New Zealand’s Global Education Systems has continued its worldwide expansion, announcing a new partnership with North America’s largest education publishers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, to distribute its books across the US and Canada.
As part of the partnership, GES will create a new reading package of 320 books, called JillE Literacy, to support HMH’s Into Reading program which will launch in June 2019.
“Many of these approaches were developed in New Zealand”
GES director Tracy Strudley said there was an increased appreciation for New Zealand’s approach to English literacy and learning in North America, adding the county had become a recognised brand for many school teachers.
“Many of these approaches [to learning to read] were actually developed in New Zealand,” she said, adding that the series’ author Jill Eggleton had become globally well-known.
“Jill Eggleton is a big name in the US and teachers know her, are loyal to her. She understands what it’s like to be a classroom practitioner, so the material that she has written teachers just love.”
Strudley said the series took a classroom installation approach, rather than school installation, which provided better-tailored learning experiences for students.
“As a classroom teacher, we’ve got students who are at different stages of their literacy journey,” she told The PIE News.
“A lot of packages that go into schools in the US are always for grade level students when the reality is that that’s just not the case.”
The deal is the latest for GES after it secured Australasia’s largest print run for an education provider, finalizing a deal to distribute 1.63 million books to China.
Strudley said the company was exploring opportunities in Thailand and the Philippines.
