Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Christy S. | Delivered February 19, 2020

Market for science core curriculum

Goals

To create a competitor research report by looking at the companies that make up the competitor market for the selling of science curriculum and products for elementary and middle schools. 

Early Findings

While we were unable to find specific revenue values for science curriculum in companies, we were able to identify some major companies in the market and important key considerations for schools parterning with companies. 
U.S. edtech investments grew again in 2018 with 1.45 billion raised. 
 DreamBox Learning saw a partnership of $130 million growth equity fund for K-12. 
 Amplify Science for K-8 was rated "all green" by EdReports. In 2019, Amplify Science became the new "core" curriculum for science in New York City schools. Other cities such as Chicago and Denver have adopted this curriuculum as well. In 2018, it was looking to book $125 million in general sales. 
 Discovery Education created a digital textbook to attempt to meet Next Generation Science Standards that uses a 5E model. 
According to EdReports, Amplify Science was the only company that met all the Next Generation Science Standards of six major companies that create science curriculums. The next company was Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In addition to these two major companies, there are also Teachers' Curriculum Institute (2 programs), (California) Discovery Education, and Carolina Biological Supply Company who failed to meet NGSS's standards. 
 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt saw a rise in the adoption of Into Learning Programs not only in Texas but also in other states. While this is not specific for science curriculum, it was included to identify a leading company in the market. 
 OpenSciEd is a new company that is in the process of creating a science curriculum that is being tested across 10 states and over 5,000 students and provides free science materials funded by non-profit organizations. 
In Oakland, California in 2018, Full Option Science Systems ranked the highest for science for grades 6-8. 
The Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching in 2018 identified three major trends for science curriculums that  science teachers and students have identified as important. They are visual literacy (i.e., graphs, tables), hands-on engineering and STEM lessons, and technology innovations such as virtual reality and Google Expeditions app. 
The Chicago Board of Educators recently granted $45 million over the next three years to spend on outsourced science curriculum from companies such as McGraw-Hill. 