Hypertension society dumps journal

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, July 30, 2005 -- The American Society of Hypertension and the American Journal of Hypertension parted ways after months of brickbats about selling out to the drug industry. Thomas D. Giles, society presdient, wrote his membership that a subscription to the journal would no longer be included in their dues after October 1. Giles cited "irreconcilable differences." He said the journal "may no longer identify itself as an official journal of the American Society of Hypertension or in any other way indicate that it is affiliated with the society." The society, which has 3,000 members, had been paying $210,000 a year for member susbcriptions. A member survey had rated the subscription as the Numder One membership benefit. MORE The society has been trying to establish an oversight role for the journal's content, but journal editor John H. Laragh has resisted. Tensions escalaed with Laragh's continuing criticism of societty leaders who are paid consulting and speaking fees by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Laragh, a medical researcher at Cornell University, says the society's leaders have become marketers for the drug industry. He has written that the society has become "unacceptably dominated" by researchers and physicians "involved in pharma-marketing for personal gain." MORE As society president, Giles has denied Laragh's charge. Giles said the society has a fire wall to prevent impropriety. Giles cited one instance in which the society reprimanded a a physician for a "commercially biased presentation." MORE Giles, a cardiologist at Louisiana State University, New Orleans, has suggested that Laragh is not exactly prestine, pointing to drug-industry advertising in the American Journal of Hypertension. Although the journal's owner, Hypertension Ltd., is a non-profit corporation, Laragh, as chief executive officer, as well as the journal's editor, earned $229,000 in 2003, Giles said. He noted that most of the company revenue, besides pharamceutical advertising, is from reprint and supplements brought by drug companies.

ACADEMIC JOURNALS American Journal of Hypertension Thomas Giles John Laragh

MCGRAW-HILL. Sales grew 14.7 percent to $628.6 million in the second quarter, compared to a year earlier. K-12 was up 17 percent to $414.4 million, college up 10.9 percent to $214.2 million.

Thomson acquires securities data firm

Hendrik J. Kranenburg was named Group President of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Professional and International. Matthew Schnittman, executive vice president and general manager at eCollege, was named president of the eLearning Division. Carolyn Siegel (marketing), Eastern Kentucky University, wrote the second edition of Internet Marketing (Houghton Mifflin). Evan St. Lifer editor-in-chief at School Library Journal, was named vice president and general manager of Scholastic Library Publishing.

Marrin's Jackson bio wins prize

Utah publisher wins Golden Lamp

Riverside updates reading program

Despite Potter slip, Scholastic gains 11%

NEW YORK, July 26, 2005 -- School and children's publisher met its profits goal with an 11 percent advance to $64.3 million in the fiscal year that ended in May, said chief executive Richard Robinson. Operating income, also up 11 percent, reached $134.9 million. Robinson credited "impressive gains" in educational publishing, as well as improvements in children's and international publishing. Educational sales rose 10 percent to $404.6 million, due mainly to a 40 percent gain in educational technology revenues, he said. Other factors were the READ 180 intervention program and the Schoalstic RED professional development program. Scholastic's latest Harry Potter book, The Half-Blood Prince, sold a refcord 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours, but the release came too late to make the Fiscal 2005 books, robinson said. For 2005, Potter sales were down, but the decline was more than offset by strong performances elsewhere in the company and also by "disciplined financial management," Robinson said.

SCHOL- ASTIC

Pearson again heads education publishers

Jean Lukesh (travel), West Lawn Elementary School, Grand Island, Nebraska, wrote The Nebraska Adventure (Gibbs Smith). Michael Osborn (communication), University of Memphis, and Suzanne Osborn (communciation), University of Memphis, wrote the seventh edition of Public Speaking (Houghton Mifflin). William M. Pride (marketing), Texas A&M University, and O. C. Ferrell (marketing), Colorado State University, wrote the 13th edition of Marketing (Houghton Mifflin). John Stuppy, formerly with Educational Testing Services and Sylvan Ventures, was named chief information officer at Princeton Review.

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Online Genetics: Why cats spurn sweets

Wiley buys Manises newsletters

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, July 23, 2005 -- Academic publisher John Wiley purchased seven newsletters from Manises Communciation Group, including the Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory & Application and four other newsletters affiliated with Brown. Others Manises journals are in behavior healthcare and pharmocology. Terms were not announced.

