Purchasing Authority: A Companion to Teacher Buyer Behavior, 2008-2009 Shows Teacher Preferences for Buying Teacher Supplies, Supplemental Materials and Professional Development

Denver, CO (March 11, 2008) — Teachers are the primary decision makers for purchasing supplemental materials, classroom supplies, and professional development resources in American schools, reports a new study from Quality Education Data, Inc. (QED), a leading education market research and database firm, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Scholastic. QED researches teacher purchasing trends each year to collect the most current data on teacher spending in American schools.

Purchasing Authority: A Companion to Teacher Buyer Behavior, 2008-2009, asked educators about their research and purchasing activities when buying materials for their classrooms. The study also asked teachers to report their use of retail stores, teacher stores, print catalogs and online stores for purchase of classroom supplies and materials.

Key findings include:

Scholastic Surpasses Competitors as Top Destination for Researching and Purchasing Classroom Supplies, Supplemental Materials and Professional Development

New York, NY (March 10, 2008) — The website for Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, is the overwhelming choice for teachers researching and purchasing educational materials for their classrooms online, according to Purchasing Authority: A Companion to Teacher Buyer Behavior, 2008-2009, a study released in February by Quality Education Data, Inc. (QED).

The study, which asked a cross-section of K-12 educators about their research and purchasing preferences for educational materials, reported that Scholastic is the top resource for teachers gathering information about and purchasing teacher supplies, supplemental materials and professional development materials online. Key findings from the study include:

Crow Call to Be Published Fall 2009

New York, NY (March 6, 2008)—Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, is delighted to announce the acquisition of worldwide rights to a historical picture book by two-time Newbery Medalist and Margaret A. Edwards Award winner Lois Lowry. Crow Call, to be illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is scheduled for publication in fall 2009. The deal was negotiated by Lois Lowry's agent Phyllis Westberg of Harold Ober Associates and Andrea Pinkney, Vice President, Editor-at-Large, Scholastic, along with agent Nancy Gallt, who represents Mr. Ibatoulline.

Set in post-World War II America, and based upon events in Lowry’s own childhood, Crow Call is a tender glimpse at nine-year-old Liz—as she begins the journey of becoming reacquainted with her long-absent father after his return from the War. Crow Call explores the universal power of longing and importance of re-connection between a girl and her father.

More Kids Say “Yes” to Presidency in 2008 than in 2004;
More Boys Say “Yes” Than Girls

New York, NY (February 15, 2008) — Would you want to be President of the United States? According to a recent election year poll by Scholastic News®, America’s leading news source for kids, most kids would pass on a job in the Oval Office, especially girls. More than 30,000 students in first through eighth grades from across the country took part in the poll:

HUHU Joins The Team As Co-Producer

Toronto, ON (February 12, 2008) -- CCI Entertainment and Scholastic Media are excited to announce the pre-sales of the side-splitting animated series Turbo Dogs to CBC in Canada and qubo in the United States.

New Classroom Book Collections Use Journals, Letters and Well-Known Children’s Literature to Build Fluency and Inspire Students in Grades K-8

New York, NY (February 6, 2008) -- Scholastic Classroom Books, a division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, announces the release of Tim Rasinski Presents…Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency™. These new libraries emphasize reading with expression and oral performance using speeches, journals, letters, poetry and many other formats to improve fluency and inspire a love of reading in students in grades K-8.

Fabulously Famous Books is designed to build fluency skills such as expression, intonation and phrasing and encourage students to demonstrate oral fluency performance through engaging activities like poetry slams, reader’s theater and storytelling.

Dr. Timothy Rasinski, one of the nation's leading authorities on reading fluency, has conducted extensive research and created practical strategies to help students become accurate and fluent decoders of words. His goal with the new fluency libraries is to “share the excitement of great literature and let students use their own voices to make the passages come alive.”

