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Jessie Allen | Casey Briggs | Jason Brown | Shawn Fielding | Ryan Gray | Lauren Moran

Contents
Background Research Introduction .......................................................... 3 Qualitative Research and Analysis Introduction.................................... 12 User Group Event Plan Introduction....................................................... 26 Quantitative Analysis Introduction......................................................... 32 Social Media Analytics Introduction....................................................... 52 Appendix.................................................................................................. 58

Background Research Introduction


The following section of the research report analyzes the background and environment in which Studies Weekly operates. It guided the research team in the various data gathering methods that ensued during the academic semester. The background research was used to help the research team assess the necessary areas of Studies Weekly that are experiencing growth, change, etc. During the focus group and survey creation, the research team came back to this portion of the report. The information gathered for the background was found from various web sources.

The background research will cover the following points:


1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. External Environment and Industry Client, Service and Issue Promotions Competition Resources SWOT Analysis Public Profiles

We hope this research will help guide your company in future decisions or marketing plans. The research will thoroughly examine these background issues. Our research team recommends using this research when examining changes to the industry. We found that educational materials are experiencing a change of environment. Rather than the typical text/print model, educational materials are becoming e-products and web sources. When analyzing the client, service and issue, the team discovered the perceptions and awareness of the Studies Weekly brand. Also, it found that there is an issue of returning customers. These perceptions were further analyzed in the qualitative and quantitative report. The social media research analyzed brand awareness in conjunction with brand perceptions. Finally, our team did extensive research on the competition and public profiles. A SWOT analysis was conducted. Competitors include companies such as Scholastic or various textbook producers. The main Studies Weekly publics are teachers and administrators. This research should be used to help guide future projects.

External Environment and Industry


For over 50 years there has been a push to standardize Americas educational system. In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed. The ESEA was initially passed as a federal civil rights statute, it was designed to level the playing field and expand educational opportunity for poor children and children of color. The ESEA expanded the administrative role played by the federal government in public education launching a comprehensive set of programs to serve concentrated populations of children living in poverty, including the Title I program of federal aid to disadvantaged children to address the educational challenges faced by children in poor urban and rural areas. In its first year, the statute directed approximately one billion dollars to schools nationwide based on the number of students living in poverty within each school district (Hewitt, 169). Since the passing of ESEA, nationalizing influences on education have sprung up on many fronts, including national goals, model curriculum frameworks, various national testing activities, and

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national efforts to reform teacher education and selection. One more recent example of this is America 2000. One highlight of the plan is the development of a voluntary set of national tests, the American Achievement Tests, to be given in five core academic areas in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades (Cohen,74). This program was designed to meet three fundamental principles to American culture. First, the importance of such a change in the educational governance of US schools should be to substantially teaching and learning. This harkens to the inherently American notion of constant improvement and achievement (Cohen, 77). Second, national curriculum frameworks should be coordinated with systems of assessment. This coordination promotes systemic coherence and local flexibility. This harkens to an instilled sense of responsibility that stemmed from rugged individualism. Third, the new system seeks to preserve the very American system of second chances. Based on these principles, America 2000 did not compromise any commitment to equality. These principles provide both a vision and a set of constraints for any major movement toward a national curriculum in the United States (Cohen, 78). Soon after, with bipartisan support, George W. Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. NCLB supports standards-based education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. However, NCLB was ridiculed and reviled by many teachers, civil rights advocates, elected officials, parents, and the media because the failures of similar previous campaigns. Statistics calculated after the implementation of NCLB did not add much support. An analysis of post-NCLB student test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, administered to all public school students in the fourth and eighth grades, has shown either slowing improvement or stagnation, compared with the pre-NCLB era. Large, persistent achievement gaps are apparent between and among African-American, Latino, and low-income students and their white, Asian, and wealthier counterparts in reading and mathematics. Other statistics such as high school graduation rates, college enrollment, and college graduation rates (from two- and four-year institutions) mimic the disparate levels of achievement on standardized tests (Hewitt, 177). Due to the lack of support for NCLB, new, recent initiatives have begun to take shape. In 2010 the Common Core State Standards Initiative gained traction. By 2014, 45 states, Washington D. C., four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity will have adopted and fully implemented the Common Core State Standards. The initiatives stated purpose is to provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. Additionally, the standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers, which will place American students in a position in which they can compete in a global economy (www.corestandards.org). Because Studies Weekly is designed to adhere to standardized curriculum, this opens up new possibilities as the Common Core State Standards begins to be implemented in 2014-2015. Presently, the Common Core State Standards are only for English and mathematics, but they represent a trend towards standardized across the board curriculum, which would then affect the material offered by Studies Weekly.

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The Client
Product Overview Studies Weekly creates and publishes K-6 textbook content in a magazine format. The magazines are written to cover all state and national standards for K-6 social studies, K-6 science, and K-2 math. The magazine content is also available in an online format known as e-Studies Weekly. Studies Weekly primary product is its print magazine series. Sets of the magazines are delivered quarterly, and the material is divided into weeks. Each week is the equivalent of one chapter from a textbook. Each weeks publication contains both articles and activities, and each magazine is printed in full color with cartoons, photographs, or graphics for each article. e-Studies Weekly is the online hub for SW. The material on e-Studies Weekly has the same content as is in the printed magazines, with a few added features. For instance, the e-Studies Weekly website has videos and audio recordings, additional primary source documents, and interactive features such as a read-along program. The online component to SW also provides teachers a platform to communicate with parents, manage grades, as well as create and administer tests and quizzes. For students, e-Studies Weekly offers additional incentives with a digital classroom pet a rat named Revere. As students participate in the online lessons and answer reading questions, they accrue points, which they can then redeem for furniture and decorations in the Reveres cage. e-Studies Weekly is not sold separately as its own product. The content for Studies Weekly is prepared by current and retired educators. SW purports that the content in the magazines fills all state and national curriculum standards. Studies Weekly content can be updated yearly, to be current and fresh. In addition to the main educational content, Studies Weekly also provides supplementary material for teachers, such as webinars with experts on using SW. SW also has a blog dedicated sharing teaching resources. Client Studies Weekly has been used in all 50 states in more than 15 percent of public and private schools (PRWeb). Studies Weekly takes the form of a magazine, rather than textbook. The product contains the same content as textbooks. Teachers can use the online tools with their subscription to Studies Weekly. The product covers all grade levels. The content found within the educational magazine is social studies, science and math (Studies Weekly). The online edition of Studies Weekly is e-StudiesWeekly. e-StudiesWeekly has an account for students to sign up with. This account features online study tools and aides for teachers use in the classroom. Students have fun incentives to actively use the account. Revere the Rat, the online mascot for the company, provides a fun and entertaining way for the younger students. Revere the Rat demonstrates Studies Weeklys trend toward an interactive learning experience for its subscribers (Studies Weekly).

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Service Teachers can sign up for a free subscription prior to becoming members of Studies Weekly. Price varies per state, product and quantity. Pricing can be determined on the main webpage. For instance, in the state of Utah, the cost for a social studies weekly magazine for 20 kindergarten students costs approximately $120. This subscription covers four quarterly issues of the magazine (Studies Weekly). The magazine contains informative material relevant to the grade and specific topic of the issue. For example, volume 12, issue 3 of the third quarter for fifth grade students, follows the topic of the Universe. They have articles, entertaining illustrations, educational games, fun facts and links to the web version of the product (Studies Weekly). There is also a Facebook page targeted towards the parent audience. There is also a QR code for smart phone users. On the website, subscribers can utilize the companys tools. For those interested in the product, the website offers a variety of resources. Issue Studies Weekly is struggling with their company image and business model. The cheapness of the product is appealing; however, it does not align with the conventional textbook mentality. Teachers and administrative staff may view the product as supplemental material for the students education, rather than the main source of information. Studies Weekly has to overcome its image as supplemental material and move towards a larger market of primary educational sources. If Studies Weekly does not overcome this problem, they risk the chance of losing their market share. Another issue facing Studies Weekly is the lack of returning customers. The company needs to maintain a relationship with their customers, and discover why people do not consistently return to use their products. Also, the state adoption policies may create potential issues for the company.

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Promotions
Studies Weekly uses the slogan Americas New Textbook (although their website still carries the previous slogan, Weve got standards! The company has tried to position itself as a better alternative to textbooks and has tried to avoid comparisons to other magazines on the grounds that most magazines are curriculum supplements. On its website, videos, or other promotional material, SW claims the following benefit to using Studies Weekly magazines over traditional textbooks: The magazines are kid-friendly. Children prefer learning from these magazines. Each magazine is like a chapter from a textbook, allowing easy review. Students can easily take the magazines home to engaged with their parents. Preparing lessons based on the magazines is more time-effective for teachers thantraditional class preparation. Students can mark up and make notes in the magazines. Studies Weekly subscriptions cost significantly less than a classroom set of textbooks. Content can easily be updated yearly to stay current. SW also provides offers and specials to hook teachers. Teachers or parents can request a free sample of SW material. SW also instituted a rewards program that gives teachers prizes when they order a baseline amount of subscriptions. It would appear that Studies Weekly does not readily promote in e-Studies Weekly program. More than two million students have access e-Studies Weekly, but only about 67 thousands of these storms have increased violence. Studies Weekly employs two distinct models for marketing. First, SW uses a bottom-up where it relies on images, brochures, and direct contact with teachers. Second, SW also uses a top-down approach, where the company appeals to state education departments and other high authorities. With the top-down approach, SW hopes to get school boards to endorse the magazines as part of the states standard curriculum.

Competition
Competing Products Competitors for Studies Weekly are textbook publishers such as Brown & Benchmark Publishers, Houghton Mifflin, Harper Collins, Prentice-Hall, W.W. Norton, Duskin Publishing, Little Brown, Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich, Worth Publishers, Inc., McGraw- Hill Publishers, and Pearson (Textbook Publishers). These companies specialize in writing textbooks for primary and secondary education. Page | 9

Scholastic is another competition for Studies Weekly. This company has weekly magazines for teachers to subscribe to. These magazines have a different format. Rather than appearing like a magazine/newspaper, it looks like a typical magazine with realistic photographs (Scholastic Classroom & News Magazines). Competing Services The textbook format is a competing service for Studies Weekly. Since Studies Weeklys presence has only been noticed for the past 20 years, textbook providers still hold a dominant portion of the education market share. Another competing service is the supplemental material offered through textbook providers. Prentice-Hall, McGraw- Hill and other textbook publishers offer free online tutorials for students and worksheets for instructors. While Studies Weekly is cheaper, if students write on the product, it has to be purchased again the next school year. Competing Issues According to the St. Louis-Post Dispatch, e-readers are becoming a new and thriving market in the education system (Bock). As people turn to their mobile devices and children begin using technology at younger ages, technology like Nooks and iPads may become competition for Studies Weekly. As school districts become increasingly more digital, print publications will become obsolete. This potential issue may become more threatening in the years to come.

Resources
For Studies Weekly, it is important to use certain intervening figures to help influence their targeted publics. Securing the support of education officials such as board members from the board of education from each state. The support of these representatives will help give Studies Weekly the validity they seek. With the support of these members, it will be easier to convince the targeted publics to accept Studies Weekly as a legitimate replacement for textbooks. It will be necessary to secure members of the board of education from each of the fifty states to influence teachers, principals or school board members in respective counties in the state to accept Studies Weekly. On a local level, securing the support of members from the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) will be advantageous to Studies Weeklys cause. Their endorsement will assist in gaining support from the parents. With the support of parents and teachers, Studies Weekly can achieve their overarching goal. The attitude towards Studies Weekly needs to change. Because of its newspaper format, many believe it is supplemental reading that adds to textbooks. The color and format also add to this stereotype. In order to achieve success with intervening publics, Studies Weekly needs to overcome these assumptions. Teachers and administration leaders, however, are looking for a more cost effective alternative to textbooks. Textbooks are expensive because they become outdated quickly. School administrations have had to make cutbacks and are looking for cheaper alternatives for their classrooms. Studies Weekly has an opportunity to present their product as a cost effective alternative to textbooks that teaches students the same material. Page | 10

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS Extra content online for use by students Innovative textbook idea is appealing to kids Material covers the majority of state education requirements Cheaper to use than textbooks

WEAKNESSES The product is in a paper form, current trends are phasing paper products out and switching to digital versions of the same products. Newspaper format gives the impression that it is a supplement to textbooks and not a replacement Weak brand name in competition with established companies like McGraw-Hill and Prentice-Hall Website is difficult to navigate for first-time users THREATS Traditional textbooks remain popular Schools continue to use other supplemental magazines and weekly readers States facing budget cuts continue to cut education spending leaving less money for new materials

OPPORTUNITIES Create a digital version for use with classroom tablets, which can lead the way to digital textbooks Prove to teachers, parents and school officials that Studies Weekly is more cost effective than using traditional textbooks, which have to be replaced with new editions Show teachers and parents how Studies Weekly is more effective than traditional textbooks at helping students learn and meet state requirements

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Public Profiles
Teachers Teachers are mostly females who range from 22 to 65 years of age. They are busy workers who plan their schedules far in advance. Once they have a routine down they seldom change it. The younger they are, the easier it is to change their study plan. Teachers want what is best for their students. They want their students to receive the highest education possible. Because of fear of lawsuits, teachers are very cautious when teaching their students. They are influenced by the parents of their students, school administration and teachers unions. Some teachers are familiar with Studies Weeklys product and use it. Others are skeptical of it because it looks like supplemental reading. Parents Parents are an active group who want students to succeed in their schooling. Parents are protective of their children and are doubtful of change in academic curriculum. They are typically from the age of 30 to 45 years of age and have one or two children in school. Normally they help their children with homework so they are familiar with the material and mindful of the expensive and heavy textbooks. They are greatly influenced by the PTA and what they stand for. When the PTA supports something, most parents will agree on it. Parents are also influenced by their children. What the children feel or need can have a significant impact in their parents opinions and actions.

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Qualitative Research and Analysis Introduction


The following section of the research report analyzes the focus group conducted by the Studies Weekly research team. It guided the research team in the various data gathering methods that ensued during the academic semester. The qualitative research portion will provide an in-depth look to a select group of individuals involved in the administrative aspect of education. The participants were either principles or administrators to a list of districts in the state of Utah. A focus group was conducted to evaluate the perceptions and concerns about the Studies Weekly brand.

The following items will be addressed in this portion of the research report
Qualitative Methodology Timing and Location Incentives Focus Group Attendants Conducted Focus Group Analysis of Qualitative Data Key Findings Impressions Appraisals Critiques Likeliness to Adopt Suggestions Thematic Analysis Primary Themes Secondary Themes

In the thematic analysis, we found major themes that arose in the focus group. There was an emphasis on new mediums for Studies Weekly, market presence, integration of materials and digitization. In this section, we suggest the material be used for assessing product improvements or changes. It can help Studies Weekly market to new customer segments.