WILEY

Courier. Sales grew 6 percent to $58.5 millon in the third quarter, which ended June 25, compared to a year earlier. Book manufacturing was up 8 percent to $50.6 million, mostly due to demand for four-color el-hi and college textbooks.

EDC. Sales dropped 1 percent to $11 million for the first quarter, which ended May 31, compared to a year earlier.

SCHOLASTIC. Net income increased 11 percent to $64.3 million even though sales fell 7 percent to $2.1 billion for the fiscal year, which ended May 31. Educational sales grew 10 percent to $404.6 million.

French fret at a global Googlization

Online journal advocacy has new leader

Foreign policy journal ready for debut

Massive newspaper digitizing project starts

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2005 -- Historically significant newspapers from every state and territory of the United States from 1836 to 1922 are being out online in a 20-year project sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities. To start the National Digital Newspaper Project, two-year grants have been awarded to six libraries to digitize more than 100,000 pages each for the first 10 years of the 20th century. Participating are the University of California at Riverside, with a $400,000 grant; University of Utah, $353,000; New York Public Library, $352,000; University of Florida, $321,000; University of Kentucky, $310,000; and Library of Virginia, $201,000. MORE Bruce Cole, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, said: "Students, historians, lawyers, politicians, even newspaper reporters, will be able to go to their computers at home or at work and through a few keystrokes get immediate, unfiltered access to one of the greatest sources of our history." The project will focus on small newspapers because major papers already are digitized by commercial companies. TO EARLIER NEWS TO TOP TO HOME TO NEWS ARCHIVE Greenpeace to publishers: Think green NEW YORK, July 19, 2005 -- The issuance of the latest Harry Potter book, with a first printing of 10.7 million copies, prompted the environmentalist group Greenpeace to renew its plea to print on recycled paper. Had te latest Potter book been printed 100 percent with recycled paper, the first print run would have saved 217,475 trees, said Pamela Wellner of Greenpeace. Scholastic, the Potter poublisher in the United States, has a keen-on-green policy, but something went awry. TO EARLIER NEWS TO TOP TO HOME TO NEWS ARCHIVE Major reading progress found over five years WASHINGTON, July 18, 2005 -- Dramatic improvement in reading skills by 9-year-olds has been reported by the tracking organization National Assessment of Education Progress. In the organization's annual Report Card, pupils were one-half to one and one-half years ahead of five years earlier. MORE This is a summary, with a 10-point gained representing about one grade level: White students Black students Hispanic students Reading 5 14 12 Math 8 13 17 MORE Darvin Wilnick, chair of the National Assessment's governing board, noted that not only was there substantial improvement for lower performing black and Hispanic groups but for all groups. Wilnick said the closing of gaps was all the more impressive because higher performing groups also improved. He noted, though, that among 17-year-olds there has been no significant improvement, which, he said, means that the challenge is to sustain improvements at lower grades as those students move through higher grades. MORE The U.S. secretary of education, Margaret Stillings, claimed the National Assessment data as evidence that President Bush's No Child Left Behind initative was a success. Others pointed out, however, that the National Assessment base data were from 1999 and that the Bush program became law only in 2002 and isn't fully implemented. An alternative explanation credits governor-initiated reforms in several states in the 1990s. Those state reforms included more rigorous testing. EL-HI TO EARLIER NEWS TO TOP TO HOME TO NEWS ARCHIVE Schroeder on 215: Our work's not done WASHINGTON, July 17, 2005 -- The U.S. book industry will continue to support the fight to restore civil-liberty safeguards for the reading public, said Pat Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers. Schroeder said the Senate now must follow the House in retiring Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows federal agents to confiscate bookstore and library records to see who is reading what. The house voted agaisnt renewing the provision in June. MORE Schroeder congratulated Congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont for leading the anti-Section 215 campaign. In the end a coalition of House Democrats and Republicans prevailed on the 215 issue -- a setback for President Bush, who has taken a tough stance to maintain the 2001 Patriot Act, which his adminstration created as an anti-terrorism measure in the post-9/11 hysteria. About the House coalition that voted against 215, Schroeder said she particularly liked the description of the winning coalition as "the crazies on the left and the crazies on the right meeting in the middle," which the Washington Post attributed to a staff member of one of the House Republican leaders. "Meeting in the middle? Isn't that what representative democracy is all about?" Schroeder asked. Background: House votes against Patriot Section 215 SCHROEDER TO EARLIER NEWS TO TOP TO HOME TO NEWS ARCHIVE DATABANK Annual el-hi sales growth projection: 5% NEW YORK, July 17, 2005 -- Sales of el-hi school books in they United States will grow an average of 5 percent annually over the next five years, according to new projections from the Book Industry Study Group. Sales will reach $5.9 billion in 2009, the study projected. College sales are expected to reach $6.4 billon in 2009, a compound annual growth rate of 3.3 percent. These are the projections for genres in which academic writers mostly write: Professional College El-hi University press 2009 $7.6 billon 6.4 billion 5.9 billion 642 million Compound annual growth .31% 3.2% 5.0% 1.7% Databank index