New Free Web Site Helps Teachers and Parents Match the Right Book to the Right Child Based on Four Different Reading Level Systems, Interests and Previously Enjoyed Books

New York, NY (January 30, 2008) -- E-Scholastic, the online division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, announces the launch of Teacher Book Wizard™ (www.scholastic.com/bookwizard). The new Web site enables teachers, librarians and even parents to search a database of over 50,000 books to find just the right match for every child, according to reading level, interest, subject and genre. Teachers and librarians can also download free lesson plans related to specific books and purchase many titles at teacher discounted prices through Scholastic.com’s Teacher Store.

The unique BookAlike™ feature helps educators find book recommendations based on a title that their students’ already know and enjoy. They can also search for titles that are at, above or below the original book’s reading level.
Teacher Book Wizard offers other tools, including:

New Homework Help Web Site Takes Fun, Multimedia Approach to Kids’ Toughest Subjects

New York, NY (January 28, 2008) -- Ask kids and parents which school subjects they struggle with the most, and the answer is likely to be math and science. When kids have trouble understanding Aquatic Ecosystems or are stuck on a homework question about Division Equations, where do they turn? Now they can get help finding the answers with Scholastic StudyJams!™ at www.scholastic.com/studyjams, an online learning experience for kids in grades 3-6 that takes the most challenging math and science topics and explains them through animated videos, Karaoke songs, interactive tutorials, quizzes and more. Developed in conjunction with a nationwide panel of teachers, this subscription-based learning service lets kids sing about “Solids, Liquids & Gases,” play a “Mean & Median” basketball game and create their own downloadable song, all while mastering those tough math and science concepts they need to know in order to excel in school.

Scholastic News Election Reporters Learn About Life at Home and on the Campaign Trail with Children of Presidential Candidates, Ages 6-37

New York, NY (January 24, 2008) -- What are the kids of the current presidential candidates like? Emma Claire Edwards likes Webkins; Bridget McCain loves hanging out with friends; Malia and Sasha Obama can’t wait to get a dog; and Tagg Romney sometimes fights with his brothers. The Scholastic Kids Press Corps, a team of student reporters ages 10-14 who are covering the race to the White House and reporting for Scholastic News, discovered that the kids of candidates are not so different from the Kid Reporters themselves!

Scholastic Kid Reporters interviewed many of the candidates’ children and spouses to find out more about them and to learn what it’s like to have a parent running for president. Their interviews are published at Scholastic News Online (www.scholastic.com/news) and in upcoming issues of Scholastic News (for students in grades 1-6) and Junior Scholastic (grades 6-8).

Here’s a peek at what the Scholastic Kids Press Corps learned about the candidates’ kids, ages 6-37:

Multi-Media Educational Website Helps Kids Create Custom Green Plans, Earn Green Points, and Take Action to be GREEN

New York, NY (January 22, 2008) — According to a recent Scholastic News online poll, kids ranked the environment as one of their top issues in the upcoming presidential elections. Now, Scholastic launches ACT GREEN! at www.scholastic.com/actgreen, a fun, educational website designed to motivate and empower kids to take action in school, at home and in their community to preserve the environment. This multi-media website provides kids, parents and teachers with customized green plans, expert tips, inspiring green short films provided by Live Earth, and a “Greenroom” to share ideas with other kids.

Developed in consultation with an environmental scientist from the University of California at Berkeley, ACT GREEN! at www.scholastic.com/actgreen provides kids, parents and teachers with free actionable information that will help them preserve the environment. When kids enter the site, they are first directed to the Green Quiz, to test how environmentally conscious they are. Upon completing the quiz, kids receive a customized Green Plan and are automatically entered into the Greenerator™, where they can activate their Green Plan and turn it into reality. As kids check off the green actions they have accomplished, they earn green points that power up the Greenerator. They can also earn green points throughout the site by selecting action items from the “100 Ways to Act Green!” list, reading articles, sending e-cards and more. Kids will enjoy tracking their own green points, as well as the overall power of the Greenerator, generated by all ACT GREEN! members.