Why textbooks are important

New products, in fact, are the lifeblood of most textbook publishers. After all, the first year of a first edition of a new textbook title is the only time the publisher will ever have a guaranteed sale of a new product—there is no used market or previous edition to compete with. For this reason, one of the important success milestones for any editorial group is new project signings.

In addition to managing the catalog to optimize competitiveness and the sale of new textbooks, publishers must also manage their costs in a way that minimizes risk. With regards to cost control, publishers attack the problem from a variety of angles. One strategy over the past decade has been to look for cheaper printing alternatives in order to drive down the costs associated with paper and binding.

Publishers have utilized printers from China, Indonesia, and India to get better deals, but have also struggled with printing and shipping delays, as well as with various quality issues. Another strategy for controlling costs is the increased use of contract labor. Many tasks completed formerly by in-house staff have been moved outside the company where rates are lower and benefits do not have to be paid. Of course, one of the best ways for publishers to control costs is by not having to pay their primary talent—the authors.

By having authors work against future royalties, publishers are able to enlist smart, energetic, and vested partners for several years without having to pay them out of their operating expenses. Managing costs is certainly important for publishers, but equally important is their ability to create financial forecasts that are highly accurate. This allows them to assess the real value of new projects and to manage their net revenues tightly.

As a general rule, all major publishers have strong track records when it comes to forecasting product results. While the reliability of their forecasts have eroded somewhat over the past three years, their underlying models still provide a good deal of stability for the companies. This accuracy is derived from proprietary in-house software programs that take all of the information about products and their variables and translate it into probable outcomes.

The accuracy of this software is based on the mountain of historical data the publishers have and against which they can factor their projections.

Forecasting proper budgets and outcomes for new projects is particularly important because it is based on these forecasts that the publishers actually loan the money to their divisions to cover production and marketing costs.

The decision to green light a new project for funding typically focuses on these pieces of information:. Plant Costs — The largest costs associated with a textbook project are editorial labor, production costs, and media development. The actual printing and paper costs represent a smaller portion of the overall budget. Estimated Sales Revenue — Sales revenue is broken out by product component — textbook, online assessment component, etc. By Year 2, the revenues drop precipitously, and by Year 3 the projections for new revenue are inconsequential.

Net Return — This number represents the sales-revenue-against-plant cost and is presented both in terms of estimated net revenue as well as a simplified number that represents the factor of return-related-to-plant costs such as 6X or 10X. This number actually represents the "bottom line" when it comes to decision making, and in order for a project to receive funding, it should promise a return of 5X-6X plant investment.

The NextThought Studio team offers high-quality post-production services that create positive learning experiences for students, trainees, employees and more.

Our varied video production services can help you create solutions that provide optimal information retention and skill acquisition. With expertise in everything from corporate video production to producing educational and learning videos, NextThought Studios can create a video experience to meet any client's needs.

Customers demand more from your content. Give them engaging courses and be rewarded with more revenue, loyalty, and lower support costs. Blog Video Guide Download. Filter: All Posts Product Roadmap. NextThought Studios Staff — October 31, The textbook industry Indeed, textbook publishing is one of the more misunderstood industries in the U.

Keyword definitions So we can operate with a common vocabulary, let's start with a general definition of textbooks. Early textbook movement As I discussed in the previous chapter, textbooks in the U.

These were often presented in a catechetical style—a teacher reads a question and a student recited the answer, both of which were found in the book—and Webster's grammar couched all of its answers in this question and answer format: Q: What is Grammar? As Ruth Elson points out: In many classrooms the memorization technique was reinforced by the monitorial system, whereby older students were designated to hear the recitations of younger ones.

How many thumbs have you on your right hand? How many on your left? How many on both together? How many hands have you? If you have two nuts in one hand and one in the other, how many have you in both? Shifts in the movement This shift in the approach to learning was reinforced by the teacher training movement driven through the Common School movement. An alarming number of its children are functionally illiterate and innumerate.

Many schools lack equipment, infrastructure and even basic necessities like furniture. The answer is yes. Textbooks matter. This led to a court battle between the organisation I work for, Section27 — a public interest law centre focusing on health and education rights — and the government. Tuchten ordered the department to provide a textbook to every learner for every subject by the start of every academic year. The department appealed this ruling, a matter now due before the Supreme Court of Appeal.

There is no uniform reporting requirement, so about ten percent of schools provide textbook information that is unintelligible. This lack of clarity calls into question why the data are even reported at all.

The number of unique books is just plain daunting. Certainly most schools seem to buy off the state-approved list, but many buy one-off materials that no one else in the state uses.

But here, too, there were challenges: The responses came in every format imaginable, including hand-written lists and compiled emails from teachers. Even just the scanning in of the information was time-consuming. A non-trivial number of districts denied the request, saying they had no existing documents to provide. Chicago was one prominent denial, which I wrote about elsewhere. Some other districts charged me for access to the information.

Related Books. Shep Melnick. No Child Left Behind? Ravinarayan Chakrakodi analyses the importance of textbooks and how they should provide ample scope for spontaneous and creative interaction in the classroom. Learning cannot take place in a vacuum. We need to direct our learners to specific learning goals and see that these goals are achieved. Textbooks help teachers and learners in this regard. They play a vital role in the teaching-learning process.

They provide the basic framework within which much of the classroom activities occur and also give every child the best possible opportunities for learning. The Karnataka Textbook Society has been in preparing new textbooks for school children based on the learning objectives and the syllabi specified in the National Curriculum Framework and the Karnataka Curriculum Framework The new English textbook prepared for Grade VI second language learners of Karnataka is one such attempt.