Michigan releases Google contract text

School Specialty to defend transaction

GREENVILLE, Wisconsin, July 14, 2005 -- Wisconsin-based School Specialty, a $1 billion-a-year education publisher, promised to "vigorously contend" a claim by dissident shareholders that fiduciary responsibiliites were breached in working out a deal to be acquired by an affiliate of the Bain Capital invcestors group. Bain also said it would contest the claim. Bain had offered $1.5 billion to acquire School Specialty. Both firms are named in two class-action shareholder suits. Background: Bain strike School Specialty deal

SCHOOL SPECIALTY

Lesson to small publishers: Yes, you can

NEW YORK, July 13, 2005 -- Small publishers have inherent advantages for some textbooks and academic books, according to the founder of Atlantic Path Publishing, itself a small house. Speaking recently at a Publisher's Marketing Association meeting, Mary Ellen Lepionka said small publishers can outdo the giant houses. Lepionka suggested specializing in a subject area. As an example she cited was a niche graduate course in 19th century German history. "Big publishers need bigger courses and bigger audiences," said Lepionka, who career has inclued editing at several large publishers. MORE Lepionka told the small-house publishers that innovation can be key: "Offer new product models or applications. Big publishers are followers more often than they are leaders. They will wait for you to innovate and then buy your company." Also, she said, big houses aren't keen on innovation and risk, which leaves wide opportunity for small publishers. Lepionka suggested lining up books for new courses, such as homeland security, curriculum reforms, or stem cell research. "Big publishers have to focus on the tried and true," she said. "They don't stick their necks out." High-quality supplements can also set a book apart, she said: "Big publishers seldom invest in high-quality supplements. And they talk big but seldom deliver on services." MORE Among Lepionka's other tips: Localize. Address local, state or regional agendas or realities. Big publishers have to be national. They may make special editions for California or Texas, but they generally can't afford to address local and regional interests. MORE Be funky. Cover rare or unusual subjects, like radiation poisoning in Inuit who eat caribou that graze on mosses that still concentrate fallout from nuclear testing in the Arctic in the 1960s. "Big publishers have to stick with common subjects and be politically correct," she said. MORE Be controversial. Present points of view alternatives, like anti-intelligent design or pro-U.S. foreign policy. "Big publishers have to be mainstream," she said. MORE Focus. Choose specific customers and court them one by one. "Big publishers have to do the numbers," she said. Also, find out what customers really need. "Because big publishers won't publish a textbook if they think they can't potentially sell at least 4,000 copies of it. You might be quite happy with sales of a few thousand." MORE Underprice. "You can afford to price below the big publishers," she said. MORE Network. "Big publishers don't help each other, but you can," she said, citing the the PMA special interest group.

