Jan 2009 Editor's Letter
By: Jill Pinheiro

Happy New Year!

Our singular focus at Christian School Products is to provide a comprehensive purchasing solution for school leaders, so I'm always interested in hearing about buying trends among educators.

Quality Education Data, Inc. (QED), a leading education market research and database firm, recently released Teacher Buyer Behavior, a report that focuses on the research and purchasing activities of teachers when buying materials for their individual classrooms.

Some of the findings from the report include:

* The majority of teachers are turning to their peers for purchasing advice on professional development materials (71%), supplemental materials (57%), and classroom supplies (58%).

* Half of all respondents report using the Internet as sources of information for supplemental materials and teacher supplies.

* Teachers with 1 to 5 (78%) and 6 to 15 (68%) years of experience are significantly more likely to rely on the Web when searching for supplemental materials compared to teachers with more than 16 years of experience (42%).

"The findings underscore teachers' deep commitment to making the best choices in educating children.  Teachers of all grades continue to invest a great deal of their own money each year to buy much-needed supplies and materials for their classrooms and students, and this report makes it possible for the education industry to address the changing needs of teachers," said Andy Lacy, president of QED.

How are these statistics in line with the purchasing trends at your own school? I'm always interested in hearing from you.

As an administrator making decisions overall for your facility, we hope that you find quality information within this magazine to pass along to your teachers to help them in the selection process for their own classrooms. Our goal is to be a school-wide resource for all of your product and service purchasing needs, large and small.

Don't forget to visit our Web site at www.cspmag.com during your research process for the selection of new products and services. Our in-depth Buyer's Guide is a one-stop resource for you, as a Christian school leader, for everything you need for your educational facility. It's packed full of the manufacturers and dealers in the educational furniture and supplies market.

Drop me a note and let me know what you'd like to see within these pages in 2009 to help you and your staff make the best buying decisions for your facility this year. You can reach me at jill@cspmag.com.

God Bless,

Jill Pinheiro
Managing Editor