Science Research Associates (SRA) was a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-based publisher of educational materials and schoolroom reading comprehension products.SRA
/ref> The company was acquired by

McGraw-Hill Education McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referen ...

in the early 2000s.

History

Science Research Associates Inc. was founded in 1938 with a trade and occupational focus. In 1957, it moved into individualized classroom instruction with the iconic SRA Reading Laboratory Kit, a format that they translated to mathematics, science, and social studies commonly called SRA cards. The labs were large boxes filled with color-coded cardboard sheets, and each sheet included a reading exercise for students. Each student would work on it independently of the other students in the class, consulting with the teacher only if he got stuck. The student would then follow up with multiple choice questions. As the child moved ahead, the cards would advance in difficulty. SRA was purchased by IBM in 1964. By this time, the company's line of primary and secondary school products had increased. Among the new products was the National Educational Development Tests, a series of

standardized tests A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predet ...

sold to schools as a method of testing students' likelihood of qualifying for

tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

. SRA produced both

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...

and

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

software in the 1980s.

Maxwell Communications Corporation Maxwell Communication Corporation plc was a leading British media business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It collapsed in 1991 following the death of its titular owner. History The com ...

bought SRA in 1988, and it became part of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill in 1989. Maxwell Communications collapsed, and McGraw-Hill acquired full ownership of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and SRA.

Educational programs

Since the 1960s, SRA has been the publisher of Direct Instruction programs, also known as DISTAR (Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading). These include ''Language for Learning, Reading Mastery, Reasoning and Writing, Connecting Math Concepts'' and ''Corrective Reading''. SRA acquired

Everyday Mathematics ''Everyday Mathematics'' is a pre-K and elementary school mathematics curriculum, developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (not to be confused with the University of Chicago School of Mathematics). The program, now pub ...

and purchased

Open Court Reading The Open Court Reading Program is a core Language arts/English series used in a large number of elementary schools classrooms. It was one of two reading programs adopted for use in California schools when textbooks were last chosen in 2002. ...

in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, the company was purchased by McGraw-Hill Education. The brand name and products were made part of the PreK-12 business of the company. The ''Imagine It!'' reading program was launched in 2007. McGraw-Hill Education also competes as a publisher of mathematics and science materials with programs such as ''Real Math, Number Worlds'' and ''Snapshots Video Science''.

References

External links

IBM Timeline
{{Authority control Former IBM subsidiaries Reading (process)

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Textbook publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1938 Educational publishing companies 1938 establishments in Illinois

History

Educational programs

See also

References

External links