MARY ELLEN LEPIONKA Lepionka is an sa2 contribution See AUTHORING VOICES

College sales soar 29.6% in May

NEW YORK, July 12, 2004 -- Higher education publishing sales were 29.6 percent greater in May, compared to a year earlier, reaching $96.1 million, according to the latest data from the Association of American Publishers. For the year so far, college sales had a net gain of 5.4 percent. El-hi sales fell lost 3.9 percent in May, to $329.7 million, but are 4.1 percent ahead for the year. Here are the year-to-date data for genres in which academic authors write the most, as extrapolated from 92 reporting publishers: College Professional University press (hard) El-hi Univ press (soft) March 29.6% 4.7% -3.4% -3.9% -14.0 Year- to-date 5.4% -0.6% -13.7% 4.1% 6.0%

Association of American Publishers EARLIER ARTICLE Previous monthly sales report Databank index

Edward Bergman (geography), City University of New York, and William Renwick (geography), Miami University, wrote the third edition of Introduction to Geography: People, Places and Environment (Prentice Hall). Robert Cohen, executive vice president of the K-12 division at Princeton Review, was named executive vice president and interim general manager. He succeeds Tim Conroy, who died unexpectedly. Robin Kerrod (astronomy), wrote the second edition of The Star Guide: Learn How To Read the Night Sky Star by Star (Wiley). Donna Lucki, school division senior vice president and publisher, was named president.

Please tell us about your latest project: EDITOR More academic authoring people

Wiley sales at record, near $1 billion

HOBOKEN, New Jersey, July 12, 2005 -- Broad-based book and journal publisher John Wiley & Sons nudged $1 billion dollars in sales in its fiscal year that ended April 30 -- a record $974 million, a 6 percent increase. The growth came despite a difficult year in college textbooks in the United States. At $150.9 million, textbook sales were off 1 percent. Why? William Pesce, president, cited student resistance to textbook prices. Pesce said also that demand has been soft in the engineering, computer sciecne and math fields in which Wiley has big stakes. The college slippage was most pronounced in the final quarter -- down 5 percent. Offsetting the college decline was a 9 percent increase in global sales in the scientific, technical and medical professional fields. STM sales in the United States were up 6 percent.

WILEY

U.S. book printer makes Asia move

Pearson issues new class management software

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., July 11, 2005 -- Pearson School Systems released a new version of its real-time, web-based student information and performance management system. Centerproint 6.0 has new accessiblity to facilitate all aspects of the teaching and learning process, the company said. Enhancements include links between grade-books, transcripts and standards.

EL-HI PEARSON SCHOOL SYSTEMS

Houghton launches pre-K reading program

BOSTON, Mass., July 11, 2005 -- Education publisher Houghton Mifflin Company launched of Pre-K: Where Bright Futures Begin, a comprehensive, integrated program by Sue Bredekamp of the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition, Lesley Mandel Morrow of Rutgers University, Jack Pikulski of the University of Delaware. The company said the new curriculum is based on scientific research and is aligned with key critical learning goals, including those defined by Early Reading First, Head Start, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and state frameworks. Ali Sullo, publisher, said the program encourages hands-on, minds-on learning that builds a solid foundation.

EL-HI HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

California Press OKs "Beyond Chutzpah"

BERKELEY, California, July 11, 2005 -- Despite threats of legal action, the University of California Press will indeed publish a controversial book that attacks supporters of Israel, said Lynne Withey, press director. The book, Beyond Chutzpah by Norman Finkelstein, has been edited to sidestep objections from the Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who had threatened to sue over passages that he had plagiarized in a 2003 book. In a Boston Globe interview, Dershowitz said he had told the University of California Press that the plagiarism charge, if published, would mean "I will own your company." MORE Finkelstein said the changes to Beyond Chutzpah, with which he concurs, say now that Dershowitz "directly appropriates" and "lifts" a key idea from another author, not "plagiarizes." The revision also says that Dershowitz "repeatedly copied information." The issue, Finkelstein said, was how to raise the issue of plagiarism without incurring costly litigation. In the appendix he includes the Harvard definition of plagiarism and reiterates his own findings. "Let readers judge," he said. The appendix cites Harvard University's Writing With Sources: A Guide for Students for a definition of plagiarism. The handbook says: "students should always take great care to distinguish their own ideas and knowledge from information derived from sources." MORE Finkelstein's book, whose subtitle is On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, accuses human-rights groups and pro-Israel commentators of a "vast proliferation of sheer fraud masquerading as serious scholarship." Finkelstein, a political scientist at DePaul University, takes on Dershowitz's 2003 book, The Case for Israel, published by Wiley, as one of "the most spectacular academic frauds ever published on the Israel-Palestine conflict." Finkelstein charged that large portions of the Dershowitz book are lifted from Joan Peters' 1984 From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine. Finkelstein debunked Peters' work in a 2000 book, The Holocaust Industry. MORE The University of California Press had planned to start the presses for Beyond Chutzpah in June but delayed publication after Dershowitz sent letters to the University of California and others, including state Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Dershowitz called the book bigoted and anti-Semitic. Dershowitz said Finkelstein has a "penchant for making up facts about people with whom he disagrees." He called the book "garbage." Dershowitz's lawyers, the New York firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, also pressed the University of California Press against publishing. MORE For Dershowitz, a leading free expression advocate, the strident campaign against the Finkelstein book seemed out of character, according to many observers. At various points, Dershowitz has said his goal has not been to stop the Finkelstein book. MORE At the press, Withey said the final changes were vetted in 10 days of discussions and review with Finkelstein, University of California attorneys, and outside attorneys. The changes went into typesetting on Friday. The book will meet the original August 28 publication target, Withey said.

