Diversity has a New Home with ‘Improving Learning Resources through Diversity’ Initiative from AEP

AEP has launched the Improving Learning Resources through Diversity (ILRTD) initiative as a way to attract and retain diverse populations to the field of educational publishing. Designed to address the needs of students in K-12 schools, especially those in large urban areas where minorities are the majority, the project was funded by a grant through the state of Pennsylvania. The ILRTD initiative kicked off at the AEP Summit’s Out of the Box Breakfast  on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC.

Hall of Fame Portrait: Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., Part 1

On December 3, 2009, AEP will induct Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D, MDR; Michael Ross, Encyclopaedia Britannica; and Pleasant Rowland, Rowland Reading Foundation and American Girl into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. Here in his first installment, Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., President, EdNET at MDR, discusses the people who had the greatest influence on him and the advice he would give to those choosing educational publishing as a career.

Who has had the biggest influence on your career and why?

I’ve been fortunate in my career to have had many mentors so it is very hard to single out just one. Names that come to mind include Dick Roberts, Corp VP at SFN where I had my first job in K-12 educational publishing; Dick Morgan, president of Scott Foresman and, later, of the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Joint Venture and, still later, of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, for whom I first worked and later was a consultant; my wife Pam who worked alongside me at The Heller Reports for many years and from whom I continue to learn; Andy Lacy, former president of QED and now Senior Leader, Professional Services at MDR, whose broad vision for The Heller Reports as a part of QED and now MDR provided a broader canvas for me and the firm; and Vicki Bigham and Anne Wujcik, my stalwart colleagues at The Heller Reports, who taught me so much about schools, teachers and the people in our industry.

Key Principles for Publishing for the Digital Future

Over the past year experts in the educational publishing industry contributed to the AEP series, “Publishing for the Digital Future.” From trends in the classroom, to marketing and pricing strategies, to professional development in the new era, the series focused on highlighting actions that publishers could take now. Below is a list of action principles culled from the series. You can comment on any of the principles or read the entries in this blog under the category Publishing for the Digital Future.