Qualitative Research and Analysis


Qualitative Methodology The Studies Weekly research team conducted a focus group to gain a stronger understanding of what administrators and principals wish to see in future products, or changes that may make the product more appealing. We had one main moderator and an additional assistant moderator. The role of the moderator was the seeker of wisdom or enlightened novice. We used two focus group techniques: the pause and the probe.

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Participant Selection Studies Weekly provided a Google document with 48 education administrators in the following school districts: Alpine Canyons Davis Granite Jordan Murray Nebo Provo Salt Lake City Wasatch

Another Google document with 138 media specialists and principals were selected from the following Utah County elementary schools: Alpine Amelia Aspen Barratt Bonneville Canyon Crest Cascade Cedar Ridge Cedar Valley Central Cherry Hill Deerfield Eagle Valley Eaglecrest Edgemont Foothill Forbes Fox Hollow Franklin Freedom Geneva Greenwood Grovecrest Hidden Hollow Highland Hillcrest Ivy Hall Academy John Hancock Lakeview LeGacy Lehi Lincoln Academy Lindon Manila McKee Meadow Mountain Trails Mountainville Mount Mahogany Noah Webster North Point Northridge Odyssey Charter Orchard Orem Pony Express Provo Peaks Provost Quail Run Ranches Academy Renaissance Academy Ridgeline Elementary Rock Canyon Rocky Mountain Scera Park Sego Lily Challenger School Sharon Shelley Snow Springs Spring Creek Suncrest Sunset Timpanogos Traverse Valley View Vineyard Wasatch Westfield Westmore Westridge Windsor

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From these lists, we had three teams of six people split up the contact list for the teams. Each team was responsible with contacting their designated group of administrators and/or principles. The recruiting script can be found in the appendix of the research document. The potential focus group participants were told who was contacting them, the intent of the focus group and the incentives. If a participant demonstrated interest, they were told the location and place. Each group member was in charge of continuously contacting and informing the participant after they committed to attend. Of the people contacted, our team successfully recruited 5 people from both the principal/ media specialist and administrator list. Location and Timing The focus group was located at 1922 West 200 North Lindon, UT on Wednesday, Feb, 20, 2013. Participants were asked to be at the Studies Weekly office building at 5:00 p.m. The focus group concluded at 6:30 p.m. The location was used to show the participants how Studies Weekly operates. The timing was selected for ideal travel time and scheduling conflicts. Incentives A $200 incentive was offered at the beginning of our recruiting efforts. Due to negative feedback, or lack of response, we began to offer a $100 incentive. Overall, the incentive was not well received by many of the administrators or principals. People thought it was spam, or did not feel comfortable taking that amount of money for research efforts. In future cases, the incentive price might want to be lowered to insure more attendees. Focus Group Attendants The following individuals attended the focus group Nedra Call, a Instructor Director from the Nebo School District McKell Withers, a Superintendent from the Salt Lake School District Jim Henderson, a Assistant Superintendent from Granite School District Chris Hall, a Social Studies Director from Davis School District Cami Larsen, a Principal from Alpine School District

How Focus Group Was Conducted

The focus group was conducted on February 10, 2013. The meeting took place on the second floor of the Studies Weekly headquarters. The five participants were given a brief tour of the company when they entered the building. When they entered the focus group room, they were given a nametag with their name on it and were seated. The focus group began with an introduction by one of the three moderators. The moderator welcomed the participants to the focus group and introduced Ed Rickers. Then Mr. Rickers proceeded with a 10-minute presentation on Studies Weekly. In the presentation, Mr. Rickers gave

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a brief overview of the company. His presentation focused particularly on the eStudies portion (the online component of Studies Weekly). Once he concluded his presentation, the focus group was turned over to the moderators. The moderators began by introducing themselves and gave each one of the participants an opportunity to introduce themselves as well. After the introductions, each moderator took turns asking questions to the participants. When the moderators believed a comment needed further clarification, they would interrupt the conversation and ask a follow-up question.

Analysis of Qualitative Data

Firstly, we meticulously combed through the raw script of the focus group recording. While we did this, we were on alert for recurring concepts, ideas, suggestions, etc. Secondly, once we were aware of repeating themes, we began the coding process. We coded for the number of occurrences each theme appeared, and the inherent strength/value afforded by each. We found certain primary concepts from this process and subsequent supporting secondary concepts. After we gathered our findings, we arranged them, with examples, in a way that would be most beneficial and easily comprehensible to our clients needs.

Key Findings

Overall Impression of Studies Weekly Most people feel that the material is better served as a supplement then actual text material. The weekly, kid friendly design and online resources gives the appearance that it is supplemental. It is seen as something to use during reading time as a way to get the kids looking at science and social studies materials during times when theyre not using their textbook. It also gives younger kids a better introduction into science, social studies, etc. at a higher reading level before they reach a higher grade.

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The focus group participants gave a wide variety of responses, though several opinions were repeated multiple times. The most common appraisals, or things that focus group participants liked about Studies Weekly, were: Districts and state legislatures usually approve the material Studies Weekly can be provided at a lower cost than most traditional textbooks. The online material for Studies Weekly was one of the most discussed aspects of the product. Participants felt that the online material was the most marketable and valuable piece of the Studies Weekly products. The participants approved of the ability to assign homework, email students, and evaluate assignments online. Though Studies Weekly is produced to be a textbook replacement, many participants expressed a desire to use Studies Weekly as an occasional activity or lesson. The teacher lesson plans that are provided for Studies Weekly users generated several minutes of positive discussion, participants felt that those plans would be extremely useful to teachers.

The most common critiques, or aspects of Studies Weekly products that the participants did not like were: Several participants brought up the fact that very few of them actually knew about Studies Weekly. They also said that when districts or schools have big curriculum meetings, Studies Weekly is not usually present. The most common critique of Studies Weekly centered around the idea that Studies Weekly is being marketed as a textbook with supplemental online material. Many participants felt that Studies Weekly would be far more valuable if the product was marketing as an online textbook with supplemental reading material. The Studies Weekly textbook replacement material was described frequently as a supplemental-looking material. Many of the administrators present in the focus group felt that the lessons Studies Weekly

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provides were too rigid and allow the teacher very little wiggle room to create and tailor their own lessons. Many comments were made about the success of traditional teaching materials, (i.e., textbooks, lectures and demonstrations) and how students today still need those types of methods. The online materials and Studies Weekly readers are great, but may never be able to completely change the more traditional ways teachers instruct. Likeliness to Adopt Participants indicated that getting demo versions into classrooms would increase the likelihood of adoption. Most participants in the focus group seemed to like Studies Weekly generally-especially if it could incorporate their suggestions--but no one directly expressed interest in adopting the program. Instead, they said that teachers would need to get experience using Studies Weekly to decide if they wanted it.

Suggestions for Successful Future Focus Groups


Based on the feedback and response from a few of the focus group invitees, we recommend some adjustments to how similar focus groups are conducted in the future. First we recommend that no incentive be offered for attendees. Some of the feedback we received indicated that the incentive caused some invitees to think the focus group was a marketing ploy, rather than a forum for discovering honest opinion. Others simply thought that the invitation was spam. By offering an incentive, Studies Weekly risks compromising the integrity of the focus group in the eyes of invitees and participants, and skewing the participants responses to be falsely favorable towards the product or company. Second, we recommend that focus group not be conducted at Studies Weekly facilities. When a focus group is held on the facilities of the product in question, participants are more likely are more to talk favorably about the product even when they do not feel that way. Similarly, Studies Weekly employees should either not attend the focus group or should remain anonymous, to avoid skewing the responses. Third, we recommend that participants not receive a product demonstration before beginning the focus group. While a demonstration could be beneficial depending on the goals and circumstances of the focus group, a product introduction skews the data by making it impossible to determine participants opinions based on prior product promotion or knowledge, and by narrowing the conversation to focus on the actual product, rather than a broad exploration of the market and/or current practices.

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Thematic Analysis
Primary Theme: Digital Presence
A common theme found throughout the focus group was the need for Studies Weekly to have a strong digital presence. Focus group participants discussed how educational materials that have an interactive website, in addition to the textbook, are more likely to be used for years. Also, some of the participants discussed the changing environment of the education industry. Funding and legislation are catering to digital technology, rather than print. The main sections of the focus group we found fit for this theme discuss the need for integrated materials and multi-tasking capabilities, eStudies Weekly, and the exploration of new mediums. Secondary Theme: Integrated Materials and Multi-Tasking Capabilities The focus group participants expressed a desire to have social studies integrated to the language arts material. They said teachers complain about not having enough time to cover social studies subjects because so much emphasis is placed on math and science. The lack of time creates a problem for teachers when it comes to meeting state testing standards. The administrators alluded to a need for integration in school subjects.

Excerpts From Focus Group Transcript


Time: 29:50-32:50 Person #1: We keep compartmentalizing these different things, science has its time, SS and what were really saying is that the new thing is integration. And I think thats what I hear the most. What I keep hearing is that we dont have time. As a matter of fact I have teachers right now, Ill give you an example. 5th grade team teaches SS all of US history in 4 months. At the beginning, because the last 4 months is going to be science. Because science is going to be tested, so its more current with the kids. Person #3: We tend to compartmentalize these different things; science has its time, social studies has its. And what were really saying is the new thing is integration. Person #5: Especially in Elementary School Person #3: Thats what I hear. We do not have time. As a matter of fact, I have a fifth grade team that teaches social studies -- all of US history -- in 4 months, because the last four months is going to be on science, because science is tested, so that way its current with the kids. In their minds instead of teach SS throughout the year, they do this and make the shift. Why dont they teach SS and science throughout the year? Its because they dont have time to do it all. Ryan: So they do that for the testing? Is that what youre saying? Person #3: Yeah, so science is taught second because then it stays fresh in the kids minds, because science is taught at the end of the year.

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Person #5: But if youre taking your SS and youre showing where the standards are met in the Language arts and in the science, but its your SS standards, but this is where it crosses over, and this is where you see it meet the other curriculum. Secondary Theme: eStudies Weekly Several members of the focus group approved of the eStudies Weekly program because it allows a student to learn at his/her own level. Between minutes 17 and 21 of the focus group transcript, participant # 1 says the following, You know, as I was watching that the thing that probably came up to me the most was, this has a variety of resources. So, as we start looking with the child, we are always looking for, how do we help that child that struggles, how do we help the gifted and talented child? All of the sudden, they can delve into the e-program that we saw, I all the sudden saw a number of ways of, for lack of a better term, centers that kids could be engaged in to do, you know, different activities that not everyone has to do it. Also, as we can see from the critiques and appraisals graphs, most participants highly favored the online product over the paper product. Participants felt that the online options have the most promise and opportunity for teachers, students and Studies Weekly in the future. Participants also mentioned that they are receiving more funding for the adoption of new technologies and it may be easier to try to get a new product in that segment. Secondary Theme: Exploring New Mediums From the focus group respondents interactions, we were able to glean that an attractive option for implementing the Studies Weekly program into the classroom would be to explore new mediums. This could be anything from an electronic textbook, like what was offered through e-SW, with supplemental readings, to going to a daily instead of weekly, to a series of workbooks that would provide interactive learning materials to keep students more engaged. Key Quotes: If you wanted to test something for delivery, something as simple as folder that has all 28 lessons in it at the same time, so it looks like it has it covered, and it looks like its a years worth of content -- that could create some logistical issues in the classroom -- But there is something to be said about kids tactile experiences -- being able to pull what it is youre going to learn this day or this week or whatever. I know for our district, even though we hope to be at a one-to-one ratio, not all learners are effectively instructed through technology. There are some serious limitation about what you can see, what you interact with, and how you experience the content. So I dont want to imply that you should abandon paper. But you asked a question related to marketing and you asked a question related to name. Daily studies sounds better than weekly studies if youre trying to have people feel that its relevant and current and needed. If youre trying to market connections with the home, a simple email with a picture of the front page of this weeks session to the family so they know what theyre looking for can make those connections. We do the same

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things with kids, ultimately when we get that one-to-one ration youre pushing out heres what it is. It looks like most of them, if you have 7 weeks worth of materials but theres five pages in each one, or six, or eight. You probably already have a daily lesson anyway thats already there that could be delivered in a daily format. But the leaning towards technology is economically driven. Textbooks have become so cost-prohibitive that were looking for other alternatives, and there are grants to try and write the text in an electronic format. Theres a need for materials. The challenge with social studies and science is that competing for the time and how you integrate it, if youre trying to push this content in other content area youre defeating the purpose of integrating both the vocabulary and the instructional objectives in ways that help kids make it relevant and learn better. Our district adopted secondary social studies last year, so this is our first year with it. and we bought classroom sets of actual textbooks is all and then just online subscription to the text book for every student, that we have for ten years. So in ten years, well be forced to do something. (Ryan: so its a licensing you bought?) Yeah, but what we wished is they would have licensed the district, we had to buy an exact number of actual licenses which we feel like theyre probably going to change. (Ryan: so what if your students change?) Then its like an actual physical book, its assigned to them, but digital and we have to switch it. We learned a ton going through it, one of the things we learned is that we would never, we have 4 different publishers were working with, we would never do that again. if we were doing it again we would say, all will adopt from one publisher, I dont care which one it is, you can choose but youre all adopting from one publisher, were not gonna work on all these platforms, this is ridiculous. The other thing weve discovered would be really nice is science did it the year before, they did all adopt from one publisher and if we have chosen that same publisher the kids would have one log on and a virtual desk would open up with their science book and their social studies book, and the next year theyd use that same logon but thered be two new books. I mean its just so tidy, so if you dont really care which book is which it would have been really, really nice, because right now its just really messy for different kids and parents have to remember logins and some of the publishers have been better working with us, letting the kid use the login that they already use for the district email and stuff, but some have been a little bit not able to do that. One of the things we wanted to do but couldnt, which probably would be easier for you was to buy (or select a-la-carte) so the teacher would be able to say, these are the modules or topics for the civil war (or whatever) and the teacher could look through them and maybe the district buys the rights for every teacher to have this many modules during the course of their year or whatever it is. (Kristin: the school doesnt order the same material for every teacher?) Right the teacher would order it. (Ryan: is that the same for every district?) No, nobody does that, that would be lucky, we would love that. Teachers would love that. But its interesting because its even changing, you know--the interactive whiteboards--things like that. I have teachers now who can take an iPad and do the exact same thing with an iPad and not spend the $1500-$2000 on the interactive whiteboard because they can do the same thing with the iPad. #1: But they project it on a whiteboard in front of the class. -Yes, they do...from the iPad, you dont need an interactive board; theyre just projecting it.

