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The headline should be rewritten: "Dominant Education Publishing Company Continues To Publish Education Materials"

by jarin 12y ago

Retric 12y ago
"Dominant Education Publishing Company" benefits from continuously changing standards. A history book might be good for ~5-10 years unless standards change. Then suddenly they get to print new books for every student.
- jarin 12y ago
  They already do this every couple of years, if I recall correctly. It has nothing to do with Common Core. It's just plain old greed.
  - jes 12y ago
    How does Pearson induce their customers to buy their revised textbooks? If the newer books do not bring value, why do the customers purchase them?
    - jarin 12y ago
      I think this story by Richard Feynman might help illustrate it: http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm
- bigtunacan 12y ago
  Pearson obviously profits from testing, however the standardization of testing as such is not benefiting Pearson. Quite the contrary; this has significantly hurt profits. Prior to government standardization and "No Child Left Behind" each state was self governing, but this did not mean they were unregulated. However, since they were not regulated at the federal level this resulted in each state negotiating independent smaller contracts and holding less bargaining power. Now with federal standards, many states pool together to contract companies such as Pearson to develop a single set of tests and materials to put the states in a better bargaining position. The scope and dollar value of this unified contract is more critical for the company (Pearson in this example) to capture so there is more pressure to reduce cost and insure the contract is won. At Pearson, this has resulted in lower profits, which in turn led to cost cutting measures (layoffs, etc...). http://www.4-traders.com/PEARSON-PLC-4000637/?type_recherche=rapide&mots=pearson http://www.4-traders.com/PEARSON-PLC-4000637/?type_recherche... A look back and we see Pearson's sales capping around 2012, with a significant (~.5 billion) drop from 2012 to 2013. Even today Pearson's sales lag from where they were 6 years ago.

The headline should be rewritten: "Dominant Education Publishing Company Continues To Publish Education Materials"

by jarin 12y ago

The headline should be rewritten: "Dominant Education Publishing Company Continues To Publish Education Materials"

"Dominant Education Publishing Company" benefits from continuously changing standards. A history book might be good for ~5-10 years unless standards change. Then suddenly they get to print new books for every student.

jarin 12y ago
They already do this every couple of years, if I recall correctly. It has nothing to do with Common Core. It's just plain old greed.
- jes 12y ago
  How does Pearson induce their customers to buy their revised textbooks? If the newer books do not bring value, why do the customers purchase them?
  - jarin 12y ago
    I think this story by Richard Feynman might help illustrate it: http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm
bigtunacan 12y ago
Pearson obviously profits from testing, however the standardization of testing as such is not benefiting Pearson. Quite the contrary; this has significantly hurt profits. Prior to government standardization and "No Child Left Behind" each state was self governing, but this did not mean they were unregulated. However, since they were not regulated at the federal level this resulted in each state negotiating independent smaller contracts and holding less bargaining power. Now with federal standards, many states pool together to contract companies such as Pearson to develop a single set of tests and materials to put the states in a better bargaining position. The scope and dollar value of this unified contract is more critical for the company (Pearson in this example) to capture so there is more pressure to reduce cost and insure the contract is won. At Pearson, this has resulted in lower profits, which in turn led to cost cutting measures (layoffs, etc...). http://www.4-traders.com/PEARSON-PLC-4000637/?type_recherche=rapide&mots=pearson http://www.4-traders.com/PEARSON-PLC-4000637/?type_recherche... A look back and we see Pearson's sales capping around 2012, with a significant (~.5 billion) drop from 2012 to 2013. Even today Pearson's sales lag from where they were 6 years ago.