Turning the world upside down

Since 1927, Walch Education (known back then as J. Weston Walch) had published supplemental books, primarily for middle and high schools following a tried-and-true publishing process. Generate ideas internally for a number of book ideas, winnow them down (using any one of a number of filters), and then write and publish the books. And then hope/trust/pray that any market research done in advance was accurate, and that the books would appeal to teachers.

In the last few years, we've been quietly turning that world upside down. The costs and the risks are simply too high to continue tossing books towards schools and waiting for a response. Plus, educators have increasingly specific needs for the classroom, and increasingly demanding state and Federal standards to meet.

In states throughout America, we're now several years into a new system that starts with a novel premise: ask the educators what they need. We first talk to administrators and teachers in key districts and find out from them where there are holes to be plugged, skills that are not being taught or learned properly, standards -- and students -- that are slipping through the cracks. We then take those needs and build them into curricula that fit that particular state's standards and testing expectations. And we have them partner with us throughout the development process, reviewing and improving our materials.

The result: when we deliver a program to a given district, or school, or teacher, it has already been designed and vetted so that it successfully meets unique needs. Our operating mantra is "one size does not fit all." Students are unique, schools are unique, districts are unique, states are unique -- and they all deserve materials that teach uniquely. When we get feedback from teachers in the field, they tell us that our custom programs are unlike anything they've experienced before. For many of these teachers, it's the first time they've worked with materials that were designed with local input.

We think this is the direction all educational publishing is heading towards. And we're just excited to be one of the pioneers.

FCTE, FCTM, GCTM, MCTM

One week ago, at the same time, Walch Education was exhibiting at four educational conferences: the Florida Council of Teachers of English (http://www.fcte.org), the Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics (http://www.fctm.net), the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (http://www.gctm.org) and the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics (http://www.marylandmath.org).

In the South and in the North, talking to language arts teachers and talking to mathematics teachers, we kept hearing the same things:

• Even the textbooks that supposedly align to state standards often miss the mark, leaving the teachers to fill in the gaps
• Hands-on learning is critical
• If it makes a teacher's life easier, it has value
• Test prep drives much of what teachers work on

That last item is particularly noteworthy. Whatever an individual teacher's -- or district's, or state's -- opinion about "teaching to the test," those standardized tests cannot be ignored.

And more are coming. According to Outsell, a research and advisory firm focused on the publishing, information, and education industries, "Starting in 2012, the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) will for the first time measure technology literacy and proficiency among K-12 students on a national level."

The materials and programs that garner interest are those that make a teacher's life easier and help prepare kids for tests.

One of our programs that drew a lot of attention was the Station Activities series: http://www.walch.com/search.php?catid=42 We currently have versions addressing Georgia and Florida standards, as well as a national version. These are all for middle school mathematics classes; in a few months, we'll have language arts versions, too.