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-But the point is that its interactive...the actual projection. #1: Another case in point is, Ive got a...(interject: all you need is a white wall)...what Im trying to say is, what matters is the interactive material with the class from a visual prompt. So there may be a whole different way to deliver this content in one-page visual prompts in a classroom. That would be far more interesting and engaging to teachers. Ryan: Lets take that for a second. What do you think...we talked about Revere the Rat...you saw a little clip...is there some way that there can be some video and some visual? Where the teacher can also interact? Is that what youre talking about? Would that be more effective? #1: Its a prompt, its a learning prompt. #3: I think Chris touched on it. Because he said I wanna take this piece, but I wanna add my own little pieces to that. So I see them using that, but actually going out onto the net and bringing in a piece of their own stuff that would actually supplement whats there. The whole opportunity is that it gives them opportunity...Ive got a son thats in college right now and he did not buy one textbook this year. Everything is on his iPad. Ryan: I would love to not have to buy a textbook... (laughs) But you understand what Im saying... Ryan: Yeah, of course, of course. #4: I have a couple thoughts. One is, having adopted all online digital textbooks last year...number one, its not any cheaper. They charge you just as much. It was 75 dollars a license. Its just as much for those licenses. The only difference is that those licenses will actually last 10 years, and a book wont; youll be replacing that book in five or six years. The license really will last that long. So, and, I was totally impressed with some of the interactive maps and some of the kind-of cool digital things that they now have, even though theres a lot of criticism that this is just a PDF of a textbook, theres a lot of other stuff. They have, you know, made it a lot more sexy than it used to be and its a lot more kind-of cool that way. But to the question about what teachers say, we have teachers who just love the new books and teachers who absolutely hate the new books. And I get letters, you know, requests from teachers every year, for online magazines or a classroom subscription to Newsweek. But there are those teachers who absolutely love textbooks and they dont want online stuff because theyre not to that point. And so its like Andrew said, its up to each individual teacher. If I could do anything to a textbook for my classroom, I would want to be able to go to some sort of dashboard somewhere and say these are chunks of text and these are related videos or related audio clips or related interactive maps or related whatever.

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Primary Theme: Market Presence and Information

Studies Weeklys lack of presence in the textbook market was another major theme in the conversation. Participants stressed the importance of having a prominent place in the market (implying that SW did not have that place), and also indicated that people did not know what Studies Weekly had to offer. Key Quotes: Person #4: The awareness factor is just not there. We do district wide adoptions for K-12 social studies so 62 elementary schools but if our buyer doesnt say, Youve got Holt, and Pearson, and Studies Weekly, then we wont even look at you. Person #3: Theres basically a committee of teachers . . . They looked at 20 different companies, got it down to two, then let the schools pick which of those two they wanted to use, so we had the choice of two different titles. They didnt force us to choose. Person #1: There is a little bit of concern because if this is put out there with 20 other texts, I worry that the teachers even in that committee are not going to get a good vision [of the product]. Person #4: The counsel of social studies has a conference every spring and every fall, and they have vendors that . . . just set up in this hallway and you can show teachers and then they go back and they ask for it . . . They go to the committees and say, Hey lets look at this. Person #3: [On the tour, Ed] pulled out a teachers manual and it had the cover, it didnt look like a magazine at all. He opened it up and there was the lesson plan all the supplemental things that you can do with it. And I thought, Oh, Ive never seen this. . . . But for the first time I saw that teachers edition I went Oh. Now if you had that . . . I dont know that teachers have ever seen that. And maybe they have and thats just a lack of me understanding the whole program . . . Person #2: I didnt realize that that was available, just so that you could do as a whole class reading of something, and I think that with the upper grades, letting the teachers know about the test options and the reports that you can run from those, thats very valuable information Secondary Theme: Supplemental Material Along with general misinformation, the participants explained that Studies Weekly appears to be supplemental material, rather than material for a main text. Key Quotes: Person #3: [Teachers] have stereotyped this approach as a weekly reader . . . Thats in their minds, that is exactly what that is, and thats called supplemental, thats not called main text. And so, it needs to be marketed more with the, This is a main text, you do not have to buy a book, you do not have to do this; this becomes [the main text]. Person #4: When I see something that you get every week, its supplemental. There are a dozen

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that are out there that look just like that. They come but you also have your textbook. Its like an extra thing. So I agree, I would market it as a subscription to online textbook that if you want you can also purchase the classroom set or however you want to do that. Person #4: But I still think looking at it online, if it looks like a magazine, its gonna look dated. Person #4: The name doesnt look like a textbook to me. The name says that its sort of an ancillary that I may get.

Primary Theme: Teacher customization and flexibility


A third primary theme was how Studies Weekly could be customized to meet the needs of the teachers. Participants mentioned teachers wanting to be able choose the material they used and possibly being able to adopt only certain portions of the SW program. They felt that SW could modify its approach in order to provide a wide selection of flexible, customizable curriculum content. Key Quotes Person #3: One of the things we wanted to do but couldnt, which probably would be easier for you was to buy (or select a-la-carte) so the teacher would be able to say, these are the modules or topics for the civil war (or whatever) and the teacher could look through them and maybe the district buys the rights for every teacher to have this many modules during the course of their year or whatever it is. Person #4: I give you the page, I give you this site and you go to it. Here are the things to read, here are the videos that I uploaded for you to watch, its all customized, I have also added some YouTube videos that I found and some things that I can talk to you on this and you can talk back to me on this. You can talk to each other on this, I put the pieces there and this is. That would be what I would do, that would be what I would want to build, so it wouldnt feel like a textbook, or a newspaper, it would feel like a social network site. Or like BBC.com or something, or if I want to read this article I do, or if I want to click on this I do, or if I want to respond to this article down below, I can. Thats what it would feel like and look like and they all look like... Person #4: If I could do anything to a textbook for my classroom, I would want to be able to go to some sort of dashboard somewhere and say these are chunks of text and these are related videos or related audio clips or related interactive maps or related whatever.... And you could potentially argue the same thing in financial literacy, that theres a big interest in that type of a delivery in more chunks of consumable or viewed as more consumable material. Person #4: Looking at it from a teachers perspective, I dont want to feel like my curriculum is in someone elses control every year. For example, Im teaching the civil war and this year this is what someone chose to highlight and I have these great activities and things that I am going to

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use. The next year it comes, and its still the civil war but its different because you could hire a paraprofessional to come in and teach the magazine each year. Does that make sense? I havent seen a teachers book but I want my curriculum to have a little bit of consistency so I can develop some other things. Elementary teachers love to have themes and activities. Person #4: So if I feel like the curriculum is going to change next year when that weekly reader comes back Im going to be disinclined to want it. I would want to be reassured that these things are going to be hit every year. It might look a little different or come in a different order but this stuff is whats constant and this is what you can tailor to your class and to your needs and this is what we will guarantee youre going to have every year. These topics and standards are going to be covered every year. I would be personally concerned about that. Ryan: So youre looking for that consistency? Person #4: I would be so I could tailor it to my class. If you subscribe to Up front or any of these other ones that secondary teachers love, theyre very current event like. Its something that when the lesson is over you say, Lets read this or This is really cool, lets do this activity. I just think thats how the teachers would look at Studies Weekly. Secondary Theme: Interactive workbooks Along with talking about customization, some participants suggested that Studies Weekly would be more adoptable in a workbook format instead of the current newspaper format. Key Quotes: Person #3: I saw the lesson plans and teachers are used to those lesson plans and I asked, could you put the weekly into a workbook type format? because teachers are used to tearing out pages of say a math, you know, Heres the sheet that I want you to do, its just torn out of the book. So we do consume some of those things that they do, so that isnt going to be too foreign to them . . . Its got supplemental written all over it. And I thought that might be one of the things you might look it is could you actually make that into a workbook that could be removed as you teach that lesson. Person #3: [I thought, if you could] make that into a workbook type form then that might be more intriguing to the teacher than magazines A transcript the focus group can be seen in the appendix.

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User Group Event Plan Introduction


The following section of the research report suggests a plan for a future user group event. It provides suggestions and research necessary to conduct a successful user group event. This is a preliminary plan. The user group event plan will help Studies Weekly implement a successful event in the near future. Caterers, menus, venues, speakers, gifts and other minute details have been outlined in this portion of the research paper.

User Group Event Plan


Goal/Objective To establish valuable relationships with customers of the Studies Weekly brand through a sponsored event, which will in increase the number of returning users and create awareness for the product. Suggested Speakers: Clayton Christensen: Recently published a book Disrupting Class about innovation in education, with a particular emphasis on changing the current educational paradigm and more effectively taking advantage of technology and other non-traditional teaching methods. Larry Cuban: A former HS teacher, district superintendent, and college professor. Has researched and written extensively on classroom practices and most recently on technology in the classroom. He still publishes and maintains a blog (larrycuban.wordpress.com). Rebecca Mieliwocki: The 2012 National Teacher of the Year. A 7th grade English teacher from Burbank, California. Ken Robinson: An English educationalist who has researched, written, and published extensively on education. His main topics include changing the educational paradigm and teaching creativity. Sugata Mitra: Educational researcher and Author of the Hole in the Wall education experiment. Won the 2013 TED Prize. Rafe Esquith: Elementary teacher, author, and winner of many teaching awards and wrote Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire. Michelle Rhee: Former Chancellor of Washington D.C. public school system. Founder and CEO of StudentsFirst. Focuses on educator responsibilities and potential. Recently appeared on the Daily Show to publicize her new book, Radical: Fighting to Put Students First? Wendy Kopp: Founder of Teach for America. Author of two books. Arne Duncan: U.S. Secretary of Education. Former CEO of Chicago Public Schools Venues and Cities to Start Park City Venue Options: Park City Marriott 1895 Sidewinder Dr Park City (435) 649-2900 Price: (Pending) Waldorf Astoria Park City: 2100 Frostwood Dr Park City (435) 647-5500 Price: (Pending) Salt Lake City Venue Options The Grand America Hotel 555 S Main St. Salt Lake City, UT (801) 258-6000 Price: (Pending) The Salt Lake City Library 210 East 400 South Salt Lake City UT 84111 (801) 524-8200 Price: (Approximately $2,000$3,000) The Millcreek Inn 5802 E Millcreek Canyon Rd Salt Lake City (801) 278-7927 Price: (Pending) Salt Lake City Marriott City Center 220 S State St Salt Lake City (801) 961-8700 Price: (Pending)

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Provo/Orem Venue Options: The Marriott Center/ Conference Center in Provo 101 West 100 North Provo, Utah Utah Valley Convention Center 220 W Center St. #200 Provo, UT (801) 851-2200 Price: (Pending) Brigham Young University The Wilkinson Student Center JFSB, Tanner Building If we have permission from the school, this venue may cost little to nothing for Studies Weekly. Invitation Templates We had talked about sending out some sort of save the date as the initial invitation to the event. This design is simple, ties to the theme of Studies Weekly, and the logo could be easily added to it.

The other invitations will depend on all the other details of the event. The first invitation should include all the details of the event as well as an RSVP function. This could be done online or by a send-in card. The second and third invitations should use the same theme as the save the date and main

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invitations, but with slight variances. They do not need to include every detail, just basic reminders of when and where etc... The last invitation could also include parking instructions etc. Depending on how many reminders you plan to send out, you could mail them or send electronic versions. Timeline of Execution As soon as the event is set in stone (i.e., venue booked and employees notified...) the save the date cards should go out. Hopefully, this can be early enough that there are a few months until the event. Typical is between 2-4 months (or more, if the event requires attendees to travel from out of state.) This allows the guest to get it on their calendar without the main details. The first invitation should be sent out around 1 -2 months before and then weekly/ semi-weekly reminder invitations after that. There should also be an email the day before the event reminding the attendee to be there and expressing how excited so and so is that they are coming. Menu The menu depends on how formal or informal Studies Weekly decides to make the venue or event. We can do catering from a variety of restaurants, or we can do a package deal with the venue Studies Weekly goes with. Depending on the situation, either may show to be the cheapest option. Potential Catering Sources Informal: - J-Dawgs - On-Site Grilling - Drop-Off - Zupas - Deliver and setup option - Soups, salads, sandwiches, desserts - Jimmy Johns - Online order - Deliver and setup option - Party subs, lunch boxes, pickle bucket, soft drinks, gourmet chips, gourmet cookies *All pricing is based on amount of people, transportation and other factors that will have to be assessed once a final decision is made. Potential Catering Sources Formal: - Heirloom Catering - Can create menu with event coordinator or choose from their plethora of options - Culinary Crafts - The pricing will be higher on this caterer - Utah Food Services - Corporate catering and private parties

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Pre-Post Event Meetings and Planning Pre: 4-6 months before Ducks in a Row meeting: Begin by brainstorming ideas. Then assigni specific individuals to carry out plans by contacting venue, caterer, speaker, decorator, etc. Plan to meet back in 1 week to report progress. Keep a written record of all tasks assigned for accountability purposes. 1 month before Detail Orientation: Have people check up on venue reservations, caterer, decorator, speaker, etc. Invitationswho will be in charge? Start soliciting those now. 2 weeks before: In-voice schedule: How/when will everyone be paid? Are there any complications to the plan we should be aware of? Start reminders for those who have RSVPd. Continue sending reminders from this point forward in a tactical timeline. 1-2 days before Run of show: meeting where all the details are hammered out for the day of. Leave nothing to chance or guesswork. Day of: Quick last minute meeting to make sure everything will go smoothly. Who will be where when? Post: Evaluate event and plan for the future. Giveaways Giveaways will be made on a graduated scale. Could range from entry-raffles to incentive completion programs. Branded basic school supplies (pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks). Branded tote bags with complementary edition of StudiesWeekly, pencils, etc inside. Weekend trip to historical site covered in Studies Weekly Pricing subject to quantity. Gifts for Speakers: Bottle of Wine Gift Certificate for Starbucks Glass Apple with Company Logo on it Two Night Ski Passes to a local Ski resort Two Sporting Event Tickets (BYU, Utah, RSL, Jazz)

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Cost Estimates Speaker- $500-$2000 dollars depending on how recognizable the speaker is. Price could be higher. Thank You Gift- $25-$50 Various Amenities if speaker isnt local (Hotel, Rental Car, Speakers Meals, etc.) -$800-$1000. Location $500-$2000 (Additional Costs for Catering) Catering from an offsite Company- $15-$30 per person. Price varies depending on the quality of food and the amount of service provided by catering company. Giveaways will cost $500-$1000 depending on the items and how many items are being given away.

