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Volume 1, Number 39, March 17, 2006 |
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| Editor's Note | |
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Every week I search QED's School Purchasing Monitor (SPM) service for an RFP opportunity to include in the week's News Alert, (SMP provides a daily email update of what schools across the nation are planning to purchase, from construction and equipment to curriculum and supplemental materials.) I only search the Educational Materials and Services section of SMP, so there's lots of stuff I miss, but each week I am struck by the variety of good and services that schools are seeking to purchase. It reminds me that despite funding worries and curriculum “wars” the schools go on about the daily business of serving the needs of their students, trying as best their budgets permit to provide learning materials, infrastructure, support services and enrichment. Since the first of the year, I've seen a lot of RFPs for telecommunications-related services, a sign that e-Rate money is finally reaching schools again, allowing them to continue to build out the infrastructure needed to support the demands of a learning environment increasingly dependent on digital media and high bandwidth applications. E-Rate money had been held up while the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administration Company worked at sorting out some problems related to fraud and at simplifying and streamlining the application and approval process. It appears that most of that work has been completed and schools can look forward to a more consistent funding stream – good news all around. There are the expected calls for school and office supplies (did we ever really think we might be a paperless society), including RFPs for art supplies, musical instruments, band uniforms and, of course, athletic equipment. I can only hope this reflects an ongoing commitment to being sure that students learn not only academic skills, but that they get a fair share of physical exercise and creative activities. That's a real concern as principals and teachers alike worry about a certain narrowing of the curriculum as schools try to meet their accountability goals. In the last six weeks, Cobb County released an RFP for technology labs for their middle schools, recovering from the dissension caused by Cobb's highly controversial laptop computer proposal. I also saw that Cobb is planning to put laptops in the hands of all its teachers, a reasonable first step toward planning for a more ubiquitous computing environment. Schools are also seeking digital content. The Bryan (TX) Independent School District let an RFP for electronic instructional resources to support the core K-5 curriculum – language arts, math, science and social studies. The Clark County (NV) School District is looking for educational software, as was the Atlantic City (NJ) School District a few weeks ago. On a broader scale, the Fulton County (GA) School District is seeking assessments, textbooks, and instructional materials. The Kentucky Department of Education is evaluating responses to its RFP for a statewide student information system. RFPs for audiovisual equipment are very common and that category can be something of a catchall. Some further definition of what schools are currently interested in here can be seen in the recent RFP from the Orange County (FL) Public Schools for TV production equipment for its elementary and middle schools. Increasingly schools want to empower student not just to consume media as viewers, but also to create it. And to support classroom teachers as they work to integrate technology into the classroom, we are seeing more bids for interactive whiteboards and for computer projectors. Paying attention to what schools are looking to purchase not only keeps vendors aware of potential opportunities for their products, it also provides a window into what schools are currently interested in and how we all can help support those budding initiatives. |
Lead of the Week A
LEAD FOR YOU FROM QED's SCHOOL PURCHASING MONITOR WHAT: Educational Software |
Contents Feature
Story K-12 Market Headlines
What's
That You're Reading? Higher Ed Market Headlines Internet/Telecom Financials/Mergers/Corporate Product
Announcements She Snoops for Scoops: The
Personal Side of the EdNET |
Feature Story Primary Progress, Secondary Challenge: A State-by-State Look at Student Achievement Patterns (Washington, DC) – One year after the nation's governors pledged to improve American high schools, most states have made progress in raising achievement in the elementary grades, but secondary schools still struggle to close gaps between poor and minority students and their White and more affluent peers, according to a report released today by the Education Trust. The report, “Primary Progress, Secondary Challenge: A State-by-State Look at Student Achievement Patterns,” examines state assessment results in reading and math between 2003 and 2005 and finds that progress in raising achievement and closing gaps continues to be strongest in the elementary grades. Overall achievement in middle and high school has improved somewhat. But, four years after enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, there is still too little progress in narrowing gaps between groups in the secondary grades. The Latino-White gap in math achievement at the high school level, for instance, widened or stayed the same in as many states as it narrowed. Find the full story here. |
