Social Studies Teachers Spend Nearly 30% of Instructional Time Using Digital Media, New Study Finds

STAMFORD, Conn., Jan. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 30% of instruction time in social studies classroom, from kindergarten to grade 12, is spent using digital tools or digital content, according to a new report from Education Market Research (EMR)/Simba Information. That equates to 1½ full school days or class periods per week.

Social Studies Market: K-12 (January 2015) is EMR/Simba's latest study of the Social Studies instructional materials market in grades K-12, a thorough analysis of current statistics and trends, with comparisons to EMR's prior surveys conducted in 2010, 2006, and 2004. 

The report covers the estimated $1.04 billion market for textbook and non-textbook Social Studies instructional materials and digital resources in 2014-15, a segment that has experienced 5.8% annual growth compared to EMR's prior survey conducted in 2010-11.

Looking at the leading textbooks by grade level, in grades K-5 the top titles are Harcourt Social Studies/Harcourt with an 8.4% market penetration, Scott Foresman Social Studies/Scott Foresman (7.1%), Horizons: U.S. History/Harcourt (3.9%), and Social Studies Alive/Teacher's Curriculum Institute (2.6%).  Similar data is contained in the report for grades 6-8 and 9-12.

"Insufficient digital resources was cited by nearly half of our survey respondents as their biggest problem with respect to social studies textbooks," said Dr. Robert M. Resnick, president and principal researcher for EMR. "This was followed closely by 'information not up-to-date' (37.2%), and textbooks that were 'not aligned with Common Core' (36.4%)." 

Social Studies Market: K-12 answers critical questions about Social Studies instruction in terms of preferred strategies and materials most frequently used.  Areas investigated include which textbooks, supplemental materials, and publishers are used most often at different grade levels and how they are perceived by teachers, the level of discretionary funds spent on supplemental texts, workbooks, teacher resource materials, online/digital content, assessments, and other non-textbook materials and programs, and Social Studies topical areas in which educators are demanding new instructional materials.

The information in Social Studies Market: K-12 is unique and not available from any government or commercial source other than EMR/Simba Information. For more information on the report please visit http://www.simbainformation.com/Social-Grades-8684308/ or call 888-29-SIMBA.

About Education Market Research 
EMR analyzes the U.S. K-12 school market in all of it facets - textbooks, supplemental materials, computer hardware, software, video, online - and in each of its grade levels, major curriculum areas, and "markets within the market". The data contained in EMR's publications comes from original studies conducted by EMR using an information gathering network comprised of tens of thousands of educators. EMR provides original market intelligence not available from any other source.

About Simba Information 
Simba Information is widely recognized as the leading authority for market intelligence in the media and publishing industry. Simba's extensive information network delivers top quality, independent perspective on the people, events and alliances shaping the media and information industry. Simba publishes newsletters and research reports that provide key decision-makers at more than 15,000 client companies. For more information, please visit www.simbainformation.com.  

Contact:
Robert Resnick, Ph.D
718-474-0133
[email protected]

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