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Quantitative Analysis Introduction


The following section of the research report analyzes the survey and the responses gathered from the survey. This section will provide analyses on the data gathered.

Survey Research and Analysis


Survey Design and Construction The survey questions were originally designed by Studies Weekly. Ed said that he wanted to know how people are using Studies Weekly products and what their perceptions are of them. Eds employees compiled a rough draft of questions, which were given to the class. The questions were then broken down into three groups: Print Users, Online Users and Demographics. Being that there were sixty questions or so, the first priority was to establish which questions were necessary and which were less important to limit the total number of questions down to 30 or so. This was done to shorten the survey and limit the possibility of survey fatigue, presumably allowing more data to be collected. Filter questions were devised to arrange customers into groups based on how they use Studies Weekly products: Print only, online only, mostly print and some online, print and online equally or mostly online and some print. [NOTE: It was discovered after the survey was launched that there is not actually an option to subscribe to eStudies Weekly only. Users must have a print subscription in order to access the online features. Technically it is impossible to be online only but yet there was a small number of respondents who categorized themselves as such an interesting find.] Once the questions had been revised they were submitted to Professor Watson and Lincoln Hubbard for review. There were a few problems that needed fixed including some loaded questions, some biased ones and a few questions that were confusing or hard to understand. Upon a second revision of the questions the survey was built using a Qualtrics account. The initial question broke respondents into the five groups previously mentioned above and all respondents ended the survey answering a set of demographic questions. Once the survey was built, it was previewed by the creator and a dozen or so other students to test survey flow, find typos, highlight useless or confusing questions, test free response and ratings features, and ensure general workability of the survey. Some flaws were found such as in the way respondents were asked to answer specific questions, and the response type was changed to a more appropriate and accommodating type for that question. One negative aspect of this survey that remained was that if a respondent labeled themselves as using both forms of Studies Weekly, they could have to answer up to 35 questions which makes for a long survey. Many of the questions Eds team wanted answered were very technical, about specific features of the print and online formats. Nonetheless, it was felt that these specific feature type questions would give a broad understanding of what users think about the products they use. While a random sample survey would have been more effective as to generalize the results to a broader population of subscribers, this survey was carried out as a pure convenience survey. While the data cannot be statistically generalized, it will provide good general insight into current usage of Studies Weekly products by roughly 9 percent of subscribers, and offer effective starting points for future surveys and data collection. Page | 34

Because Studies Weekly subscribers are scattered throughout the whole United States, the most effective and efficient way to distribute this survey was via the internet. Sample Size Again, this survey was a convenience survey, given to virtually all of Studies Weeklys subscribers with the intent to get as many responses as possible. Two lists of around 10,400 total Studies Weekly subscribers were provided by Ed and the survey was sent directly to these individuals email accounts from the Qualtrics website. A link was given to each recipient to follow and take the survey over a secure network, keeping their identity and information confidential. Each individual who took the survey was labeled with a distinct code from Qualtrics to ensure that each individual could only take the survey once and prevent ballot box stuffing. Around 200 of the subscribers on the lists did not have email addresses and could not be given the survey. Another 200 or so had inactive email accounts and the survey could not be sent to them either. These two errors resulted in about 10,000 email accounts actually getting the survey. However, though there were around 10,000 accounts that got the survey, around 100 or more sent back automatic replies saying that particular school was on spring break an unthought-of topic in the timing of distribution. The survey was first launched on Monday, March 25 at 9:30 a.m. MST to try and get as many respondents as possible on the first day -- this being between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. nationally, a time when most professionals would normally be checking emails. A reminder email was sent out to all survey recipients who had not yet taken the survey on Thursday, March 28 and Monday, April 1, both at around the same time the initial email was sent. These email reminders proved to be very effective in gaining responses, as the large majority of the responses came in immediately after the emails were sent out. As to not skew or alter the results while the data was being compiled, the survey was closed at 9:30 p.m. Monday, April 1. A total of 926 surveys were completed, accounting for 9 percent of the surveys distributed. Demographics Of the 926 surveys completed by users of Studies Weekly products, 50 percent are in their first year of subscription. How long have you been a subscriber of Studies Weekly products?

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Forty-five percent of respondents teach 4th grade, 30 percent 5th grade and 22 percent 3rd grade. The state with the highest number of respondents was Florida (17 percent) followed by Texas with 10 percent. The most common age range of respondents was between 41 and 50 (32 percent), followed by 51-60. Forty percent of respondents have been teaching between six and fifteen years. Only 18 percent of respondents are National Board certified. Which grade(s) do you teach? Check all that apply.

Results Categories: The first question of the survey asks respondents to indicate to what extent they use Studies Weekly products based on the following categories: Print publication only, online publication only, mostly the print publication and some online features, the print and online features equally or mostly the online features and some of the print publication. Most respondents (57 percent) said they are print only users, followed by mostly print and some online (23 percent).

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The most interesting find of this question is that 27 respondents said they use the online material only, even though in order to have access to the online material, customers must subscribe to the print version. Major findings from the main two categories, print and online, will be addressed respectively. Print Demographics Technically all subscribers use the print publications by necessity but a breakdown of those who identify themselves as print users only shows that about 46 percent are in their first year of subscription, 56 percent teach 4th and/or 5th grade, and have been teaching for an average of 14 years (29 percent for 21+ years though). See the following two charts. How long have you been a subscriber of Studies Weekly products?

Which grade(s) do you teach? Check all that apply.

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Print Usage Print users were asked which Studies Weekly Publication they use between social studies, math and science. An astounding 91 percent said they use social studies, 26 percent use science and only 2 percent of the 899 print users said they use math. Clearly, social studies is the money winner and math is missing the boat. Comparing this information to a crosstab of demographics, it is seen that the biggest users of the social studies publication are 2nd and 4th grade teachers and the smallest users are 6th grade teachers. Math is used mostly by kindergarten teachers (15 percent) and least by 4th graders (.2 percent). Science is used mostly by kindergarteners as well (43 percent) and least by 4th graders (20 percent). Being that only 2 percent of all print users use math this could mean that either the quality of the math publication is not high enough quality and perhaps there are other programs by competitors that are being used instead, or it could mean that math is not a topic in which teachers want anything other than a standard text book for. Further research is needed for these conclusions.

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It was interesting that the split between which subscribers use Studies Weekly as their acting textbook or supplemental material was almost dead even, 51 percent textbook and 49 percent supplemental. Does Studies Weekly act as your classroom textbook or supplemental material?

Though 51 percent of print users say Studies Weekly is their acting textbook, this gives interesting findings comparing it to the question Consider the material your curriculum requires you to teach. Approximately how much of that material does Studies Weekly help you teach? (0 to 100 %). As the chart below shows, all of the publications received rather low scores with social studies (the most used print publication) being the highest at an average score of 66.33, meaning on average teachers use the Studies Weekly social studies for three-fifths of their teaching. It seems like these numbers should be higher if Studies Weekly is the acting textbook for these subjects. If subscribers are only using their acting textbook this much, what else are they using to instruct students? Consider the material your curriculum requires you to teach. Approximately how much of that material does Studies Weekly help you teach? (0 to 100 %)

However, the question Does Studies Weekly act as your main text or supplemental material was asked again (to the same people as above) in a different way, with more specific types of usage, and the results were much different. In the chart below it is seen that only 38 percent of respondents said Studies Weekly is their primary/only text material and only 36 percent said that Studies Weekly is supplemental to other material. Perhaps this indicates that with more technology and alternative teaching methods available in schools, maybe a large percentage of teachers prefer not to have only one textbook as is traditional, but rather teach from an array of materials.

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How do you use Studies Weekly in relation to other teaching materials?

Comparing both of these questions in a crosstab to which publications customers use, it is seen that, once again, social studies beats out the other two publications in the number of people who use it as their acting/primary text material.

As far as how often respondents use Studies Weekly, 72 percent use it between once a week and daily. The highest frequency of use is two-three times per week. How often do you use Studies Weekly in your classroom?

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While 72 percent of customers use Studies Weekly between once a week and daily in their classroom teaching, only 52 percent ask their students to take Studies Weekly materials home in that same time frequency. Being that 20 percent of respondents never require students to take their materials home with them, a good follow up question for a future survey would be Why or why not? How often do you ask your students to take their Studies Weekly materials home?

It would seem as though, considering 52 percent of print users require their students to take their Studies Weekly materials home with them at least once a week, a nice and simple way for this to happen would be to use the online features and activities. However, the final question that print only (57 percent of all respondents) users were asked was Are you aware of the content available on the eStudies Weekly website? Nearly half of these respondents (46 percent) said yes. Those who answered yes were asked to explain why they do not use the eStudies website. Please indicate the reasons you do not use the eStudiesWeekly website.

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As the chart shows, 38 percent said they prefer printed material over online material -- an opinion not easily changed. But, the second largest reason, with 35 percent of these respondents, was that of the other category. There were two common themes among the 81 explanations: The website was not user friendly. Very confusing and not user friendly. I found the info once and then couldnt figure out how to use it after that.

Time issues. I simply havent taken the time to become familiar with it. Havent had the time to explore with all of the curriculum and state demands. I really havent had the time to explore the online material but I do like my students to have the hard copy to highlight key information. The registration process and setting up user accounts for my students was too time consuming. We need a quicker way for students to get on and take a test easily or take a quiz as a whole group....more like www.brainpopjr.com. This would give your rich content more exposure to the students.

Technical issues with the website will be discussed later. Mixing the above two issues (the site not being user friendly and not having time to figure it out) causing people to not use the website could mean either a better help section needs to be added or video tutorials should be made to accompany the website (how to register, the different features, etc.). Print Perceptions Now that the usage of Studies Weekly print publications has been addressed, a look into how customers perceive the products will be addressed. In regards to the basic elements of illustrations, activities, content and convenience for the print publications, customers seems pretty satisfied. As the chart below indicates, the highest ranked feature is the convenience of Studies Weekly. A convenient way to teach high-quality content is definitely a strong selling point.

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Please rank the Studies Weekly elements listed below from 1 to 5 (1- needs improvement, 2- satisfactory, 3- average, 4- good, 5- exceptional) on their performance.

Activities received the lowest average score. Comparing this with the free response question for additional comments, one user said Stories help it come to life for students; crosswords each week [are] repetitive. Perhaps a wider variety of, or more in-depth activities would get this element a higher score. Respondents were asked how likely they are to recommend Studies Weekly to other teachers and the results were very favorable, as the chart below indicates. How likely are you to recommend Studies Weekly to other teachers?

With such a high number of people saying they are at least likely to recommend the product to other teachers (74 percent of 899 respondents) perhaps it would be worth the time to research how cost-effective a referral/reward program would be to help market Studies Weekly.

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Analyzing responses in the additional comments question, there are several common themes that customers like very much about Studies Weekly products: Content is very good. Our third grade teachers love and depend on Studies Weekly to enhance the education of our students. It puts the information in their hands and also allows parents to review learning material. Its an excellent tool for homeschooling. As a first year homeschooling Mom, Studies Weekly has been an absolute lifesaver for teaching my daughter 4th grade Science. She loves the newspapers and the curriculum is not only teaching what she needs but is fun too! I enjoy the layout, the extra activities, the quizzes and all of the extras like the review questions and additional places to go for information. It gives us plenty to do in each week. People like that it goes along with common core. They are invaluable. They completed cover all fourth grade TEKS. Our students are so excited to read and learn from the papers. The writing is kid-friendly, on grade-level, and well done. On the other hand, there are some things that customers do not like about the print publications: They want new, more challenging and a larger variety of activities for each week. The crossword puzzles are not beneficial in this day and age. The students need to be doing charts and graphs; filling in graphic organizers; responding to open-ended questions; incorporating math into social studies; working with timelines; and doing a variety of these kinds of activities with each newspaper. The activity page is where we get our daily grades. The tests need to be the kind of questions that make the student go back in the text and search for the answers. I have to create additional worksheets to accompany the text. The common core requires students to seek out evidence from the text to support their answers. I would LOVE it if your product came with open ended questions that were rigorous. Also, vocabulary exercises would be great!! They hate the way the material is packaged, its a pain and a hassle to separate the issues. (Some respondents suggested they want all of the issues in one shipment to have more control over when they teach certain things. This clearly could become an issue of storage space in a classroom.) We HATE the way the materials are packaged. They are a pain and time consuming to separate. Nine consecutive weeks in one bundle is very inconvenient. Please put all of Week 1

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together, all of Week 2, etc. It would be nice if the activities were more academic. They are often just fun, time fillers, and if we want to do something meaningful, we have to develop something on our own. Scholastic Weekly Reader does a really good job of designing lessons and tasks/assignments that go with their texts. Maybe you guys could look at them and add some meat to the lessons. Thanks for listening to our input. Information not always age appropriate (this could be the case with mat hand science since they are rarely used). Very odd information not appropriate for kindergarten, well order scholastic next year.

Online Demographics The demographics of those who say they use the online features vary across the board. One would assume that it would be the youngest and newest teachers who are more apt to use the online features, but the following two charts show that this is not necessarily the case and the age and length of years teaching is a relatively nonsymmetrical curve. Please select your age.

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How many years have you been teaching?

Putting the two above charts together it can be seen that the largest users of online only are the teachers who range in age from 41-50 and have been teaching for 21 or more years. Online Usage Online users were asked how often they use eStudies Weekly in class. Of 403 users, 33 percent of them said they use it two to three times a week and only 16 percent said they use it daily, as the chart below indicates. How often do you use eStudies Weekly in your classroom?

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However, only 24 percent said they visit the eStudies website two to three times a week and only 5 percent daily. This seems strange in that they need to visit the site in order to use the online material. How often do you visit the eStudies Weekly website?

How often teachers use eStudies in their classroom instruction could hinge on whether or not teachers typically use technology in their teaching. This question of how often teachers use technology was asked of both print users and online users. Of the print users, 57 percent said that they use technology daily and 20 percent said they use it two to three times a week. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, of online users, 70 percent said they use technology daily and 16 percent two to three times a week. It stands to reason that the more a teacher uses technology on a regular basis, the more likely they are to use the online features in their teaching.

