My name is Wayne Schnier and I'm a K-12 Sr. Sales Representative for Kendall Hunt Publishing. I have been in sales at KH for 11 years now.
I plan on blogging about what I see in the K-12 market and also what teachers are saying about our Inquiry based science programs.
I hope my posts are informative and will give you an idea of what I see (Good and Bad) in the K-12 field.
Maybe you'll consider reviewing our inquiry-based science textbooks after reading my blog posts. Hopefully I can help distinguish between real inquiry-based science textbooks and books that claim to be inquiry-based.
If you have any comments please feel free to respond to my posts. I look forward to hearing from you.
One area of textbook selling that really gets to me is the adoption process and presentations from publishers. When I see other textbook salesmen rolling in carts full of books and telling the teachers if they buy this one book "we'll give you this cart full of books free" I don't understand it.
If the main book they're selling is so good why not have the "Free" material incorporated in the book to begin with? Why have so many different components with one textbook the teacher will never use them all anyway?
Another thing I don't understand is publishers that offer incentives to buy their textbook like a free DVD player or TV. How do these "freebies" help the students with the subject discipline and state tests? There must not be any confidence in trying to sell the textbook on its own merits if free material is constantly being offered to purchase a textbook.
A few reasons why Kendall Hunt does not sell this way are:
1) To keep our costs down and affordable for the customer
2) We want the customer to make their adoption decision based on the merits of the book not on "freebies".
3) We believe our textbooks are the best in the K-12 market and we want our customers to adopt based on quality not on other outside factors.
I needed to get this off my chest and I thank you for not reading this post.
If the main book they're selling is so good why not have the "Free" material incorporated in the book to begin with? Why have so many different components with one textbook the teacher will never use them all anyway?
Another thing I don't understand is publishers that offer incentives to buy their textbook like a free DVD player or TV. How do these "freebies" help the students with the subject discipline and state tests? There must not be any confidence in trying to sell the textbook on its own merits if free material is constantly being offered to purchase a textbook.
A few reasons why Kendall Hunt does not sell this way are:
1) To keep our costs down and affordable for the customer
2) We want the customer to make their adoption decision based on the merits of the book not on "freebies".
3) We believe our textbooks are the best in the K-12 market and we want our customers to adopt based on quality not on other outside factors.
I needed to get this off my chest and I thank you for not reading this post.
Are you looking for a high school biology textbook that supports the teacher and promotes student learning? Look no further than Kendall Hunt's "Insights in Biology" textbook. This textbook was ranked #1 for teacher and student educative support in an independent curriculum review funded through the National Science Foundation called "Project Prime".Insights in Biology by EDC was ranked # 1 and BSCS Biology: "A Human Approach" ranked # 2 out of 8 biology textbooks independently reviewed.
The goal of the study was to determine the biology textbooks potential for promoting teacher learning. They were also interested in reviewing materials that promote teacher learning as well as student learning.
The materials were graded based on support for the teachers' subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge for science topics and pedagogical content knowledge for scientific inquiry.
If you're looking to review a new high school biology textbook this year please check out "Insights in Biology" by EDC (Education Development Center).
Have you ever reviewed a high school biology textbook and liked what you examined but wished a few things with the layout could be changed? Whether it's a high school physics textbook, a primary textbook, or anything in between, talk to your sales rep about a custom textbook. Kendall Hunt is willing and able to do custom publishing for schools or districts.
Why not adopt a high school science textbook that you're comfortable using and is published the way you want it to be? Talk to us and we'll develop solutions to your school's textbook needs.
Whenever schools or districts look for new textbooks how much thought is being given to the publishing company? What I mean by that is the publisher can make or break an adoption based on many factors.
1. How is the service? Kendall Hunt prides itself on customer service and it is one of the companies main goals. Your rep or customer service is always there for you and can answer most questions or handle any problem on first contact.
2. Who controls the content of the textbook? Kendall Hunt only publishes the textbooks and content control is retained by the author or authoring group. Many other publishers control content and can make revisions and changes without author approval. In a sense the publishing company is writing the book, not the main author.
3. How are returns handled? Kendall Hunt allows the textbooks to be returned within one year of purchase if they are still in saleable condition.
4. Once a textbook is adopted Kendall Hunt offers professional development at no charge or on a cost-share basis depending on the purchase amount. Kendall Hunt provides quality consultants, most of whom have used the program being trained on. They can give first-hand information on what works and any problems that might arise during the school year.
