Heinemann’s billion-dollar sales have nationwide reach: @mcps @mocoboe spent $1,905,023.86 on Heinemann materials over 10 years

Heinemann’s billion-dollar sales have nationwide reach

APM Reports found that the controversial educational publishing company has sold instructional materials and professional resources in almost every state, earning at least $1.6 billion over a decade. 

Teaching children to read is not just a critical piece of elementary education. It’s also big business. 

In 2019, school districts spent more on English language arts programs for elementary schools than on all instructional materials for middle and high schools combined, according to the Association of American Publishers, an industry trade group. That year, school districts spent $1.33 billion on reading programs for kids in pre-K through sixth grade. 

Heinemann Publishing — which puts out curricula by Lucy Calkins, and Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell — has been among the largest players in that market. What hasn’t been clear is just how much money Heinemann earns and how widespread its products are. That’s what APM Reports wanted to find out...

 ...Much of that money comes from districts across the country. APM Reports sent records requests to the largest school districts in every state — 100 districts in total — asking if they had purchased materials from Heinemann in the past decade. We obtained records for 87 districts. All but five said they’d purchased Heinemann materials...

 ...But most controversially, some of the books and curriculum have perpetuated a theory that’s commonly referred to as cueing. The theory holds that students can be taught to problem solve unknown words with multiple sources of information, like context and picture clues. It’s a strategy that cognitive scientists have refuted in repeated studies. Other publishing companies put out programs based on this theory, but Heinemann’s products are among the most popular...  

Heinemann’s billion-dollar sales have nationwide reach | APM Reports