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Science Research Associates

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Science Research Associates
Parent companyMcGraw-Hill Education
Founded1938
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationNew York City
Official websitewww.mheducation.com

Science Research Associates (SRA), founded by Lyle Spencer in 1938,[1] was a Chicago-based publisher of educational materials and schoolroom reading comprehension products.[2] The company was acquired by McGraw-Hill Education in the early 2000s.

History

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"In 1938,[2] SRA was established with the goal of using principles of behavioral sciences to improve career guidance and counseling. The company first published occupational interest surveys and later, testing and training materials for industry. Soon, SRA began to develop testing materials for elementary and secondary schools. "[3]

In 1950,[4] Donald Henry Parker[5][6][1] developed his multilevel reading product. In 1955, Parker proposed the product to Science Research Associates.[1]

In 1957, the SRA Reading Laboratory Kit[7] was first published, for individualized classroom instruction, that they translated to mathematics, science, and social studies[2] commonly called SRA cards.[8] The labs were large boxes filled with color-coded cardboard sheets, and each sheet included a reading exercise for students.[9] Each student would work on it independently of the other students in the class, consulting with the teacher only if he or she got stuck. The student would then follow up with multiple-choice questions. As the child moved ahead, the cards would advance in difficulty.

IBM purchased SRA in 1964.[10] 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 sold to schools as a method of testing students' likelihood of qualifying for college. SRA produced both IBM PC and Apple II software in the 1980s.[11] Maxwell Communication Corporation bought SRA in 1988, and it became part of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill in 1989.[12] Maxwell Communications collapsed, and McGraw-Hill acquired full ownership of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and SRA.

Educational programs

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Since the 1960s, SRA has published 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 and purchased Open Court Reading 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.

Further reading

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  • Peeler, Margaret Graham (1958). An experiment to determine the effectiveness of the S.R.A. reading laboratory as compared with other instructional materials in remedial reading classes for tenth grade pupils at Hillsborough High School, Tampa, Florida, in the school year 1957-58]. Florida State University Theses and Dissertations
  • Oyola, Tony, (2015). The Impact of the SRA Corrective Reading Program on Standardized Testing 1573. Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. Walden University ScholarWorks.
  • Man, Aman Tszman (2023). "Investigating the effectiveness of the scaffolded extensive reading intervention in enhancing the reading proficiency of weak second language learners of Hong Kong". PhD Thesis. Newcastle University.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Watters, Audrey (19 March 2015). "SRA Cards: A History of Programmed Instruction and Personalization". Hack Education. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b c SRA history[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "History of SRA". SRAONLINE.COM. Archived from the original on 14 December 2003. Copyright © 2003 SRA / McGraw-Hill.
  4. ^ history_of_reading_labs.pdf
  5. ^ Logan, Edgar (1962). "Don H. Parker: Prominent Pilgrim of Progress". The Clearing House. 37 (2): 77–79. ISSN 0009-8655. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  6. ^ Holloway, Lynette (1 July 2000). "Donald H. Parker, 88, Inventor Of Self-Paced Reading Program". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  7. ^ "SRA reading kit". Objects of school days past. sites.google.com. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  8. ^ Devine, Miranda (2010-06-05). "Lost generation finds new pride". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  9. ^ Parker, Don H.; Scannell, Genevieve (1959). "SRA reading laboratory". Science Research Associates. Retrieved 10 March 2025 – via Libraries, Pennsylvania State University.
  10. ^ "Highlights of IBM History". ed-thelen.org. Archived from the original on December 6, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  11. ^ Advertisement (November 1983). "Cross Clues / Free Enterprise". PC Magazine. pp. 263, 265. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  12. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine (1989-05-18). "McGraw-Hill and Maxwell Form Venture". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
[edit]
  • 1964 IBM Timeline (archived)
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