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Freedonia Market Research Blog The Current Role Of The Core Reading Textbook

The Current Role Of The Core Reading Textbook

by Sarah Schmidt

February 12, 2014

By Robert M. Resnick, Ph.D., Education Market Research

According to the results of a fall 2013 survey of the elementary Reading market segment, conducted by Education Market Research (EMR), a clear majority of the educators sampled (73.3%) still have a core/basal Reading series which they either “follow very closely” (28.8%) or, more often, from which they “pick and choose parts of it to use as needed” (44.5%). Only 26.7% indicated they do not use a core Reading series. [Thus the number not using a basal at all has increased significantly compared to 18.5% in 2000, but it is not much different compared to the educators’ reports in 2010, 2007, 2004, and 2002.] Evidently the use of Reading textbooks continues at a relatively high frequency, although most teachers “pick and choose”, suggesting that they use other tools on a frequent basis as well.

Analysis by Job Title and Grade Level

Classroom teachers (76.1%) and Principals (80.0%) were the strongest advocates for using a core Reading series, followed by the district Curriculum supervisors (73.6%), and the Reading/ Language Arts teachers (68.1%). In terms of grade level, educators in grades K-2 (76.8%) and grades 3-5 (72.6%) were the most likely to use a basal, while those in grades 6 and above (68.0%) were relatively less likely to rely on a basal, but they were still in the majority. The grades K-2 teachers were more likely to follow their core series very closely compared to the grades 3-5 teachers, and compared to the grades 6-8 teachers. The most experienced teachers [10+ years experience] were about the same (73.8%) compared to their moderately experienced [3-10 years] colleagues (71.0%) in terms of core program usage.

In terms of geographic differences, the educators in the Northeast (63.1%) and the Midwest (68.5%) were below the average (average=73.3%) in their usage of a core Reading series, while the Southwest (76.8%) and the West (84.4%) were above average. The Southeast (75.8%) was closer to average.

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