Defying the Current Crisis in Teacher Retention, Alston Has Stayed in the Classroom for More Than 20 Years — and Loved Every Minute of It

New York, NY (March 20, 2008) -- In an effort to inspire teachers and to remind them why teaching can be so rewarding, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, has released Why We Teach (March 2008), a new teacher memoir by award-winning educator Linda Alston. Why We Teach tells the story of a teacher who has continued to love her job for more than 20 years at a time when teacher retention has become a national crisis. Studies show that between 30 and 50 percent of all new teachers quit the profession within five years.

Alston, currently a kindergarten teacher at Farrell B. Howell Elementary School in Denver, Co., has been recognized for excellence in teaching with the first $100,000 KIPP/Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award, the Milken National Educator Award, the Walt Disney American Teacher Award and the Mary McLeod Bethune Legacy Award. She has taught students ages 3-15 in public, private, charter and Sunday schools.

New York, NY (March 14, 2008) -- NBC “Today” anchor, Al Roker, announced The New York Times best-selling children’s novel Chasing Vermeer by author Blue Balliett and illustrated by Brett Helquist, as Al’s Book Club For Kids next book pick. To encourage kids to read more, Al Roker selects titles geared toward children ages 8-12 years old and invites them to read along and e-mail questions for the author. Blue Balliett will appear live on TODAY in May to answer questions from viewers.

Purchasing Authority: A Companion to Teacher Buyer Behavior, 2008-2009 Shows Teacher Preferences for Buying Teacher Supplies, Supplemental Materials and Professional Development

Denver, CO (March 11, 2008) — Teachers are the primary decision makers for purchasing supplemental materials, classroom supplies, and professional development resources in American schools, reports a new study from Quality Education Data, Inc. (QED), a leading education market research and database firm, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Scholastic. QED researches teacher purchasing trends each year to collect the most current data on teacher spending in American schools.

Purchasing Authority: A Companion to Teacher Buyer Behavior, 2008-2009, asked educators about their research and purchasing activities when buying materials for their classrooms. The study also asked teachers to report their use of retail stores, teacher stores, print catalogs and online stores for purchase of classroom supplies and materials.

Key findings include:

Scholastic Surpasses Competitors as Top Destination for Researching and Purchasing Classroom Supplies, Supplemental Materials and Professional Development

New York, NY (March 10, 2008) — The website for Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, is the overwhelming choice for teachers researching and purchasing educational materials for their classrooms online, according to Purchasing Authority: A Companion to Teacher Buyer Behavior, 2008-2009, a study released in February by Quality Education Data, Inc. (QED).

The study, which asked a cross-section of K-12 educators about their research and purchasing preferences for educational materials, reported that Scholastic is the top resource for teachers gathering information about and purchasing teacher supplies, supplemental materials and professional development materials online. Key findings from the study include:

Crow Call to Be Published Fall 2009

New York, NY (March 6, 2008)—Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, is delighted to announce the acquisition of worldwide rights to a historical picture book by two-time Newbery Medalist and Margaret A. Edwards Award winner Lois Lowry. Crow Call, to be illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is scheduled for publication in fall 2009. The deal was negotiated by Lois Lowry's agent Phyllis Westberg of Harold Ober Associates and Andrea Pinkney, Vice President, Editor-at-Large, Scholastic, along with agent Nancy Gallt, who represents Mr. Ibatoulline.

Set in post-World War II America, and based upon events in Lowry’s own childhood, Crow Call is a tender glimpse at nine-year-old Liz—as she begins the journey of becoming reacquainted with her long-absent father after his return from the War. Crow Call explores the universal power of longing and importance of re-connection between a girl and her father.

More Kids Say “Yes” to Presidency in 2008 than in 2004;
More Boys Say “Yes” Than Girls

New York, NY (February 15, 2008) — Would you want to be President of the United States? According to a recent election year poll by Scholastic News®, America’s leading news source for kids, most kids would pass on a job in the Oval Office, especially girls. More than 30,000 students in first through eighth grades from across the country took part in the poll:

HUHU Joins The Team As Co-Producer

Toronto, ON (February 12, 2008) -- CCI Entertainment and Scholastic Media are excited to announce the pre-sales of the side-splitting animated series Turbo Dogs to CBC in Canada and qubo in the United States.

New Classroom Book Collections Use Journals, Letters and Well-Known Children’s Literature to Build Fluency and Inspire Students in Grades K-8

New York, NY (February 6, 2008) -- Scholastic Classroom Books, a division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, announces the release of Tim Rasinski Presents…Fabulously Famous Books for Building Fluency™. These new libraries emphasize reading with expression and oral performance using speeches, journals, letters, poetry and many other formats to improve fluency and inspire a love of reading in students in grades K-8.

Fabulously Famous Books is designed to build fluency skills such as expression, intonation and phrasing and encourage students to demonstrate oral fluency performance through engaging activities like poetry slams, reader’s theater and storytelling.

Dr. Timothy Rasinski, one of the nation's leading authorities on reading fluency, has conducted extensive research and created practical strategies to help students become accurate and fluent decoders of words. His goal with the new fluency libraries is to “share the excitement of great literature and let students use their own voices to make the passages come alive.”

New Free Web Site Helps Teachers and Parents Match the Right Book to the Right Child Based on Four Different Reading Level Systems, Interests and Previously Enjoyed Books

New York, NY (January 30, 2008) -- E-Scholastic, the online division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, announces the launch of Teacher Book Wizard™ (www.scholastic.com/bookwizard). The new Web site enables teachers, librarians and even parents to search a database of over 50,000 books to find just the right match for every child, according to reading level, interest, subject and genre. Teachers and librarians can also download free lesson plans related to specific books and purchase many titles at teacher discounted prices through Scholastic.com’s Teacher Store.

The unique BookAlike™ feature helps educators find book recommendations based on a title that their students’ already know and enjoy. They can also search for titles that are at, above or below the original book’s reading level.
Teacher Book Wizard offers other tools, including:

New Homework Help Web Site Takes Fun, Multimedia Approach to Kids’ Toughest Subjects

New York, NY (January 28, 2008) -- Ask kids and parents which school subjects they struggle with the most, and the answer is likely to be math and science. When kids have trouble understanding Aquatic Ecosystems or are stuck on a homework question about Division Equations, where do they turn? Now they can get help finding the answers with Scholastic StudyJams!™ at www.scholastic.com/studyjams, an online learning experience for kids in grades 3-6 that takes the most challenging math and science topics and explains them through animated videos, Karaoke songs, interactive tutorials, quizzes and more. Developed in conjunction with a nationwide panel of teachers, this subscription-based learning service lets kids sing about “Solids, Liquids & Gases,” play a “Mean & Median” basketball game and create their own downloadable song, all while mastering those tough math and science concepts they need to know in order to excel in school.