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Looking at the crosstab of age versus the use of technology in teaching, the results measure up that the biggest users of technology in teaching are teachers between the ages of 41 and 50. These results match the age and length of years teaching as those who labeled themselves as online only users. Thus, it is shown once again that the older generation of teachers are either more capable or more willing to use technology of any kind in their classrooms. Just like print users were asked about their students home use of the print publications, online users were asked how often they ask their students to use the website at home. Forty-seven percent of online users said they ask their students to use it at home with parents at least once a week. This is lower than the number of teachers who ask their students to use the print publications at home at 52 percent. This could be, however, due to the lack of computer and internet access outside of school for many students. Online users were asked how their students most often access eStudies Weekly. Of all online users, only 44 percent said their students access the website via at-home computers. The majority of access to the website is done through school computer use. This could indicate that the lack of at-home computer and Internet access could be a barrier to more online users. Online users were asked about how their students use the many features on the website. For teachers who require their students to use the website at home the testing feature was the most used followed by the audio reader. The testing feature falls under the convenience selling point. For teachers who only encourage students to use the website at home the audio reader was the most used feature followed by the highlighted text. For both sets of teachers, the email feature was by far the least used out of them all. The final usage situation online users were asked about was which teaching situations did eStudies Weekly help them in. As the chart below indicates, fitting science and social studies into the literacy block is the most common situation that eStudies is most helpful in teaching. Just like social studies is the big seller for print publications, it is seen that the website is most helpful for aiding in teaching social studies. It should be noted again that the top three helpful situations all easily fall into the convenience selling point. Did using eStudiesWeekly help you with the following situations? Check all that apply:

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Online Perceptions Online users were asked a series of questions to gauge how they view the online experience. First they were asked about how helpful they think the many features are. As the below chart indicates, the audio reader and testing features were ranked the highest, with average helpfulness scores of 4.02 and 3.76 respectively. Once again, the email feature was ranked as the least helpful feature. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being extremely unhelpful, and 5 being extremely helpful) how helpful are the following eStudiesWeekly features in teaching material to your students? Select Dont Use if you do not use that feature.

Next, users were asked how likely they are to recommend eStudies Weekly to other teachers. Looking at the graph below it is seen that the very likely and likely options are the highest. However, the percentage of favorable options (somewhat likely to very likely) are a touch lower than the print users and the negative options (somewhat unlikely to very unlikely) are a touch higher. How likely are you to recommend eStudies Weekly to other teachers?

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As with print, online users were asked to give additional comments about eStudies Weekly and there were both positive and negative themes. The positive: Many teachers love the audio reader and really enjoy the different accents. My class enjoys listening to the readings online. The characters easily draw their attention and they would rather listen/follow along than read themselves. The negtives: Technology issues, such as slow loading speeds and login errors. We have had a lot of difficulty accessing the site. All of us (5 classes) have students who cant get logged on . . . Some students can only log on from a teachers computer at the teachers desk. The concern is that the eStudies website wasnt ready for the load we have. Website rarely works. The testing feature. Overall, teachers want more control over the questions and ordering and how many times the test could be taken. They want to be able to print out the tests, and want to ensure all the test questions have answers in the material. Teachers also suggested making the tests available over the audio reader. (Though this was one of the highest rated features, it apparently could be rated even more helpful if it had some work done.) It would be VERY HELPFUL to have the tests read to the students. My kindergarten students and some of my first graders cannot read the tests on their own. I wish the students were not allowed to take the tests more than one time. Or, could it be a settings option for teachers to say how many times students can go in and take the tests online? The only reason I rated Tests as a 1 is because they are not always available. I had my students take them on the computer to save paper, and now they dont even have all of the tests available! Key Points from the Survey Social studies is the money maker for both the print and online publications. Math is virtually unused. The love group has shown that convenient quality is the value that customers get from Studies Weekly products. The audio feature and testing feature are solid gold for the online publication. The website needs its technical issues cleaned up and made more user friendly.

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Additional Comments from eStudies Weekly users


One question on the survey asked for any additional comments from eStudies Weekly users. Approximately 58% of respondents answered in this question. The responses to this question were evaluated and divided into four different categories: Positive, Negative, Suggestions, and Neutral. The suggestions category consisted of comments in which a respondent mentioned how they would like the product to change, or features they wish the product had. Most of these comments did not have a particularly strong negative sentiment; comments were counted as negative even if they contained suggestions if it appeared that the main point of the comments was a complaint. The neutral category consisted of answers such as no comment or teachers who indicated they do not use Studies Weekly products. The following is a breakdown of the percentages of responses fitting into each category, as well as a summary of the primary responses by category. Positive: 36% Negative: 15% Suggestions: 24% Neutral: 25% Positive Many of the positive comments were simply compliments, and did not provide any significant data (e.g. great product). The most common positive comments were about the audio reader. Many respondents said that their students really enjoyed this feature or that it was helpful for their slow readers. Generally, respondents also indicated that students were able to engage well with the fun presentation. Key quotes We love the read aloud feature of eStudiesWeekly! It keeps our students engaged in the reading, and they think it's a lot of fun! My class enjoys listening to the readings online. The characters easily draw their attention and they would rather listen/follow along than read themselves! Two concerns also arose from the positive comments. Approximately 25% used words such as publication, newspaper, magazine, or crossword puzzle, indicating that their comments may not have been in reference to the online features and material. This was taken into account when summarizing the data. Additionally, a small number (approx. 5%) of respondents complimented the product, but specifically referred to it as being supplemental. Negative Many of the negative comments didnt have to do with the product as much as the delivery of the product, especially regarding the technology. Teachers mentioned slow loading speeds, login errors, and a non-user-friendly interface. Respondents also commented negatively about the

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differences between the print and online version saying they wish the online version had the same features and material as the print version. Teachers also thought the difference in difficulty level was far too dramatic between 2nd and 3rd grade. Teachers also expressed complaints about the audio reader print being too small or the words not highlighting, as well as not being able to control the audio reader feature (e.g. click and start anywhere). Key Quotes "We have had a lot of difficulty accessing the site. All of us (5 classes) have students who can't get logged on . . . Some students can only log on from a teacher's computer at the teacher's desk. The concern is that the eStudies website wasn't ready for the load we have." "The text is way too high for my 3rd grade students. It doesn't make sense that the 2nd grade text and tests are so much easier" Suggestions Many of the suggestions had to do with having more control over the features. Primarily, respondents wanted to be able to control the audio readerincluding the pace of the reading as well as starting and stopping wherever they want. Teachers also wanted greater control over the tests, including the ability to control the questions, adjust the order of the questions, play the tests over the audio reader, allow students to take it only once, and print off the tests. Teachers also asked for more "suggested activities" in both the print an online materials. Finally, some teachers suggested repackaging the material so that it comes in bundles of lessons, rather than bundles of weeks-teachers did not like having to separate each lesson from a week's worth of material. They also requested that materials get shipped earlier or all at once to allow teachers more control over what material they teach at what time in the year. Along with these primary suggestions, here is a list of additional suggestions: Provide more primary source material, especially for lower grades Provide more videos and interactive material Make all the material available in multiple languages such as Spanish Incorporate the same features and material in both print and online products Make the website tablet-friendly

Key Quotes "It would be VERY HELPFUL to have the tests read to the students. My K students and some of my first graders cannot read the tests on their own." "[I] would like to see more reflective questions based on text provided." "I wish there were more activities/worksheets for each week's newspaper. Also, I wish the tests were printable."

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Social Media Analytics Introduction


The following section of the research report analyzes the social media usage of Studies Weekly. The research team used a software program called NUVI, which analyzed various social media activity.

Social Media Analysis

The following report will analyze Studies Weeklys social media presence. We will assess where your brand is mentioned, what is being said, trending topics and commentary. We will conclude the social media analysis with a comparative analysis of competitors in the education material market.

Mentions and Sentiment


According to the NUVI report, Studies Weekly was mentioned 14 times between March 18th and April 1st. Conversation about Studies Weekly peaked on March 27th at 8 a.m. There were two mentions of Studies Weekly at this time. Your brand was mentioned most in Texas. The data demonstrates a trend towards seven mentions shared on a weekly basis. The conversations about Studies Weekly used key words such as studies, weekly, books, etc.

Mentions and conversation about Studies Weekly is occurring on Twitter and Facebook. The following graph demonstrates how Studies Weekly has trended on Facebook. People were talking about Studies Weekly at the beginning of March, but mentions and shares declined at the end of March. There are 48 people talking about Studies Weekly on Facebook and 1,060 people who like the official page.

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YouTube has shown one mention about Studies Weekly. The following graph represents where we are seeing conversation about your brand.

Sentiment was another variable measured in the social media data. There is a positive tone and attitude towards Studies Weekly. There were few instances of people saying negative comments about Studies Weekly. April 3 showed people sharing positive sentiment towards Studies Weekly.

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The following graph demonstrates what keywords are used in tandem with the Studies Weekly brand. From this data we can devise how to effectively implement Studies Weekly in a natural conversation on social media sties. If people are talking about education in terms of tax breaks or government regulation, Studies Weekly can join in on the conversation and demonstrate how the business is involved with these issues.

The data shows a large amount of conversation happening concerning government policy. If Studies Weekly can form organic conversations with people concerned about these issues and within the Studies Weekly demographic, the company may potentially see a significant increase in mentions or conversations occurring online.

Reach
While there are few mentions and a small social media presence, there is ample opportunity to reach a large audience. There is conversation about educational materials on social media. According to NUVI, a social media analytics site, Studies Weekly has the reach capability of 15,143 people. That is significant and has the opportunity to build valuable relationships that may prove to increase awareness leading to increased revenue for Studies Weekly.

Comparative Analysis
When comparing Studies Weekly to their largest competitor, Scholastic, we found that Scholastic at 266,409 has a much larger reach. However with this larger reach, there is more room for negative sentiment. We found that Scholastic has negative sentiment at 16 percent, with only 49 percent positive sentiment. In this period, there have been 200 mentions in addition to 112 shared mentions. The majority of mentions occur during the noon to 3:00 pm timeline.

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For comparative purposes, Scholastic proves that the education market can have a strong social media presence. We can see through Scholastics data that people are talking about this brand.

Recommendations
From the social media data, the research team recommends that Studies Weekly focus on the key words and trending topics on the Internet, find the common thread in those conversations and become a part of those conversations. People want natural conversation and if Studies Weekly can provide organic mentions of the Studies Weekly brand in these conversations, there may be an increase in the businesses social media presence. Also, the team believes focusing efforts on Facebook and Twitter may provide the greatest instance of positive results. Since the Studies Weekly brand has a strong sentiment and positive mentions, social media may improve brand awareness, making Studies Weekly a bigger household name.

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Appendix

Focus Group Transcription


Key Makell- Person #1 Cammi- Person #2 Jim- Person #3 Chris- Person #4 Nedra- Person #5 The focus group starts at 13 minutes and ends at 1 hour 17 minutes. 1 hour 4 minutes total of time (64 minutes). START 13:00-17:30 Ryan- We would like to hear what your impression is about Studies Weekly and about their competition with textbooks. Person # 1- As he was giving the two of us a tour downstairs, I remember seeing the Studies Weekly material two of three times through my career and the quality of the materials is great. I do appreciate the perspective but if you are really trying to look at ways to introduce it as a primary source of material I think you reverse the market strategy. Its an electronic textbook with supplemental reading. Person #2- Thats what I was thinking. Person #5- Thats exactly it. Person #3- First thing I thought. Person #1- Because there is a big push and need economically to have text available electronically. You have materials that have been approved and used as the core material and you can think a little more broad about what audience you want to target with which tool and why. I think some of the obstacles that you run into when you go through the front door with a sample is that the sample looks like disposable material. Thats by design right? Because the intent is to use learn, use it, get rid of it, and move on. But the push, as you move forward with new core standards and new assessments, across the country, the intent going to be to have access to formative assessments that are already built into the materials, thinking about how intern assessments relate to that and then whats a summative at the end. So there are put together different ways but if you were to think about it as a electronic text, rather than a text-in-pieces thats delivered overtime in bite size chunks, you might have a different way to deliver that or approach that. So I was just thinking for our population, most people dont recognize the Salt Lake City School District has been a majority minority district for a long time. Over a 100 different languages spoken, over 37 percent are limited English proficient.

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Ryan: And you speak 50 of the 100 right? Person #1- Yeah, I wish. (Laughter) Person #1- And so you could potentially rethink and developmental costs are probably outrageous but if youre actually trying to help a learner, you have an online text thats now supplemented with the reading so you build reading proficiency, you have an online text that is supplemented in Spanish, so they you get both what the teacher delivered in what maybe is your native language. There are lots of different ways to think about that. But I do believe that people falsely assume that its consumable material that is an extra. Then in Utah you have the economic dilemma where you can probably get over the hurtle of you actually did a deeper cost analysis so you know how much a textbook costs and you compare the textbook costs to the subscription and it looks like it is a net savings but youre going to keep that text book for how long and how does that compare economically. Are you trying to sell that it is more current? Well that works in science but not s much in social studies because much of the content is more constant. Ryan: Cammi? 17:30- 21:10 Person # 2: So I dont know if this is something that you have the answer to, just as Im thinking, do you know if like the kindergarten or first grade texts are written at an average first grade reading level? Because if they are, then I would look at is as we are, now with, you know, looking at more non-fiction texts for the kids to be using and reading themselves, either the teacher reading to them in guided, shared reading or the kids reading to themselves in guidance reading and learning about the text features and structures, that would be a great way to bring this in. Thats how we are getting a lot of our non-fiction, or not a lot, some current non-fiction in lower grades, is through the scholastic news, the other companies, the weekly reader things that are coming in to get some really good non-fiction reading in. So, for me as an administrator, I would bring that back to the teachers and I would let them know, this is a great text to be using in your classroom during reading time to teach the science or social studies core. I do like the online piece as well, that I didnt realize that that was available, just so that you could do as a whole class reading of something, and I think that with the upper grades, letting the teachers know about the test options and the reports that you can run from those, thats very valuable information. And then, just some of the other things Makell said about the costs compared to textbooks and keeping things updated. Ryan: Perfect, thank you Cammi, Jim? Person # 3: You know, as I was watching that the thing that probably came up to me the most was, this has a variety of resources. So, as we start looking with the child, we are always looking for, how do we help that child that struggles, how do we help the gifted and talented child? All of the sudden, they can delve into the e-program that we saw, I all the sudden saw a number of ways of, for lack of a better term, centers that kids could be engaged in to do, you know, different activities