K-12 Market HeadlinesTexas Education Agency Selects Destination Success® Courseware for Intensive Instruction (Riverdeep Inc., March 16, 2006) Cisco Systems Announces Louisiana Education Initiative To Rebuild and Improve Schools Impacted by Hurricane Katrina (Cisco Systems Inc., March 15, 2006) Vernier's New Kit for Handheld Digital Microscope Brings Versatility to Laboratory Investigations and Analysis (Vernier Software & Technology, March 15, 2006) New Reading Comprehension Program Now Available (Educators Publishing Service, March 15, 2006) VBrick Internet Streaming Bolsters Traditional Videoconferencing (VBrick Systems, Inc., March 15, 2006) Ysleta Independent School District Selects PLATO Learning for Acceleration, Remediation, and Credit Recovery (PLATO Learning, Inc., March 15, 2006) Innovative New Math Homework Service launches, Aligned Page-By-Page with Leading Math Textbooks (Academy123, March 14, 2006) Discovery Communications Launches Cosmeo: A Revolutionary Online Homework Help Tool (Discovery Communications, March 13, 2006) SingingCoach(tm) Technology Proves Beneficial in Boosting Students' Reading Comprehension (Electronic Learning Products, March 13, 2006) Using Data To Make Decisions Pays Off in Chilton (TetraData Corporation, March 13, 2006) PLATO Learning Selected To Provide Intensive Reading and Math Instruction in Texas Initiative (PLATO Learning, Inc., March 10, 2006) NetSupport Announces NetSupport School Enhanced Classroom Instruction Software, Optimized for Wireless Environments
NetSupport, March 9, 2006) LearnStar Technology Energizes PAGE-Georgia Academic Decathlon (LearnStar, March 7, 2006) Clicker Tutorials Now Available on Atomic Learning's Website (Atomic Learning, February 28, 2006) |
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Review by Glen McCandless, Focus Marketing, Inc. Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer
Sales Force
The authors profile seven loyalty-centric companies that built armies of fanatical fans through six key tenets of evangelism, including building community, offering “bite-sized chunks,” and “napsterizing knowledge.” Krispy Kreme is a case study that exemplifies all six. Sure, a warm doughnut dripping sugar icing is a religious experience. But as the authors point out, your product doesn’t have to be mouth-watering or sexy for you to create evangelists. Yes, my friends, even data-mining software can inspire! The tenets put forth in the book ring true for me. During my years in education marketing at Apple Computer, I earned a reputation for creating programs that turned teachers and students into a potent sales force. Now, as a marketing consultant, I continue to develop loyalty programs, preach the gospel of evangelism through my web magazine, sellingtoschools.com, and encourage customer-driven marketing. Why? Because with educators drenched in spam, voice mail, junk mail, and advertising, there is no better way to get your message across than by customer fervor. Beyond case studies, McConnell and Huba offer a practical guide that I heartily recommend. Read it. Then develop an action plan to put these powerful principles into practice. You, too, will become a customer-evangelism evangelist!<> Let Glen know what you thought of his review by e-mailing him at gmccandless@sellingtoschools.com. And find out more about Focus Marketing at www.sellingtoschools.com. If
you would like to review a book or would like to write a counter
opinion
to Glen
McCandless's
review
of Creating
Customer Evangelists,
contact Emily Garner at egarner@QEDdata.com. |
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Higher Ed Headlines Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Adopts Jenzabar Solutions (Jenzabar, Inc., March 14, 2006) University of Lethbridge Purchases EDge's ezRecruit™ CRM (EDge Interactive, March 14, 2006) GoalQuest UScene™ Connects Prospects and Students to Campus Life and Beyond (GoalQuest Inc., March 9, 2006) |
Internet/Telecom Groxis and EBSCO Publishing Partner To Provide Visual Search Technology (EBSCO Publishing, March 14, 2006)
HarperCollins Children's Books Launches New Web Site for Children, Parents, Teachers and Librarians (HarperCollins Publishers, March 14, 2006) Chat about Spaceflight; Scientist and Former NASA Astronaut Dr. Tony England To Host Online Chat (Space Explorers, Inc., March 9, 2006) |
International Headlines
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Financials/Mergers/Corporate Houghton Mifflin Company Reports Results for 2005 (Houghton Mifflin Company, March 16, 2006) Blackboard Inc. Announces 2006 and 2007 Financial Guidance (Blackboard Inc., March 13, 2006) DyKnow Vision's Core Technology Granted Patent from U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (DyKnow, March 9, 2006) Haights Cross Communications Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2005 Results (Haights Cross Communications, Inc., March 7, 2006) Grant Wrangler Rounds Up $11.5 Million in Grants and Awards; Nimble Press Announces a New Online Resource for Teachers (Nimble Press, March 6, 2006) National Geographic To Acquire Hampton-Brown (The Hampton-Brown Company, February 28, 2006) |
Product Announcements (SAGE Publications, March 15, 2006
) Sno-Isle Library System Extends AquaBrowser Library® Search Capabilities (The Library Corporation, March 10, 2006) |
| She Snoops for Scoops: The Personal Side of the EdNET | |