5. Kendall Hunt is a family owned, privately held publishing company that has been in existence for over 50 years. Now-a-days it's hard to keep up with the publishing companies being bought and sold around the country. Kendall Hunt is stable and will remain within the family.
These are just a few things that should be considered along with the content of your textbook.
1. How is the service? Kendall Hunt prides itself on customer service and it is one of the companies main goals. Your rep or customer service is always there for you and can answer most questions or handle any problem on first contact.
2. Who controls the content of the textbook? Kendall Hunt only publishes the textbooks and content control is retained by the author or authoring group. Many other publishers control content and can make revisions and changes without author approval. In a sense the publishing company is writing the book, not the main author.
3. How are returns handled? Kendall Hunt allows the textbooks to be returned within one year of purchase if they are still in saleable condition.
4. Once a textbook is adopted Kendall Hunt offers professional development at no charge or on a cost-share basis depending on the purchase amount. Kendall Hunt provides quality consultants, most of whom have used the program being trained on. They can give first-hand information on what works and any problems that might arise during the school year.
5. Kendall Hunt is a family owned, privately held publishing company that has been in existence for over 50 years. Now-a-days it's hard to keep up with the publishing companies being bought and sold around the country. Kendall Hunt is stable and will remain within the family.
These are just a few things that should be considered along with the content of your textbook.
Do you have a hard time getting all your students involved in biology class? Do some or most students sit back and let others do all the work? If so you need to look at Kendall Hunt's "A Human Approach" textbook.
One thing I hear when teachers implement our BSCS " A Human Approach" textbook in their classroom is students can't sit back and do nothing. This biology text gets everyone involved because of labs, journaling, discussion, etc. The collaborative aspect is very strong with this textbook
All students in their collaborative group have a job to do. No one can sit back and let others do all the work. Students are responsible for their own learning and the success of the group during their experiments or labs.
Students must keep a notebook and journal their activities and experiments daily. They will often refer back to previous entries as they move along in the activities.
The "AHA" textbook is not your typical worksheet driven biology book. Students must do the labs and experiments in order to get the answer. This is the most difficult part for some students to grasp. Teachers do not provide the answers and students must formulate their own opinion and reasoning.
Get your students involved in your biology classroom and check out the BSCS "A Human Approach" textbook.
One thing I hear when teachers implement our BSCS " A Human Approach" textbook in their classroom is students can't sit back and do nothing. This biology text gets everyone involved because of labs, journaling, discussion, etc. The collaborative aspect is very strong with this textbook
All students in their collaborative group have a job to do. No one can sit back and let others do all the work. Students are responsible for their own learning and the success of the group during their experiments or labs.
Students must keep a notebook and journal their activities and experiments daily. They will often refer back to previous entries as they move along in the activities.
The "AHA" textbook is not your typical worksheet driven biology book. Students must do the labs and experiments in order to get the answer. This is the most difficult part for some students to grasp. Teachers do not provide the answers and students must formulate their own opinion and reasoning.
Get your students involved in your biology classroom and check out the BSCS "A Human Approach" textbook.
I want to discuss what I hear as a sales rep regarding inquiry-based science. When talking and meeting with teachers everyone seems to have their own view and idea of inquiry. Most teachers are looking for some sort of inquiry-based science curriculum, especially at the high school level but what does inquiry mean?
Inquiry comes in many forms. It can be more or less teacher guided inquiry and more or less student self-direction.
Here are five essential features identified in "Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A guide for Teaching and Learning (NRC,2000)
1. Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions.
2. Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions.
3. Learner formulates explanations from evidence.
4. Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge.
5. Learner communicates and justifies explanations.
If you would like more information regarding inquiry-based science please contact Kendall Hunt for a free pamphlet by BSCS entitled "Why Does Inquiry Matter?
Inquiry comes in many forms. It can be more or less teacher guided inquiry and more or less student self-direction.
Here are five essential features identified in "Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A guide for Teaching and Learning (NRC,2000)
1. Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions.
2. Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions.
3. Learner formulates explanations from evidence.
4. Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge.
5. Learner communicates and justifies explanations.
If you would like more information regarding inquiry-based science please contact Kendall Hunt for a free pamphlet by BSCS entitled "Why Does Inquiry Matter?
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