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that not everyone has to do it. I like the fact that the reader actually highlighted the words, so the child could actually track the reading as they go. And I think that was important to me. So I looked at it more as a resource-based, that sort of thing. Downstairs I talked to him about the idea of could you make that into a, I saw the teachers edition, I went wow that, that was much more impressive to me than the newspaper so to speak, because I saw the lesson plans and teachers are used to those lesson plans and I asked, could you put the weekly into a workbook type format? because teachers are used to tearing out pages of say a math, you know heres the sheet that I want you to do, its just torn out of the book. So we do consume some of those things that they do, so that isnt going to be too foreign to them, I think just the whole idea of overcoming that thing might be, you know, like he told us downstairs, the first thing you look at is supplemental. Its got supplemental written all over it. And I thought that might be one of the things you might look it is could you actually make that into a workbook that could be removed as you teach that lesson. 21:10 Ryan: So youre saying the same format instead of a newspaper, it would be a workbook though. Same size but just turned sideways and in more of a book format. When you say that I think of old math notebooks that you tear them out. I remember doing that as a kid. That was probably 40 years ago when I was a kid. I see what youre saying. Person #4 go ahead. Person #4: My first thought is the same thing. When I see something that you get every week, its supplemental. There are a dozen that are out there that look just like that. They come but you also have your textbook. Its like an extra thing. So I agree, I would market it as a subscription to online textbook that if you want you can also purchase the classroom set or however you want to do that. Looking at it from a teachers perspective, I dont want to feel like my curriculum is in someone elses control every year. For example, Im teaching the civil war and this year this is what someone chose to highlight and I have these great activities and things that I am going to use. The next year it comes, and its still the civil war but its different because you could hire a paraprofessional to come in and teach the magazine each year. Does that make sense? I havent seen a teachers book but I want my curriculum to have a little bit of consistency so I can develop some other things. Elementary teachers love to have themes and activities. I was never an elementary teacher but I would watch and see how they would do all that. A secondary teacher is going to have assessments that they write and specific things that they need to know if you do this youll be able to do this particular assessment. Youll be ready for this. So if I feel like the curriculum is going to change next year when that weekly reader comes back Im going to be disinclined to want it. I would want to be reassured that these things are going to be hit every year. It might look a little different or come in a different order but this stuff is whats constant and this is what you can tailor to your class and to your needs and this is what we will guarantee youre going to have every year. These topics and standards are going to be covered every year. I would be personally concerned about that. Ryan: So youre looking for that consistency? Person #4: I would be so I could tailor it to my class. If you subscribe to Up front or any of these other ones that secondary teachers love, theyre very current event like. Its something that when

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the lesson is over you say, lets read this or this is really cool, lets do this activity. I just think thats how the teachers would look at Studies Weekly. Chris: The name doesnt look like a textbook to me. The name says that its sort of an ancillary that I may get. Ryan: I know this is off the cuff, but do you have any suggestions of what would work better to kind of say it is not so (sentimental I do not know what Ryan said here)? I mean, like I said... (cut off) Chris: I mean obviously with all the different grade levels, you need something that is constant across every grade level and then maybe the name of the content. I dont know what it would be. I mean, (noise) like Focus or something. So, Youve got World History In Focus, Second Grade Social Studies In Focus. Ryan: Okay Chris: I dont know. Ryan: Yeah, yeah... Chris: Weekly makes me feel like, I mean I had a friend stay with me over the weekend and I get my newspaper thrown in my drive way and he about died that I still read the newspaper that way. (laughter) Ryan: It wasnt online (small chuckles) Chris: But yeah, (stumble) and I just think maybe thats how ...what was I going to say about that, but it just seems very old fashioned. I mean, I like it, but.... Ryan: Something about holding a newspaper, right. Nedra: Um, my thoughts, as Ive thought of this, kind of go along with what Mackell was saying because my world lately has been dealing with curriculum budgets and what is the legislature, doing, you know, to us and our budgets and how much are we going to have for textbooks and whats it going to look like in the future and, um, were talking about in the district these seven year cycles which in the past, its been you look at one content area and you have the book publishers come in and present what they have and decide what it is you want. And that world is changing. And our conversations now are around one to one computing, and I think, Salt Lake, arent you doing some with one-to-one.. Mackell: Well we have one school that is doing it... Nedra: Park City thats doing this (interjection from other mans statement) Cause I was talking to Barbara, yes, and um, so were looking at that and that one-to-one computing and it means

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each child is going to have a tablet. Were looking at that very closely. The legislature is looking at helping with money to have one-to-one computing, that these things can be downloaded on and that students can carry around and use from, for several years. So, um, the things that were dealing with right now are the new technology movement, the one-to-one... Ryan: (Interjects) Real quick. Is there anybody that is using it now in the districts that you know of? (Noise, everyone talking) Jim: All my sixth grader kids have a laptop. Ryan: And is it all a tablet of some sort? Or is it just a laptop? Mackell: Its a laptop. (Noise, everyone talking) Jim: And were moving, were moving to iPads, because I can buy three iPads at the cost of one laptop. Nedra: And weve been looking at Chrome books. Ryan: So that this Studies Weekly Internet thing its not a hard pitch is what youre saying? Because it is so... (Cut off) (Noise, people talking over each other) Jim: We wouldnt even care about the printed copy Nedra: Were moving, were moving away from this. This looks great and all, for my generation, yes, but what were dealing with now is that one-to-one computing and whats available for students to be able to download, and especially in Social Studies. There is not a lot. This is the year were adopting Social Studies and uh, our teachers are split half and half as to whether theyre going to order books, this is, you know from our secondary and elementary, sixth grade and up, but are they going to adopt some materials that theyre paying 80 dollars a book for or are they going to try to find websites and things that they can buy and uh, purchase and spend on Chrome books and laptops and iPads and then use the curriculum available there. So, thats the one thing. The other big thing were dealing with is home to school connection because parents are saying what can we access at home. I mean the math, the language arts, and uh what can we access at home thats in the subscription that you are buying that we can help out students with. Ryan: So what do you think of the email thing that we just showed? Nedra: I like that. I think thats a great proponent. Thats a big selling factor nowadays. When

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students get home, they can talk to their parents about and parents can talk to them and they can study 28:00-31:00 Woman (not sure which one): They can study the same kind of things along with the curriculum with what the state is asking you to learn. So I was just visiting today with the state office with one of the associate super-intendants and she said that they need to keep their eye on the k-3 reading money, that the state legislature is quite a bit of money in k-3 to do something and I said well what are the changes going to be. Do you think theyre going to take that money away? Do you think that theyre going to lower it? And she said no but I think whats going to happen is that theyre going to direct how that money is used. Theyre going to give it to the district and say technology. Thats how that money is going to be used in the reading and so youre going to have to be more willing to do more with technology, to make that change. So Im with Mackell and switching that focus around, and how that ties into the common core and how this integrates, The words integrate. because social studies for some reason or another doesnt get the same focus through our legislature because of the year end testing one of the few things, they dont get the same emphasis. The ones that get the emphasis are the ones that are tested, the ones that get the money put into them. Math and science. I had a lot of money given to the district for math and science. And language arts, but LA isnt given the money that math and science is. But the more it can be integrated, the more it can be shown that were teaching social studies through and by reading. The new common core, so much more writing than weve ever had Social studies person in the room, Id like to point out that she said that wrong. We should be teaching LA through SS not teaching SS through LA. Woman, but thats happening. Soical studies person, EXACTLY backwards So that LA wags this huge tail. We can teach science in elementary school and language arts but really were teaching it during reading time. Woman, These are the skills that are being taught, these are the social studies that are impacting language arts, Social studies guy, So I think what I hear is happening we should be able to say, look you can teach social studies, but our social studies curriculum actually addresses the common core, These reading skills, these writing skills. Woman, yeah social studies would rule, ss but what it impacts are the skills, what theyre learning in LA. Man (Person 1?), we keep compartmentalizing these different things, science has its time, ss and what were really saying is that the new thing is integration. And I think thats what I hear the most. What I keep hearing is that we dont have time. As a matter of fact I have teachers right now, Ill give you an example. 5th grade team teaches SS all of US history in 4 months. At the

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beginning, because the last 4 months is going to be science. Because science is going to be tested, so its more current with the kids. 31:00-35:00 Person #3: We tend to compartmentalize these different things; science has its time, social studies has its. And what were really saying is the new thing is integration. Person #5: Especially in Elementary School Person #3: Thats what I hear. We do not have time. As a matter of fact, I have a fifth grade team that teaches social studies -- all of US history -- in 4 months, because the last four months is going to be on science, because science is tested, so that way its current with the kids. In their minds instead of teach SS throughout the year, they do this and make the shift. Why dont they teach SS and science throughout the year? Its because they dont have time to do it all. Ryan: So they do that for the testing? is that what youre saying? Person #3: Yeah, so science is taught second because then it stays fresh in the kids minds, because science is taught at the end of the year. Person #5: But if youre taking your SS and youre showing where the standards are met in the Language arts and in the science, but its your SS standards, but this is where it crosses over, and this is where you see it meet the other curriculum. Marcus: It seems like all of you are leaning towards newer technology, so if this format address all your issues, would you still be wary to accept it because it isnt technology advanced? Person #1: Yes. Overlapping a few other marketing answers for a minute. If you wanted to test something for delivery, something as simple as folder that has all 28 lessons in it at the same time, so it looks like it has it covered, and it looks like its a years worth of content -- that could create some logistical issues in the classroom -- But there is something to be said about kids tactile experiences -- being able to pull what it is youre going to learn this day or this week or whatever. I know for our district, even though we hope to be at a one-to-one ratio, not all learners are effectively instructed through technology. There are some serious limitation about what you can see, what you interact with, and how you experience the content. So I dont want to imply that you should abandon paper. But you asked a question related to marketing and you asked a question related to name. Daily studies sounds better than weekly studies if youre trying to have people feel that its relevant and current and needed. If youre trying to market connections with the home, a simple email with a picture of the front page of this weeks session to the family so they know what theyre looking for, can make those connections. We do the same things with kids, ultimately when we get that one-to-one ration youre pushing out heres what it is. It looks like most of them, if you have 7 weeks worth of materials but theres five pages in each one, or six, or eight. You probably already have a daily lesson anyway thats already there that could be delivered in a daily format. But the leaning towards technology is economically driven. Textbooks have

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become so cost-prohibitive that were looking for other alternatives, and there are grants to try and write the text in an electronic format. Ryan: So the textbooks arent piloting this. Its the teachers trying to get them to change, is that what you mean? Person #1: Well, theres two or three things playing all at the same time. Theres currently a lag in delivering common core materials in consistent fashion across the country. Like we saw downstairs Texas-specific, because Texas is big enough that on their own they can demand a publisher to respond to them. But common core materials for Math, English, Language Arts, are a little bit delayed -- more so in math than in English/Language Arts -- that align with the common core. So how is that then put together? Yeah teachers have done a lot the last year or two to try and fill in those gaps with district help and support. So theres a need for the materials. 35:00 to 38:30 #1 teachers have done a lot the last year or two and this year in trying to fill in those gaps with district help and support theres a need for materials. the challenge with social studies and science is that competing for the time and how you integrate it. which i think is the point that kristin is trying to make, that if youre trying to push this content in other content area youre defeating the purpose of integrating both the vocabulary and the instructional objectives in ways that help kids make it relevant and learn better. #3 Our district adopted secondary social studies last year, so this is our first year with it. and we bought classroom sets of actual textbooks is all and then just online subscription to the text book for every student, that we have for ten years. so in ten years, well be forced to do something. (Ryan: so its a licensing you bought?) yeah, but what we wished is they would have licensed the district, we had to buy an exact number of actual licenses which we feel like theyre probably going to change. (Ryan: so what if your students change?) then its like an actual physical book, its assigned to them, but digital and we have to switch it. we learned a ton going through it, one of the things we learned is that we would never, we have 4 different publishers were working with, we would never do that again. if we were doing it again we would say, all will adopt from one publisher, i dont care which one it is, you can choose but youre all adopting from one publisher, were not gonna work on all these platforms, this is ridiculous. The other thing weve discovered would be really nice is science did it the year before, they did all adopt from one publisher and if we have chosen that same publisher the kids would have one log on and a virtual desk would open up with their science book and their social studies book, and the next year theyd use that same logon but thered be two new books. i mean its just so tidy, so if you dont reallly care which book is which it would have been really, really nice, because right now its just really messy for different kids and parents have to remember logins and some of the publishers have been better working with us, letting the kid use the login that they already use for the district email and stuff, but some have been a little bit not able to do that. One of the things we wanted to do but couldnt, which probably would be easier for you was to buy (or select a-la-carte) so the teacher would be able to say, these are the modules or topics for the civil war (or whatever) and the teacher could look through them and maybe the district buys the rights for every teacher to have this many

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modules during the course of their year or whatever it is. (Kristin: the school doesnt order the same material for every teacher?) Right the teacher would order it. (Ryan: is that the same for every district?) No, nobody does that, that would be lucky, we would love that. teachers would love that. 38:30 to 42:00 #1: The ability to select on their own #2: ike they do now with the regular textbook, they can say read this section, skip this section. Ordering process ordering issues #3: Were adopting languages, arts and math right now in our district so theres basically a committee of teachers and administrators that form and just take math for instance. They looked at 20 different companies, got it down to two, then let the schools pick which of those two they wanted to use, so we had the choice of two different titles. They didnt force us to choose. In science or social studies, we dont order it, its up to us to order it. We dont have a textbook for language or arts anymore, my teachers use the textbooks as a supplemental book #WOMAN - We do adopt districtwide books in language arts in elementary. We have in the past secondary but that is where the big controversy this year is that a lot of them dont want to order the material books. They want a classroom set, as Chris was saying, they want that resource but they want the students to have it online to whatever textbook that is. If were thinking about science and social studies and focusing on those, I just am really trying to think of the experience Ive had, and I just think if its not some big district adoption thing, I think its just great to have the schools be able to purchase their own science or social studies curriculum supports. #man most districts will centralize english arts and math. The expectation based around new statewide assessments will potentially have far more commonality with interim assessments. 42:00 to 45:30 #1- Most districts will centralize english, language arts and math, um, the expectations, again, around the state-wide assessments will be to potentially be to have far more commonality because of interim assessments and the ability of the teacher to move forward with assessments. That if the interims become assigned with dates, then circuricular mapping and timelines will be far more universal across the state.. #5...and that seems to be where theyre headed, the state #1- Now, the state made a mistake, just in my judgment, because they put high-stakes science, science is now high-stakes, so thats sinking... Ryan: When you say high-stakes, what do you mean by high stakes?

