Kim's Blog

National Standards May Re-Shape Education—and Publishing

Posted on June 4, 2009 at 03:45 PM

As a business owner I’m always looking to the future, wondering how certain events will affect my company. Right now I’m particularly interested in the Common Core State Standards Initiative. This initiative, powered by the state governments, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), is researching and developing what they hope will be high quality educational standards to be used nationally.

These standards will be correlated to match with international standards so the U.S. can begin to truly benchmark our progress against other nations.  The CCSSO and the NGA Center believe establishing strong national standards can help our students be better prepared to complete not only with each other, but the rest of the world. By receiving an education driven by the K-12 standards, American students will hopefully be better prepared for the next step, whether that’s college or the workforce.

The question remains as to once the standards are developed whether every state will adopt them or work to align them to the standards they already have in place. But with a strong presence from the individual states in the development, it’s likely that adoption or alignment will be widespread. Already 48 states have signed on to collaborate in this manner.

It’s going to be interesting to see what this shift from individualized state standards to national standards will mean for educational publishing. I wasn’t in business when the state standards were introduced for the first time but I wonder why we didn’t first move to national standards and then on to state standards. This will make many changes for the educational publishing community and less confusion regarding specific state standards that sometimes leave us scratching our heads. The one thing we can look forward to, however, is that this movement will put a new emphasis on quality. Similarly to publishing before state standards were introduced, the publishing cycle may stretch back out some and allow us to have the time needed to create a textbook utilizing the best resources. With fewer individual materials to develop, more time, money and quality can be put into a cohesive national text—something we can all agree is a long-term benefit for learning.

The Art of 140 Characters

Posted on May 28, 2009 at 09:09 AM

As a former English teacher, you might think I would be appalled at the breakdown of the English language. All the texting, tweeting and Facebooking that takes place should really bother me. Or maybe I should be bothered by the fact that I just used three nouns that didn’t exist when I was a teacher.

Instead I find I am impressed with the art behind status updates. I find myself reading updates from certain people and then having a verbal conversation about them—laughing, outraged, informed and beyond.

I think some of them are funny (like Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh who tweeted: About to speak at conf. Spilled Coke on left leg of jeans, so poured some water on right leg so looks like the denim fade or pregnant mommyblogger Heather Armstrong (Dooce) who tweeted: Holy God, the baby just stuck her foot between my ribs and I saw the outline of her heel. Wonderful, right? TRY TOTALLY HORRIFYING.).

Some are poetic, some are strange and cryptic. Some people choose to use lyrics to express their feelings. Some choose signs, symbols, swears, or pop culture references. No matter what, people are informing their audience in many ways.

What does this mean for you? Let’s say I mentioned that today we got the company Chipotle for lunch. Then several people respond to my status—Chipotle is great, yummy, bad, etc. Chiptole has an immediate, uncensored and unforced response to their products. Are they paying attention? Maybe. Should they be paying attention? You betcha.

Maybe you are in educational publishing and you are wondering whether teachers and administrators are on these platforms. The answer is yes! I connect to many of friends from my teaching days through a variety of these social media platforms.

This can become an issue, however, as the line between public and private become blurred. Educators in particular are the epitome of a personal/public figure.  Teachers utilize these platforms in many ways. They share lesson plans, they ask questions regarding products, they create communities for clubs or organizations within their school. Administrators utilize these tools as well. If you are trying to gain access to the decision-makers, try an unconventional but highly-effective way. Take a fraction of your marketing dollars and take a risk….I bet you’ll see results.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Recession

Posted on May 20, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Chances are that by now you’ve felt the recession in some way. Whether you’re just starting to feel the pinch or you’ve been dealing with it for a year now, there’s little doubt that it’s impacting your life.

Can any good come out of a recession? If you’ve been affected, you might be yelling “No!” at your computer screen—but I refuse to see it that way. Hopefully you’ve been pushed by the recession to take a hard look at goals that can improve your company. A situation like this really forces you to make changes for the good of your business or to improve the quality of your life, even if they are hard to make.

There are obviously bad things to come out of the recession—lost jobs, less money. For a business, I try (even though it’s sometimes really hard) to re-categorize these issues as “learning experiences.” The recession has brought many of these business learning experiences to the attention of companies around the U.S. and the world.

For those companies that thrive on customer service, keeping a smile on your face and serving your client base involves trying to keep the same customer satisfaction while maintaining profitability. This is a time (and rightly so) for discounts, re-negotiated terms and creative ways to solve obstacles in doing business. If your client doesn’t understand the changes that must be made in order to survive this downturn, they may think you are trying to adversely affect them. While not true, sometimes reality isn’t what they want—they want things to be like old times. (Phew, so do I!) But we must move forward and make decisions about our markets today.

One aspect of the recession that can turn ugly is negative publicity. We’ve seen plenty of companies enter bankruptcy, change policies which may affect customer service, or pay their vendors on later terms in an effort to keep afloat. Such instances can create negative publicity that, in the world of the Internet, can put a black mark on you or your company in an instant. Negative publicity is one learning experience that I’ve heard many companies say they have faced during this time. What I want to know is how companies have dealt with negative publicity. Have you or your company faced these types of challenges? How did you bounce back, even with the past lurking around the corner? I want to create a bank of examples we can all learn from—I welcome your responses!