UNIVERSITY PRESS NEWS FREE FREE EXPRESSION NORMAN FINKELSTEIN GOING TO PRESS

Lippincott, Blackwell exchange titles

AMES, Iowa, July 11, 2005 -- Medical and veterinary titles are being swapped by publishers Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and Blackwell. Lippincott will acquire Blackwell's eight medical student review book series, with 123 backlist and 47 frontlist titles. Brands involved include the Blueprints series, the Underground Clinical Vignettes series, and Boards and Wards. In exchange Blackwell acquires Lippincott's veterinary list, including 85 titles for the clinical, student and academic markets. The list includes the Five Minute Veterinary Consult, a reference guide on dogs and cats.

LIPPIN- COTT BLACK- WELL

Shakespeare collection due in 2006

Scott Foresman claims reading breakthrough

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California, July 11, 2005 -- School publisher Scott Foresman claims incredible success in a California test of its Early Reading Intervention program by researchers Edward J. Kameíenui and Deborah C. Simmons. The test, in Ocean View District schools, found that 97 percent of kindergarteners experienced not only faster achievement rates but also sustained achievement into second grade. Scott Foresman now is releasing the Kameíenui-Simmons program for broader use. MORE With the Scott Foresman program, teachers identified pupils beginning kindergarten with cognitive or developmental issues that suggested reading skills would be difficult. With the early-intervention program, Scotts Foresman claims that a majority of stuggling pupils quickly caught up to their peers. One upshot, the company said, was that the school district will save special education costs in later grades. Scott Foresman reported these results: MORE The number of children identified as at-risk in kindergarten and first grade decreased by nearly 28 percent from the beginning to the end of the 2003-2004 school year. In five Title 1 Schools in the 2002-2003 school year, 44 kindergarteners and 22 first graders were retained. The next year, the same five schools reduced retentions in kindergarten by 66 percent and in first grade by 23 per cent. In 2003-2004 school year, the number of kindergarteners and first-graders retained in one school, decreased 77 percent. MORE The Ocean View studies followed seven years of development of the Kameíenui-Simmons program. MORE Principal Susan Kemp said the program also enabled students new to the English language to grasp literacy comprehension and to perform at and above benchmark levels. Kemp said fewer students are being held back or channeled into costly special education. MORE The Ocean View district first implemented the Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention program in all five of its Title I schools in 2003 and expanded it to include two non-Title I schools the next. The program will be implemented district-wide for the coming school year.

El-HI SCOTT FORESMAN ABOUT THE AUTHORS Edward Kameíenui specalizes on learning problems and special education. He has directed federally funded centers, including the Oregon Reading First Center and also the national Project Circuits. Kameíenui has published numerous college textbooks on teaching reading, curriculum design, and managing classroom behavior. His research has appeared in Reading Research Quarterly, Scientific Studies of Reading, American Educational Research Journal and the Journal of Learning Disabilities. He also served on the advisory boards for the PBS television show Between the Lions and the WETA show Reading Rockets. He is the author of the Scott Foresman Reading Street basal program. In May, Kameíenui was appointed the first federal commissioner for special education research. MORE Deborah Simmons specializes in literacy acquisition and development and intervention for children at risk of reading failure. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Educational Psychology, Reading and Writing Quarterly, Reading Today, the Journal of Learning Disabilities, and the Journal of Educational Research. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Special Education, Learning Disabilities Quarterly, Exceptional Children, and Reading and Writing Quarterly. She also served on the Assessment Group of the Reading First Initiative for the U.S. Department of Education. She is an author for a new Scott Foresman Reading Street basal program. Formerly she was at the University of Oregon. Currently she is at Texas A&M.