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#1- As part of the accountability model, so high stakes plays into the score that a school gets, itll play into the ranking that a teacher gets, as both of those move forward. So, uh, as science is less likely to be independent, two or three years from now than it has been in the past. Social studies... uh there is some talk across the country on having some common core-standards, but theres so many debateable values in social studies that its just not going to happen in most peoples lifetime. So social studies will still be far more open and individualized than the other... #3- But were moving a lot more to non-fiction type texts and so thats where that social studies #5- Thats because in the common core, thats where that.. #3- Thats where it really fits in very well because thats where we will use social studies materials to actually be part of our literacy base of what we study #4- Ya know, that makes an interesting kind of idea, because if Im a language arts teacher, or if Im a sixth grade teacher, who is in charge of language arts, maybe weve sort of dulled out.. I know I do this... on our team, uh, this teacher X does social studies, ya know, whatever, maybe youre marketing to the wrong people. You need to talk to the english teachers and say, You can teach English this way, you can teach reading this way, this is a reading program. It happens to look like a social studies cirriculum but its really a reading program. Ryan: So kind of combining the two is what you mean to make them #4- Well, I am just kind of thinking outside the box... Ryan: Yeah, yeah, yeah #4: Because in our elementary schools, especially Title schools, if you dont do well on math, you dont go to social studies because they divide you up and you go to math remediation and all the smart kids go to social studies but everybody else is in math remediation, or learning to read because social studies doesnt matter... So this needs to be the curriculum you go get in that reading period. Ryan: Yeah, learn how to read and write through social studies. Interesting. #2- Its social studies content, but with the reading skills and the reading expectations and the reading levels. We do a lot of leveling libraries. Theres the **Gasik Bennell**(spelling?) leveling libraries, I mean, theres a lot of different, um, level libraries, but this is leveled even. #4- But the people with money are not the social studies people. The people with money are language arts and math... Ryan: Because of the testing, right? #2- Thats what I was referring to earlier with using it for reading, um, I can use my, thats how our teachers are paying for, or Im paying for, um, the weekly things or the non-fiction text

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that I bought for science and social studies is through my trust-land(??) money, because thats something I have more control over and I can pay for language arts, math and sometimes science out of that money. So if I say Im buying.... 45:30 to 49:00 #2 - if I say Im buying nonfiction texts to match up with the common core in social studies or common core in science, I can justify those purchases, but if Im just buying something for science or for social studies its much more difficult or impossible to use that money. #5 - money is for the greatest need, so its going to be for your math and your language arts, its not going to be for science or social studies. If this was a reading program, it would be more eligible for more things. Its very engaging, thats a real plus. #1 - the focus goes back to whats measured, because of the high stakes with language arts and math, and its important that resources go there, because thats whats expected to show up on the scores for the school. And part of my understanding of studies weekly, is it is K-8 materials, is that accurate? Ryan: Correct. #1 - OK. Because I dont think Ive seen anything beyond k-8. Ryan: No, it doesnt go through High School. #1 - So as you think about the experiences in K through 8, the high stakes testing is going to be 3 through 12 as we go forward. Its been essentially 3 through 8 and then some hits/misses 9th and 10th, but if the social studies were recast as civics, youd have a whole different market, too. Ryan: Can you expound on that? Civics? #1 - and maybe its more regional than it is national, but there is an interest in civics or citizenship education related to democracy Ryan: Like government classes in high school? #1 - yeah, and so social studies has broader meaning and usually gets chunked in American Studies, World Studies, sometimes it can even become Modern or Ancient and a lot of different connections to that, but the state core curriculum has a thread of civics through it that is not tied together really well, that would lend itself to this kind of a delivery system, because no one does it quite as well as other people may like. And you could potentially argue the same thing in financial literacy, that theres a big interest in that type of a delivery in more chunks of consumable or viewed as more consumable material.

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49:00 to 52:30 Kristin: So if you could personally improve a textbook, would you want to add in more of the civics into textbooks, or would you rather have a supplemental something to teach finance or civics? #1: My background is secondary social studies, so I, um, the elementary look and feel of these materials dont naturally appeal to a secondary person. But the engagement for the younger person is related to the story and the image and where those intersect, and thats again back to maybe thinking about why you would want it to be electronically delivered because they spend a lot of time with graphics and images it would look quite nice on that type of a delivery. Kristin: And how often do you, anyone can respond, how often do your schools order new materials? Does it depend on the subject, because of financial reasons? #3: Social Studies, its interesting that I bought a social studies book for my school 10 years ago, I will not replace that. #5: Ours is on a seven-year rotation, but were changing the looks of that this year. I mean, it is going to be what is needed in the schools, especially if we have one-to-one computing it is going to be what is needed by those teachers that they can grasp to use this one-to-one computing. Marcus: What do teachers say to you guys and what is your opinion on these newer formats of learning such as, you know, the magazine type or even the digital type? What is your...I would like to know more about what teachers tell you about their feeling towards that. #2: Depends on the teacher. #5: I have one teacher, at one of the high schools, this is his 50th year. Hes going to tell me a lot different than those who are just coming from BYU who have two to three to four years in there, but the majority are looking toward what is coming in technology. Theyre looking toward how they need to improve their skills to be able to help their students be more technologically astute in studying. Or else the student will help the teachers, I dont know which, but theres more of a push towards that. Im with Mackell, I mean I think theres a place for those, but they are the supplemental to the technology and whats coming, what were looking at. #1: The push to electronic textbooks, from my view, is not driven by quality or research-based decision making. #5: Its coming so fast. Its economic. #1: And because its economically driven, and this is just part of the market, the textbook publishers have placed their content out of the reach of normal school districts, and so it doesnt matter how good it is. There is a point at which you cant afford it, so the interest in those electronic textbooks is probably for mostly the wrong reasons. So your question, which was

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how to teachers feel about using technology, again my view, the teacher who gets the advantage of technology, youre talking interactive whiteboard or smart board, youre not talking digital textbook, so thats a whole other way to think about this. #5: Theyre such different levels. Ryan: Is that pretty common that youre using that in your schools? Ive heard of those digital boards like you talked about. #1: It depends on the teacher, it depends on the school. Ryan: Is it a demographic difference? An age difference? #5: Ours is from a somewhat age difference. #3: But its interesting because its even changing, you know, the interactive whiteboards and things like that. I have teachers now who can take an iPad and do exactly the same thing with an iPad and not spend the eleven hundred, the fifteen hundred, two thousand on the interactive whiteboard because they can do the same thing with an iPad. #1: No, but hey project it on the whiteboard for the class. #3: Yes, they do. 52:30-56:00 #4: But its interesting because its even changing, you know--the interactive whiteboards--things like that. I have teachers now who can take an iPad and do the exact same thing with an iPad and not spend the $1500-$2000 on the interactive whiteboard because they can do the same thing with the iPad. #1: But they project it on a whiteboard in front of the class. -Yes, they do...from the iPad, you dont need an interactive board; theyre just projecting it. -But the point is that its interactive...the actual projection. #1: Another case in point is, Ive got a...(interject: all you need is a white wall)...what Im trying to say is, what matters is the interactive material with the class from a visual prompt. So there may be a whole different way to deliver this content in one-page visual prompts in a classroom. That would be far more interesting and engaging to teachers. Ryan: Lets take that for a second. What do you think...we talked about Revere the Rat...you saw a little clip...is there some way that there can be some video and some visual? Where the teacher can also interact? Is that what youre talking about? Would that be more effective?

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#1: Its a prompt, its a learning prompt. #3: I think Chris touched on it. Because he said I wanna take this piece, but I wanna add my own little pieces to that. So I see them using that, but actually going out onto the net and bringing in a piece of their own stuff that would actually supplement whats there. The whole opportunity is that it gives them opportunity...Ive got a son thats in college right now and he did not buy one textbook this year. Everything is on his iPad. Ryan: I would love to not have to buy a textbook... (laughs) But you understand what Im saying... Ryan: Yeah, of course, of course. #4: I have a couple thoughts. One is, having adopted all online digital textbooks last year...number one, its not any cheaper. They charge you just as much. It was 75 dollars a license. Its just as much for those licenses. The only difference is that those licenses will actually last 10 years, and a book wont; youll be replacing that book in five or six years. The license really will last that long. So, and, I was totally impressed with some of the interactive maps and some of the kind-of cool digital things that they now have, even though theres a lot of criticism that this is just a PDF of a textbook, theres a lot of other stuff. They have, you know, made it a lot more sexy than it used to be and its a lot more kind-of cool that way. But to the question about what teachers say, we have teachers who just love the new books and teachers who absolutely hate the new books. And I get letters, you know, requests from teachers every year, for online magazines or a classroom subscription to newsweek. But there are those teachers who absolutely love textbooks and they dont want online stuff because theyre not to that point. And so its like Andrew said, its up to each individual teacher. If I could do anything to a textbook for my classroom, I would want to be able to go to some sort of dashboard somewhere and say these are chunks of text and these are related videos or related audio clips or related interactive maps or related whatever.... 56-59.50 #4- or related interactive maps or related whatever and I can choose from those, and the format I would want to presented to kids would absolutely be digital. But I would want it to be I dont want to say facebook b/c not that it would be Facebook like. (Ryan: social media network). I give you the page, I give you this site and you go to it. Here are the things to read, here are the videos that I uploaded for you to watch, its all customized, I have also added some YouTube videos that I found and some things that I can talk to you on this and you can talk back to me on this. You can talk to each other on this, I put the pieces there and this is. That would be what I would do, that would be what I would want to build, so it wouldnt feel like a textbook, or a newspaper, it would feel like a social network site. Or like BBC.com or somthing, or if I want to read this article I do, or if I want to click on this I do, or if I want to respond to this article down below, I can. Thats what it would feel like and look like and they all look like.. #5 Isnt it like a concept behind the flipped classroom? I mean the students choose all these things

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to learn before #4 Yeah, but Ive got to say I am the worlds biggest critic or skeptic I guess of the flipped classroom.. #5 I have not tried, Im just wondering. #4 It sounds so good, but heres the thing. Kids dont do their HW. #1 yeah, haha #4 So what makes us think they are going to watch their teacher give a lecture? #5 Well. Im wondering, I still #4 Thats the idea of a flipped classroom. In class I do all this stuff in groups and whatever and then I go home and I watch the lecture. #5 Or could they choose those articles, Im just wondering if #4 I just think they are not going to do a lot more at home regardless. They dont do stuff at home b/c theyve got soccer and music and friends. And all the flipped classrooms in the world are not going to make them so they do their hw at home, thats what I think, #5 We havent tried them, I just think #4 Well I think thats fine but I dont know they understand the , the idea is that they go and watch the lecture as opposed to have watched it at school. They did something with their peer at school. #5 Does it have to be a lecture though, I mean does it. Can it be articles they read? #4 Well, they can already do that. The flipped classroom is that they go home and watch the lecture. #5 Okay. #1 theres some evidence on flipped classrooms that its pretty narrow band of math that its effective #4 Because they can watch it over and over and in math #5 Oh yeah, in math #4 and in math its not a lecture its a demonstration.

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#1 Right #4 They need to watch that demonstration, but just cause. I thought this was exciting the other day I was listening to some what was on in PR, I was listening to it as a podcast later. But this woman was talking, shes written a book called the defense of introspective or introverts or something and shes talking and I dont know if this data is out there but she says theres all these studies that show we are really going overboard on students working in groups. That most creative thinking actually comes when students are brainstorming with themselves, when they are doing what we used to call just sitting and thinking, meditating or whatever. She says theres all this research, it was really just kindda exciting program b/c everything that we promote in our district right now is kids working collaboratively and very very very collaborative. But she was talking about how thats really great but a lot of students are more apt to come out of their shell when they are responding to something like within editorial comment after theyve read something like in an article or online article. Thats when youll get their deep thinking. Cuz they are not going to share in a group, and thats something that we cant do yet, unless you know textbook provides you that opportunity yet. You have to go to a movie or a blog or something to give students that opportunity. That would be super cool, but Im a secondary teacher so um, elementary kids, maybe not so much.But I still think looking at it online, if it looks like a magazine, its gonna look dated. 59.5- 1:03 #4: Im a secondary teacher so um, elementary kids, maybe not so much. But I still think looking at it online, if it looks like a magazine, its gonna look dated. And the online textbooks look like a textbook. I wish they didnt. It isnt a textbook, but it looks like one. I mean it is, its just a textbook online. Someday it wont be. I guarantee it wont be, it will be something different. Ryan: I just want to go really quickly and get some last minute thoughts from all you folks of what youve seen in studies weekly, kinda want to talk about the textbooks,, what would be the most effective, um, maybe it could be your last minute thoughts, and anything you really want to hit home, if we can go through really quickly, one by one on that. #1: It seems as though the original intent and mission to try and deliver a high quality, chunked curriculum that is consumable on a weekly basis, that missions been written out, are you at the end of that type of a delivery? I dont know, I dont know. I think theres something that its probably somewhat a inter-related, it is certainly far less viable 5th 8th grade than it is K-4. And so, um, how do you then want to, uh, engage learners with a tool like it currently exists probably needs to think about that audience and developmental learning in some different ways than maybe its gone currently. If its back to a marketing question there are probably different ways to deliver it through the front door of either curriculum directors or principals that maybe would get it looked at by different people. I think thats the challenge for any textbook publisher is to get it looked at by enough people that that hard work can be discovered by the end user. Because most teachers dont have time to go out and shop the materials, but theyll steal em from you. Um, so, samples work well with teachers. If theyre high quality samples, it gets their attention.

