High-Tech Textbooks Provide Major Benefits
Publishers Focus on Developing Materials that Improve Student Success, Says Industry at Hearing on Higher Education
Zogby International Poll Underscores Need, Impact of New Learning Materials
WASHINGTON, DC – Publishers are offering new types of textbooks and learning tools to help students, faculty, and colleges meet today’s growing challenges, according to Patricia S. Schroeder, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, who testified today before the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, a congressionally-appointed group studying the cost of higher education.
Mrs. Schroeder urged the panel to focus on the increasingly important role publishers are being asked to play in helping more students’ succeed.
“Colleges depend on publishers to invest in, produce, and provide more textbooks, learning tools, class management systems, and faculty services to help ensure students are getting the education they are paying for,” said Mrs. Schroeder.
The publishing industry’s enormous range of materials for faculty and students have been developed to serve an increasingly diverse student body, many of whom are not prepared for college-level work, at a time when reductions in state subsidies for higher education have necessitated cost-cutting measures by colleges and universities.
“As financial support for post-secondary institutions has been reduced, schools have had to increase class size, reduce classroom support staff, and employ more part-time faculty,” said Mrs. Schroeder. “To help accommodate these changes, publishers have produced new tools and instructional materials.”
Mrs. Schroeder also told the Advisory Committee that a survey recently released by the respected research firm Zogby International found that a majority (55 percent) of faculty members believe many entering freshmen are not ready for college studies and that tools produced by publishers are helping them stay in school and graduate.
“More than three out of four professors (77 percent) said that supplemental materials clearly enhance most students’ learning,” said Mrs. Schroeder. “And nearly two in three (65 percent) said that these materials help retain students who might otherwise fail to complete courses or drop out of school.”
Today, more than 262,000 textbook titles and numerous electronic books and various types of supplemental materials are available in college bookstores.
“American publishers are committed to delivering 21st-century educational materials and methods that will preserve excellence in higher education,” Mrs. Schroeder said.
Among other recommendations offered by AAP:
- Encourage more states to remove sales taxes on textbooks; the Advisory Committee was urged to draft sample legislation that could be provided to stakeholders in their states.
- End the practice of selling sample textbooks, which has become a “mini-industry” for book dealers who solicit faculty, purchase instructors’ sample copies, and re-sell them at mark-ups as high as 400 percent.
- Support the production and sale of more electronic books, which reduce costs for students. E-books also offer faculty greater flexibility and the option to update or add supplemental materials more easily.
- Examine the positive impact that new supplemental materials and instructional technologies are having on student learning and performance, specifically under-served students.
The full text of Mrs. Schroeder’s testimony can be found on the AAP Web site at: http://www.publishers.org or www.textbookfacts.org.
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About the Association of American Publishers:
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies - small and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.