Marketing deal struck for Wendy Pye programs

Areospace group relaxes Iran ban

Report: Law library budgets solid

Photeine Anagnostopoulos, senior vice president of the College Board, was named president of McGraw-Hill Digital Learning. Cynthia Anderson, was named an acquisition editor at Linworth Publishing. Gerhard Gompper (physics), University of Cologne, and Michael Schick (physics), University of Washington, edited Soft Matter: Volume 2, (Wiley). John Budd (business), University of Minnesota, wrote Labor Relations: Striking a Balance (McGraw-Hill). Jim Smith, executive vice president of human resources and administration at Thomson Learning, was named president of chief executive of the Academic and Reference Group.

Please tell us about your latest project: EDITOR More academic authoring people

Employee art decorates Pearson building

BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 9, 2005 -- The new Pearson Education School Group headquarters, in the Newbry Building at 501 Boylston Street, is decorated with more than 65 pieces of original art created by Prentice Hall employees, who moved into the new facility in June. The artwork, hung throughout two floors of the new headquarters, represents the talents of 25 people. The art includes oil, pastels, watercolors, quilts, collages, mixed media, black and white and color photography, digital illustrations, and constructions. MORE Senior designer Ellen Granter, who coordinated the project, called the response of employee-artists stunning. "It has been gratifying for the artists from so many departments to be able to share their work and have it so warmly welcomed," Ganter said. Martha Smith, president of the Pearson Education School Publishing Group, said the exhibit is a unique concept in the corporate world. Smith called the exhibit "an extra personal touch to our new Boston home."

TESTING PEARSON HALL

Mergers take a few months off

Pearson wins Michgan Benchmark deal

DETROIT, Michigan, July 8, 2005 -- The suburban Center Line Public School district selected the Pearson School Systems web-based Benchmark system for test creation, delivery, scoring and reporting to meet requirements of No Child Left Behind Act federal funding incentives. The district enrolls 3,000 students.

EL-HI PEARSON SCHOOL SYSTEMS

STI launches Curriculum Manager

Scholastic draws on museum resources

NEW YORK, July 8, 2005 -- School publisher Scholastic launched a science literacy program with the American Museum, called Scholastic/American Museum of Natural History Science Explorations of Natural History, for Grades 3-10. The program is featuring content from the museum's resources in Scholastic classroom magazines SuperScience for Grades 3-6 and Science World for Grades 6-10. The program is expected to continue through the 2005-2006 school year. The project draws on the expertise of the museumıs 200 scientists, research laboratories and collections.

EL-HI SCHOLASTIC

Pearson launches TrueScores blog

IOWA CITY, Iowa, July 8, 2005 -- Pearson Educational Measurement launched a testing and assessments weblog, TrueScores, offering commentary and insight from experts about psychometrics and test and measurement practices. TrueScores blog is intended for the dissemination and discussion of information on the topical issues in educational measurement, the company said. Research will be added periodically to the site. "The purpose of the TrueScores blog is to provide candid opinions on recent trends shaping our educational policy," said Jon Twing, vice president of test and measurement services for Pearson Educational Measurement. "Its goal is to provide practical and applied insights into all aspects of educational measurement."

TESTING PEARSON EDUCA- TIONAL MEASURE- MENT

Florida tabs McGraw for assessments

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, July 7, 2005 -- The Florida Department of Education awarded an $82 million contract to test publisher CTB/McGraw-Hill to administer the state pupil-progress assessment program in the public schools. The contract is for three years, renewable for two years for an additional $58 million. The program is designed for compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind law for Grades 3-10 in reading and math, Grades 4, 8n and 10 in writing, and Grades 5, 8 and 11 in science. The Florida program involves 1.8 million students a year.

