Schools nationwide rely on a few publishing companies for textbooks, assessments, and curriculum, giving those companies outsized power. Unfortunately, in the past several years, many of the most concerning trends in education have shown up in these textbooks, which entrench those trends and spread them far and wide. How much do you know about the curriculum monopoly? Play “Two Truths and a Lie” to find out!
A. Around 90% of U.S. K-12 schools use programs from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
B. Mississippi improved its fourth-grade reading ranking from second-worst in 2013 to 21st by 2022.
C. The balanced literacy curriculum, pushed by Columbia University Teachers College’s Lucy Calkins, was highly effective in solving literacy problems across the United States.
A. TRUTH! A few major publishers, including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), McGraw Hill, and Savvas, dominate the K-12 textbook market, with HMH programs used in about 90% of U.S. schools and McGraw Hill holding a 22% market share as of 2021. Savvas, a Pearson subsidiary, reported $1 billion in sales in 2023. HMH’s subsidiary Heinemann supplied a balanced literacy curriculum to 78 of the 83 largest U.S. school districts, earning at least $215 million from 2012 to 2022. Many education authorities default to these major publishers for simplicity, often bypassing thorough curriculum evaluation.
B. TRUTH! In what is now dubbed the “Mississippi Miracle,” Mississippi was able to go from being ranked second-worst in fourth-grade reading in 2013 to joining the middle of the pack as the 21st state in reading by 2022. It accomplished this by promoting phonics (when other states weren’t) in its Literacy-Based Promotion Act of 2013, listening to factual evidence as opposed to self-proclaimed experts.
C. LIE! In the 1990s and 2000s, many schools threw out tried-and-true phonics in favor of so-called “balanced literacy,” an approach to reading pushed by Lucy Calkins of Columbia University Teachers College. It ultimately proved to be ineffective in teaching children how to read, and contributed greatly to a literacy crisis—65% of American fourth graders can’t read. It has also become a case study for how experts can fail.
Bottom Line:
Education authorities often choose these companies’ curricula for convenience rather than evaluating their effectiveness. This shortcut has led to districts adopting curricula that may not serve students well. The future of education depends on thoughtful decision-making by authorities in government, districts, and classrooms, who must prioritize students’ best interests over the seemingly safe, default options.
To learn more, read the Policy Focus: Abolish the Curriculum Monopoly