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Ryan: Cami #2: Um, I think the idea is great, and I think getting it to the right people is important. So Ive like the focusing on the language arts part of it, but you can teach your language arts with these science and social studies curriculums, um, and then, I, I like the two options, with having the electronic and the paper, and just thinking of my school, um, we, its an old school, even though were in a nice area, so we dont have projectors in every classroom, we dont have elmos in every classroom, we dont have iPads for every student. Ryan: What was the thing you mentioned, the what, elmos #2: Oh, sorry. Like, document cameras. Ryan: ok. #2 We dont have those in every classroom, and we dont have enough iPads for a classroom set for anybody. So, I think having those options for the paper, um, for the people who need it or the kids who need it, or the teachers who need it, but then the areas that are going more electronic, having that option available as well, so people can use what theyre comfortable with. Um, but I just think getting it to the teachers somehow to look at and focusing again on language arts, non-fiction texts, and teaching your science and social studies that way. #3 We took a little tour, and the question I asked him down there is, uh, is there any, have you thought of anything else besides the magazine format? And, to me, he pulled out a teachers manual, and it had the cover, uh, it didnt look like a magazine at all, it just had, he opened it up, and there was the lesson plan. 63-66.5 #3: We took a little tour and the question I asked him down there, is, uh, Is there any, uh, have you thought of anything else other than the magazine format? And to me, he pulled out a teachers manual and it had the cover, it didnt look like a magazine at all, it just had- he opened it up and there was the lesson plan, all the supplemental things that you can do with it, and I thought Oh, Ive never seen this. All Ive seen is the magazine come in to my school and so, with my fourth grade teachers- the only team that uses it is fourth grade right now and its a supplement to a very expensive textbook that I just bought that incorporates both science and social studies- their core and that was the textbook I bought and they look at that as a weekly reader. That is their weekly reader, so to speak, their magazine aspect of it. So its strictly used as a supplemental thing. But for the first time I saw that teachers edition I went Oh. Now if you had that- I dont know that teachers have ever seen that and maybe they have and thats just a lack of me understanding the whole program, but I thought if they had something like that, could you make that into a workbook type form then that might be more intriguing to the teacher than magazines because I think in their minds they have, we, they have stereotyped this approach as a weekly reader and I think weve kind of talked about that. Thats in their minds, that is exactly what that is, and thats called supplemental, thats not called main text. And so, it needs to be

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marketed more with the- we just gotta get out there- this is a main text, you do not have to buy a book, you do not have to do this, this becomes that, and uh, that, I think that would be helpful if they looked at it that way. I think they all look at it as strictly very supplemental and we- that needs to be an overarching message that goes out to them that this, this is- and the ebook aspect really pushes that agenda that this is the textbook as opposed to, you know, the magazine. That doesnt look like the magazine so-to-speak, the ebook part. #4: I have three thoughts. Number one- youre absolutely, absolutely right, teachers need- and so just to echo what he said- teachers are gonna want to see not just the magazine, they want to see this is the teacher part of it and they, I dont know maybe they just need to concretely see this is the teacher part looks like when its all complete, even if I only get a piece each week, at the end of the year this is what it looks like and maybe next year I could build on this cause theres gonna be some consistency so100% absolutely right. The second thing that I would say- I love the idea that there are teachers who are always gonna want to see print, there can be schools that are always gonna want it, or at least in our lifetimes, not gonna have technology, and there are gonna be schools that say Look we dont trust the technology so we want a backup so I think, I think operating in a magazine format is still great. Its consumable, its not that expensive to buy new ones. Our math adoption, secondary math adoption is all consumable products, so anyways. But I think for me the most exciting aha moment that I had is I (66:30) still like to read my Time magazine land my Newsweek like this and my newspaper like that, but nobody else does that I know, they all like it another way. 66:30-70:00 Yeah, so and I dont know but you can, as an example. I read the Wall Street Journal. And I know that for no cost, I get access to their online version. Not that I use it, or look at it, but whatever time magazine do to their online presence, the same addition, this is the paper version, I know what it does, nothing, you read it. And theres an online version of that, whatever theyve done, to that when they put it online, I would be looking at that to see what it is. Are there poles? Are there video clips? Im guessing those are the things that there are, thats what Id be adding to my magazine from online. THen I would market it at schools as an online one that if they want it they can still use it. But its an online thing that replaces your textbook. #5 Well, I think theyve said it all. I think it does come down, at least in our district, to economics. Were looking at very tight budgets. Were looking at a lot of cuts across the district and yet we wanted to deliver the very best curriculum to our students as possible. And, so whatever you can do to help package it so we can use it, because there are some things out there we cant even touch. And theyre very interactive, and theyre very good but even if we get them into our school we might even find a way to keep them, if we really like them but its economics right now. And then again, tying it into the vocabulary, of the language arts and the science, and the math, because that is just what we are really accountable for is, and thats where the money is going. and then, pilots, when I put a committee together to look at curriculum, they narrow it down, yes, but then, we take it and we pilot it for 6 months, then we narrow it down to three. All of the 27 schools will use those three for six months, well have it in different schools, and different grade levels, then they come back to us. But, once people have done a pilot in something, they dont want to give it up.

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And so I really limit the pilots in the district, because once they have seen it, once they like it, they fight for it. And, so we really narrow it down before we turn the pilots loose in the district but if you can get some teachers piloting and let those teachers see it, feel it, smell it, touch it, you know, I think theyd like it, but when.. ahh, I dont know, I echo what theyve said, but those are my other thoughts. Mediator Marcus: Can I ask one quick follow up question? A number of you mentioned getting them to the teachers right? Are you saying, well, at the same time, youre saying there is a committee that says what is aloud, so Im confused there, like saying get it to teachers, help the teachers see this and this but they dont have any say unless theyre passed from the committees, is that correct? #5 Well probably what you need to do is find out the procedure in a lot of the different districts, I mean, (70:19) 70-73.5 Marcus: Can I ask one quick follow up question? A number if you mentioned getting them to the teachers, right? Are you saying, well, but at the same time theres a committee that decides what is allowed, so Im confused there. Like, youre saying get it to the teachers, help the teachers see this and this, but they dont have any say unless theyre asked from the committees. Is that correct? #5: Well, what you probably need to do is find out the procedure in a lot the different districts, because we all may not follow the same thing. But yes, in my district, it would go through a committee; however, there are a lot of teachers on that committee. I mean, theres one or two from every single school there and the responsibility of those that are paid to be on this committee in my district have the obligation of going out and letting their teachers know what they have seen, what they have heard, what it is that they would like to, um, they have quite a bit of say. And then we do open nights, open houses, for them to come and see before the decision is ever narrowed. So a lot of the teachers have a say on it, but theres a committee who have the obligation back in their own schools. Marcus: So basically, through the back door, the teachers influence would come in? #5: Yes. #4: Yes. But like, UCSS, the counsel of social studies here, has a conference every spring and every fall, and they have vendors that just, I mean, no cost. Its not even like UEA. You dont even have to rent space. You just set up in this hallway and you can show teachers and then they go back and they ask for it. #5: This is what, Ive seen this#4: When theres somebody, they go to their (?) or they go to the committees and say hey lets look at this.

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#3: Its probably cost prohibited, but along those lines, when we saw those Texas materials, so the Texas materials out there have a picture of the state in every corner so you know its a Texas curriculum. If you could customize it with the school name on it, then a subscription is viewed a whole different way. #5: Whole different way. That would be a great marketing strategy. #4: And thats easy online. #5: And that would be outdone. Its like what they say, people like to hear their own name. You see your school, your state#3: Your district. #5: Your district, yeah. Your superintendent (laughs) no. #3: Thats like the kiss of death. (laughs) #1: There is a little bit of concern because if this is put out there with 20 other texts, I worry that the teachers even in that committee are not going to get a good vision. I like the thought of this pilot thing because I think the pilot actually puts it out there amongst them and so even if its offered to those on the committee to go out and pilot this out in their classrooms for X amount of weeks#4: You could offer it to the districts. Well give you this many if you want to have four or five teachers pilot I, or whatever. #1: I worry that thrown in with all these other books, its going to be overlooked as: No. But if its given to them as a pilot, then possibly now theyre using it, then all of a sudden theres a whole different take on that because now theyve used it within thatMarcus: And they see the second side. #1: Yes. #5: Well, and I always allow, what, an hour per publisher to come in and let that committee see whats there and often times theyll say oh yes my teachers are familiar with this. Theyve seen this. They would like to have that piloted in our school. But I try to get all, like if I narrow it to three, I try to get all three of them out into a school used at different grade levels trying it across. Because, like I say, once theyve piloted it, its hard to take it away from them most of the time. 73.5- end #4: I have one last question because we just did this adoption thing last year and so our person goes to the rims its actually our buyer, she invites these people to submit, for example the 7th

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grade, Gibsmith didnt even bother to submit because they know theyre the only game in town, , so we didnt buy it. I was just a little mad because they didnt even bother to submit and their materials are not good. GIbsmith is a local textbook company but theyre the largest state textbook company in the country. What Im trying to say is we didnt look at you for grades 7 or 8, why didnt we look at you for 7 or 8? So our elementary one is coming up, now that we know, I thought you were a magazine, I did not know you were a textbook or could be a textbook. The awareness factor is just not there. WE do district wide adoptions for K-12 for social studies so 62 elementary schools. But if our buyer doesnt say youve got holt and pearson and studies weekly then we wont even look at you. Andrew: You know it would be interesting to know what are the events and activities that you go to for evaluating these kinds of things cuz then we can pass it on to Ed because theyre missing out on some key opportunities. END

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Survey Questions for eStudiesWeekly Users


This survey is being conducted for Studies Weekly by Communications students at Brigham Young University. We are assessing the use and effectiveness of Studies Weekly products. The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete, and requires that you simply respond by selecting the most appropriate response. There are no right or wrong responses and you will remain anonymous. When you reach the bottom of a page, simply click the Next button to move to the next page of questions. Once you reach the final page, you can submit your responses by clicking Submit. 1. Do you use eStudiesWeekly (the online publication)? [Filter Question #1] a. Yes b. No eSTUDIES USERS (for those who answered yes in previous question) 1. How often do you visit the eStudiesWeekly website? a. Daily b. 2-3 times per week c. 2-3 times per month d. Once every few months e. Never/Almost never 2. How often do you use technology in your teaching? (example: videos, slideshows, etc.) a. Daily b. 2-3 times per week c. 2-3 times per month d. Once every few months e. Never/Almost never 3. How often do you use Studies Weekly in your classroom? a. Daily b. 2-3 times per week c. 2-3 times per month d. Once every few months e. Never/Almost never 4. Do you require your students to use the eStudiesWeekly website? a. Yes b. No c. I encourage it, but I dont require it

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[If answered A on #3] 5. How often do you ask your students to use eStudiesWeekly at home with their parents? a. Daily b. 2-3 times per week c. 2-3 times per month d. Once every few months e. Never/Almost never [If answered A or C on #3] 6. How do your students most often access eStudiesWeekly? a. In-class computers b. In-class tablets c. In a computer lab d. At-home computers e. Cell phones [If answered A or C on #3] 7. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being rarely/never, 5 being very often) Please rank approximately how often your students use the following features on the eStudiesWeekly website? a. Audio reader b. Highlighted text c. Email d. Tests e. Document based questions f. Media button content g. Revere the Rat 8. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being extremely unhelpful, and 5 being extremely helpful, 0 being dont use) how helpful are the following eStudiesWeekly features in teaching material to your students? [TABLE] a. Audio reader b. Highlighted text c. Email d. Tests e. DBQs f. Media button content g. Revere the Rat h. Other 9. How strongly do you prefer eStudiesWeekly website to the printed Studies Weekly publication? a. (strongly prefer printed publication; somewhat prefer printed publication; no preference; somewhat prefer website; strongly prefer website)

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10. If it were up to you, how likely would you be continue to use eStudiesWeekly in future years? a. (extremely unlikely; somewhat unlikely; neither likely nor unlikely; somewhat likely; extremely likely) 11. How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the eStudiesWeekly website? a. (extremely dissatisfied; more dissatisfied than satisfied; neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; more satisfied than dissatisfied; extremely satisfied) 12. Did using eStudiesWeekly help you with the following situations? Check all that apply: a. To fit science or social studies into the literacy block b. To provide instructions to students needing to catch up after having been pulled out of the classroom for special needs or services c. To differentiate instruction d. To make accommodations for ESE, ELL, 504 Plan, Gifted/Talented identified students e. To multi-task during your instructional day f. To assist you in saving your voice (sore throat or illness) 13. a. b. Does Studies Weekly act as your classroom textbook or supplemental material? Acting Textbook Supplemental Material

14. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being Definitely would not and 5 being Definitely Would) would you recommend Studies Weekly to other teachers? 15. Please share any additional comments about eSW with us.

Filter Question 2 (For eStudiesWeekly users only) Do you use the printed Studies Weekly publication? PRINT USERS (for those who answered no to filter question #1, or yes to filter question #2 ) 1. Which Studies Weekly publication(s) do you use? c. Science d. Math e. Social Studies 2. Are you aware of the content available to you on the eStudiesWeekly website? f. Yes g. No [If Yes] 3. Please indicate the reasons you do not use the eStudiesWeekly website. h. I prefer printed material to online material

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i. j. k.

I do not have proper technology available to effectively use online material with my class The website was too difficult to use Other [Please Explain]

[Only if answer C to #3] 2. Why was the website too difficult to use? 3. How often do you use Studies Weekly in your classroom? a. Daily b. 2-3 times per week c. 2-3 times per month d. Once every few months e. Never/Almost never 4. How often do you use technology in your teaching? (example: videos, slideshows, etc.) a. Daily b. 2-3 times per week c. 2-3 times per month d. Once every few months e. Never/Almost never 5. How often do you ask your students to take their Studies Weekly materials home? a. Daily b. 2-3 times per week c. 2-3 times per month d. Once every few months e. Never/Almost never 6. Please rank the Studies Weekly elements listed below from 1 to 5 (1- needs improvement, 2- satisfactory, 3- average, 4- good, 5- exceptional) on their performance. a. Illustrations b. Activities c. Content d. Convenience 7. How do you use Studies Weekly in relation to other teaching materials? [Grid with math, ss, science] a. Studies Weekly is my only/primary text material b. Studies Weekly is supplemental to other text material c. Studies Weekly is used alongside other text materials equally d. Other i. [Please Explain] 8. Consider the material your curriculum requires you to teach. Approximately how much of that material does Studies Weekly help you teach?

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a. [Percentage Scales] [Math, SS, Science] 9. Please tell us the approximate ratio of computers/tablets to students in your school. (example: 1:1 =1 computer per student; 1:12 =1 computer per 12 students) 10. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being Definitely would not and 5 being Definitely Would) would you recommend Studies Weekly to other teachers? 11. Please share any additional comments about Studies Weekly or eStudiesWeekly with us.

DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS (all respondents) 1. a. b. c. How long have you been a Studies Weekly subscriber? This is my first year 2-5 years 6+ years

2. Which grade(s) do you teach? a. [LIST] 3. a. In what state do you currently teach? [Dropdown List]

4. Please select your age. a. 21-30 b. 31-40 c. 41-50 d. 51-60 e. 61+ 5. How many years have you been teaching? a. 0-5 b. 6-10 c. 11-15 d. 16-20 e. 21+ 6. Are you National Board certified? a. Yes b. No

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Works Cited
Bock, Jessica. Schools are turning heads and pages with their e-book. St. Louis Post Dispatch. Stltoday.com, 1 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. Cohen, David, K., Jennifer, A. ODay, and Marshall, S. Smith. A National Curriculum in the United States?. Educational Leadership 49.1 74-81.Academic Source Premier. Web. 5 Feb 2013. Common Core State Standards Initiative: Preparing Americas Students for College and Career. N.p.. Web. 5 Feb 2013. <http://www.corestandards.org/>. Hewitt, Damon. Reauthorize, Revise, and Remember: Refocusing the No Child Left Behind Act To Fulfill Browns Promise.. Yale Law & Policy Review 30.1 (2011): 169-194. Academic Source Premier. Web. 5 Feb 2013. PRWeb. Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC, 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. <http://www.prweb.com/ releases/StudiesWeekly/textbook_substitute/prweb10190930.htm>. Scholastic Classroom & News Magazines. Scholastic. Scholastic, Inc. , 2013. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. <http://classroommagazines.scholastic.com>. Studies Weekly. American Legacy Publishing, 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. <http://www.studiesweekly. com>. Textbook Publishers. H-Survey. H-Net, 2007. Web. 5 Feb. 2013. <http://www.h-net.org/~survey/ text/>.

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