EL-HI CTB/ MCGRAW- HILL

Pearson wins Texas assessment contract

IOWA CITY, Iowa, July 7, 2005 -- Pearson Educational Measurement was awarded a five-year $279 million contract for student assessment and testing in Texas schools. The contract is for the most comprehensive statewide testing program in the country, Pearson said. Pearson will utilize its Austin, Texas, operations center as well as its Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, facilities. Pearson Educational Measurement employs more than 300 people full-time and 1,500 seasonally in Texas.

TESTING PEARSON EDUCA- TIONAL MEASURE- MENT

VUE picked for med-tech exams

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., July 7, 2005 -- The electronic testing subsidiary of Pearson Education, VUE, signed a seven-year contract with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians as the exclusive provider for the computer-based emergency medical-technician exams. The agreement includes psychometric services. Beginning in 2007, the exams administerd at more than 300 Pearson Professional Centers and VUE-authorized locations.

TESTING PEARSON VUE

Author group changes staff chief

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, July 6, 2005 -- Philosophy author Richard Hull, whose work has focused on medical ethics, took over as half-time executive director of Text and Academic Authors. Hull succeeds political scientist Ron Pynn, a charter member of the association, who left in a budget constriction after nine years as executive director. TAA retains an office and full-time office manager in Orlanda, Florida, but Hull will operate from his retirement home in Tallahassee. Acknowledging perennial membership problems, Hull proposed broadening TAA's membership base to graduate students and beefing up member services. MORE Most recently Hull was a fundraising consultant for the Center of Inquiry in Amherst, New York, and Tampa, Florida. He retired in 1997 as professor of philosophy at State University of New York at Buffalo. Since then he has served as executive director of the Texas Council for the Humanities. He also was a visiting professor of philosophy at the Institute of Medicine and Humanities, a joint program of St. Patrick's Hospital and the University of Montana. MORE His textbook, Ethical Issues in the New Reproductive Technologies, is in a second edition. The book was published first by Wadsworth, then by Prometheus. Hull has edited academic texts, including Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association and History and Addresses of Philosophical Societies. He has also published many articles, chapters, and reviews.

RICHARD HULL

Journal proceeds with milk-poisoning article

Rubin law firm adds attorney

El-hi sales up nominally

AGS assessment firm sold to Pearson

SHOREVIEW, Minnesota, July 3, 2005 -- Textbook publisher Pearson Education purchased American Guidance Service of Minnesota from WRC Media. AGS publishes assessment and curriculum materials for school psychologists, teachers and students in the U.S. K-12 market. AGS will become part of Pearson School Companies. The company will remain in Minnesota. The president of AGS, Kevin Brueggeman, will join Pearson. The transaction, to be completed in the third quarter, was for $270 million cash.

EL-HI PEARSON SCHOOL COMPANIES

Comics database accessible online

Publishers create library events site

Richard N. Aufmann (math), Palomar College, Vernon C. Barker (math), Palomar College, and Joanne S. Lockwood (math), Plymouth State University, wrote the eighth edition of Basic College Mathematics: An Applied Approach (Houghton Mifflin). Laura Falch, a special event manager with the American Cancer Society, joined Visual Systems, a textbook ancillary company, as marketing coordinator. Mary Ellen Lepionka (books), Atlantic Path Publishing, wrote Writing and Developing Your College Textbook (Atlantic Path). Gary Hartzell was named an acquisition editor at Linworth Publishing. Dinah Stevenson, vice president and associate publisher at Clarion, was named vice president and publisher.

Please tell us about your latest project: EDITOR More academic authoring people

Publishers pleased at Grokster setback

DeVry chooses Pearson math tutorials

NEW YORK, July 1, 2005 -- Textbook publisher Pearson Education entered an agreement with DeVry University, a for-profit vocational college, to customize Pearson's MyMathLab online courses for DeVry students. The tutorial platform will be used at 69 DeVry locations where the college offers undergraduate programs to 43,000 students. MyMathLab platform has been adopted at 400 two-year and four-year colleges.

TEXT- BOOKS PEARSON EDUCATION