2009 Predictions #5

Posted on May 14, 2009 at 09:16 AM

In my previous post (see “2009 Predictions #4,” below), I followed up on my “Crystal Ball” series with my fourth prediction—that repurposing content will be key.

My final prediction: Supplemental publishers are poised to make a big jump into the publishing pool.

We’ve already seen more work from our supplemental publishing clients, but I think President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s new proposed budget will push them into the spotlight even more. Supplemental publishers routinely create materials for differentiated instruction, as well as pre-kindergarten materials.

Based on the new budget, the Striving Readers program, which focuses on at-risk children, stands to receive double its current funding. Another $300 million is planned to go toward a new Early Literacy Grants initiative that aims to implement a curriculum that supports differentiated instruction. Greater preschool initiatives, which were a campaign platform for Obama, are also included in the new proposed budget.

In the past two quarters, we have seen companies looking for work in Intervention, Cross Curricular methods and Preschool curriculum. Technology always seems to play a part as well.

Since supplemental publishers are frequently the publishers who create these materials, they are well-positioned to step forward and create more products for students and school districts. In the past, we have enjoyed creating products for any publisher no matter the size, but supplemental publishers seem to be keenly aware they are starting to have an advantage with talent, resources, and the ability to adapt quickly. This has supplemental publishers primed to not only make a big jump into the publishing pool, but also create a splash that will strengthen materials for teachers.
Do you agree?

At the end of the year I’ll take a look back at my predictions and see how I scored. Have predictions of your own? Leave a comment.

2009 Predictions #4

Posted on May 6, 2009 at 02:35 PM

In my previous post (see “2009 Predictions #3,” below), I followed up on my “Crystal Ball” series with a third prediction—that third quarter will see businesses loosening up.

My newest prediction for 2009?

Repurposing content will be the key—but it’s not as cheap as most think. New content will be developed less.

To make it through the today’s turbulent market, publishers are constantly looking for ways to lower their costs and make the most of existing resources. This allows for companies to extend profitability. The question is, how can we make the most of our existing resources while branching into new areas?

The answer is effectively repurposing existing content.

I have a prime example. Last week, a potential client approached our S2EO division looking for content relating to ADHD. I knew that after six years of creating quality content, something we’d previously created could be repurposed. After approaching my managers, we located a recently-written article created for a different client on herbal supplements and their effect on common conditions, including ADHD. All the research was already there, so we were able to utilize that research and effectively create a unique piece of content, and in turn, the article was appropriate for this potential client.

However, in purchasing this content, one might assume the pricing to be significantly less. In this particular case, we already had quality content in place, and so it was able to be priced without the time for research. But, without a solid foundation of information, the rebuild will crumble. In order to have good repurposed content, you must have quality content and/or research to begin with.

At the end of the day, repurposing content may make sense for your company’s bottom line but only if the process is built off of a strong foundation.

Check back next week for my last prediction!

2009 Predictions #3

Posted on April 29, 2009 at 08:55 AM

In my previous post (see “2009 Predictions #2” below), I made my second prediction—that innovation is a must.

At the WPO (Women Presidents’ Organization) conference this past weekend, I had the chance to hear a lot of women owners discuss business success in their lives. One of the speakers, Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, offered up an opinion that we’re currently in the eye of the storm with the economy. Though this might seem like a dismal prediction, I think it just means that we need to proceed with cautious optimism.

Third quarter will see business loosening up. We’re not in the clear yet. Things will get better, but slowly. I think that we’ll soon see some decisions being made that will help dislodge the transactions that got stuck several months ago. Many of the women I talked with admitted some movement in the last few months. Is this a result of the stimulus package? Regular business practice? Credit opportunities?

Whitman also made the connection that it will be small businesses that pull us out of the mess we’re in. It’s been a tough stretch for all of us, but Whitman seems to think we’ll be the ones to help the country bounce back. I think that if we’re to prove Whitman right, we need to be able to take it upon ourselves to mobilize. We can’t count on an immediate improvement in the economy these days, so we have to be willing to take action ourselves. And I know that’s a big risk at this time, but I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t swum through uncertain waters throughout my entrepreneurial career.

Check back next week for another prediction.

2009 Predictions #2

Posted on April 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM

In my previous post (see “2009 Predictions #1,” below), I followed up on my “Crystal Ball” series with my first prediction—that education is a general term.
First, let me apologize for the delay in my predictions! With a busy work life (I’m heading out to the WPO conference in San Diego later today) and a busy home life (some minor surgery on my littlest guy, who’s doing great), I’ve gotten a bit off track. But don’t worry, I’m back with my latest prediction.

Innovation is a must. Just as education is a general term, so is content—one of the main things Shakespeare Squared provides. Content that educates does not have to be in a textbook. It can be in a video, a podcast—even a Tweet on Twitter!

Though traditional educational content will always be at our core, early on I knew we weren’t just going to focus on textbooks. And as I mentioned in “I Wish I Had a Crystal Ball [Part 4],” we have a much more well-rounded experience that allows us to make deeper connections in all of our work. We’ve branched out more into trade publishing and web work in the past few years, and not only do we have a better background for our work, but it’s kept us busy during some tough months.

Whether your innovation is into a new topic or a new medium, it never hurts to think outside the box. And in this uncertain year ahead, it might just be what keeps you going.

Check back next week for another prediction!