PreK-12 Instructional Materials Industry Competitive Analysis 2024

Report Overview

Revenues and stock prices for public PreK-12 education companies increase. 

This latest PreK-12 Instructional Materials Industry Competitive Analysis study analyzes the market and financial health of the educational materials industry and indicates a very positive 2023 and early 2024 for vendors in this industry. The education companies tracked were found to have experienced revenue growth at the average of almost 7% and stock prices for six publicly tracked businesses grew an average of 43.74% in calendar year 2023. This growth continued into the first quarter of 2024. This study also states that these gains are going to be difficult to maintain beyond the second half of 2024 because of long term student enrollment declines and reductions in educational spending due to the end of ESSER funding and reductions at the state level.

The PreK-12 Instructional Materials Competitive Analysis details a wide range of other trends and forces impacting the market. These include education companies going private, financial forces and activity in the market including key mergers and acquisitions along with private investments. Other forces include AI and personalized learning systems driving new activity and purchases among schools, and growth in career and technical education (CTE) programs, interest in dual enrollment programs and products, and offshore challengers who are introducing their own technology enabled PreK-12 learning products and features to get a foothold in the US market.

This PreK-12 Instructional Materials Competitive Analysis is a comprehensive resource that captures the complexities and nuances of the current PreK-12 educational market. The study offers foresight into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the PreK-12 education sector emphasizing macrolevel trends. The study includes ongoing research which drew upon interviews with publishing industry executives, consultants, industry analysts, state education officials, local school educators, and education policy experts. Select third-party data is also used to give context, including from analysts Berkery Noyes, HolonIQ, and Reach Capital, as well as the U.S. Department of Education.

PreK-12 Instructional Materials Competitive Analysis includes profiles of the following key PreK-12 instructional materials providers:

• Boxlight

• Cambium Learning

• Cengage

• Discovery Education

• Goodheart-Willcox

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

• Kahoot!

• McGraw Hill

• Pearson

• PowerSchool

• Renaissance Learning

• Savvas Learning

• Scholastic

• Stride

PreK-12 Instructional Materials Competitive Analysis contains detailed and granular data and analysis on key trends and developments with a special focus on:

• Operational Trends in 2023-2024

• PreK-12 Company Performance

• Stock Price Trends

• M&A Activity

• Private Investments

Publishers and investment professionals can trust the PreK-12 Instructional Materials Competitive Analysis to provide the inside intelligence needed to evaluate and understand the growth potential and trends impacting the education market. This report is an essential tool for publishing executives, educational technology executives, investors, market analysts, and industry consultants who need to understand the larger trends impacting the PreK-12 Instructional Materials market.

Technology at the Forefront

Technology has long been top of mind in PreK-12 education. In 2023 and 2024, one of the key topics has been the potential role of artificial intelligence and especially generative AI, which has gone from zero to 60 in usage in just one year’s time.

The shift to generative artificial intelligence became more mainstream in early 2023. Educators and vendors of educational products and services have felt pressure to use the technology to create efficiencies and enhance learning.

At the same time, the technology comes with many unresolved challenges that the industry and educators are grappling with even as they jump in. These include students using AI to skirt critical thinking in completing assignments; issues related to intellectual property; the tendency for AI to deliver incorrect, skewed, or unsourced results; and more.

Current products on the market that incorporate generative AI include AI tutors, AI solutions for generating content, and AI co-pilots to help guide research. Aside from generative AI, other forms of the technology continue to power many PreK-12 solutions, especially in the personalized learning space.

Overall, the transition from print to digital continues to progress, but at a slower speed than in the recent past. While each company is at a different place on a spectrum from print to digital, the PreK-12 industry as a whole has reached a point where 61% of sales of instructional materials are digital, according to the publisher's estimates, and seems to be approaching a logical equilibrium between print and digital, each of which has different pedagogical advantages for students, especially at the younger ages. While digital is likely to continue to take some share from print materials, that transition is slowing.

All Eyes on Career and Technical Education

Career and technical education (CTE), which more closely connects academics to a career after high school, has been a focus within the PreK-12 education space since the latest state standards came into being many years ago. CTE education and resources have been a priority at the state, local, and federal level.

The importance has grown recently, due in large part to two factors. First, the cost of college continues to rise, and students expect an immediate return on investment. This is causing them to reconsider whether they want to enter higher education at all. Secondly, colleges are caught in the political headwinds, as they are accused of being “woke” and not welcoming. This may influence some students to not attend.

As more students opt to skip college, they want to be ready to embark on a career after high school, creating more demand for CTE programming at the high school level. Meanwhile, those who do want to attend college are looking for ways to defray the costs, such as earning college credits during high school in dual-credit programs.

States and districts are increasing their funding toward CTE, and enrollments in both CTE course and dual-credits programs are rising as well.