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Happy Friday, friends…read on for your Snoops scoops this week: In a rush last week, I noted congratulations to the new Board of Directors of the Consortium for School Networking (COSN) but omitted a few important people! Let me resend that list to all of you this week. - Chair - Sheryl Abshire , Calcashieu Parish (LA) School System Lori Aubrecht , recently with Spring Branch Independent School District in Houston, has joined Intellitools, Inc., Cambium Learning Technologies as Regional Sales Director, Texas Region. She will be based out of Houston, the Snoop's hometown, so I look forward to meeting and getting to know her. Please join me in wishing Lori all the best on her new position. Our good friend Barbara Kurshan , formerly President of Educorp Consultants and Co-CEO of Core Learning Group , has a new position! Sun Microsystems, Inc 's Global Education and Learning Community (GELC) has named Bobbi as its Executive Director. Sun broke new ground in free and open-source computing in the creation of this nonprofit which aims to meet the needs of students by sharing best practices globally. Bobbi will lead an advisory board with representatives from nearly every continent to extend the vision for this group and will direct all activities of the GELC, including managing the various working groups, monitoring technical developments, overseeing the education community process, managing the creation of GELC specifications and representing the GELC to external organizations. What a perfect role for Bobbi - Sun is lucky indeed to have her on the team! Please join me in sending warm congratulations to Bobbi on her new role. And I heard this week from a wonderful voice from my past, Jean Shields, now Jean Shields Fleming . So let me fill you in! I knew Jean (as did many of you!) when she was with District Administration several years ago. Since then, she has been at Scholastic, serving as content director for the family portion of their website, then working freelance, most recently with Intel's education programs. She and her husband Mic moved to Portland in February where Jean is working as Editorial Director for Curiosity Group . Curiosity is a media and marketing company dedicated to helping kids, teens and adults learn, play, and explore their creativity. They build content for a variety of companies in the industry. And…she added to her name since we last saw each other, so I was inquiring about her husband and marriage. This is the FUN part of the story! When Jean was still in NYC in 2001, she saw an ad on Craigslist - “who wants to go to the opera?'” A gentleman from California was coming to town with an extra ticket to La Boheme and dinner reservations at one of the city's hottest restaurants. It was near Jean's birthday, and she thought, how bad could it be? He lived in California - she lived in NY. She would never have to see him again if it was a bad evening. Gutsy broad!! But it wasn't bad at all, and in 2005 they got married in Michigan where she grew up and honeymooned in Paris - where they had their second date! (I bet that's a good story, too!) So, as Jean says, fairy tales do come true. I so love this! And BTW, I look at Craigslist every week but never saw anything like this!;-) Robert O'Dell, most recently with T.H.E. Journal , is launching a consulting business, eInformation Strategies . As he indicates, “We improve your organization's capacity and services to meet your market and customer needs. We do this by leveraging your existing resources and talent or providing additional resources to set and meet aggressive customer focused goals.” Bob certainly has a rich background and strong skill set to help industry firms with re-engineering, strategy design, systems design, technology innovation and IT and Web support. I am looking forward to connecting with him at FETC! He says he might still have a really big smile on his face, as he became a grandpa for the first time this week! His son and his wife welcomed daughter Alexis into the world, but since they live in Connecticut, Bob and his wife won't be able to see their granddaughter firsthand till after FETC. Dr. Barbara Epps , recently Vice President of Professional Services at PLATO Learning, has joined Learning.com as Vice President of Sales. Barbara will manage the sales and support programs for EasyTech® online technology literacy curriculum and TechLiteracy Assessment. Please join me in warmly congratulating Barbara on joining the great team at Learning.com. And industry colleague and friend Melinda George is making a change. Currently Executive Director of t he State Educational Directors o f Technology (SETDA), she will join the Public Boradcasting System (PBS) on March 29th as Senior Director, PBS TeacherLine. This is a tough one, isn't it? Melinda has done so much for the industry while at SETDA and will be missed by their talented team, I know. She is quick to say that she has tremendously valued her tenure at SETDA and that it will be hard to leave, though she is excited about her new opportunity. I am excited for her as well! This new role will allow her to focus on professional development and impacting teaching and learning while staying in the education technology community. Please join me in wishing Melinda all the best on her new position. Barbara Byrd-Bennett , recently Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland (OH) Municipal School District, has joined Harcourt School Publishers in the newly created position of Superintendent in Residency. Barbara will serve as a resource to superintendents and school boards across the country. She will also act as liaison between school districts and the firm to seek school district input to the development of new products and arrange district participation in Harcourt School product evaluations. Please join me in sending warm congratulations to Barbara on her new position! That's the industry news and gossip for this week, friends. I have a full calendar planned for FETC next week and will hope to see many of you in meetings or in passing while in Orlando. The Snoop is always looking for news and for hellos and hugs from long-time and new friends alike…see you there! - Vicki, the Snoop
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