Who Owns Scott Foresman?

Scott Foresman was founded in 1896 by E.H. Scott and Hugh Foresman in Chicago, Illinois. The company began as a general publishing house before focusing on educational materials. In its early years, the firm published a range of titles including textbooks and reference works, gradually building a reputation in the educational publishing market.

The company's first major educational success came with the publication of the Elson Readers, a series of elementary reading textbooks authored by William H. Elson. The Elson Readers, first published in the early 1900s, became one of the most widely used reading textbook series in American schools and established Scott Foresman's presence in the K-12 market. The series was later revised and expanded, with the Elson-Gray Readers published in 1930, co-authored by William S. Gray, who would become a central figure in the company's reading curriculum development.

In 1930, Scott Foresman published the first edition of the Dick and Jane readers, written by William S. Gray and May Hill Arbuthnot. The Dick and Jane series, officially titled "The New Basic Readers," became one of the most influential and widely distributed reading textbook series in American educational history. The series used a controlled vocabulary and a look-say method of reading instruction, where children learned to recognize whole words by sight rather than through phonics. By the 1960s, an estimated 80 to 85 percent of American first-grade students used Dick and Jane readers.

The Dick and Jane series introduced iconic characters including Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot the dog, and Puff the cat. The simple sentences and illustrations in these books became deeply embedded in American cultural memory. The series was revised multiple times over its publication history, with new editions released in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s to reflect changing social norms and educational approaches. The original series was discontinued in the late 1960s and early 1970s as reading instruction shifted toward phonics-based methods and as the civil rights movement prompted criticism of the series' lack of racial and economic diversity.

Beyond the Dick and Jane readers, Scott Foresman expanded its publishing operations across multiple K-12 subjects throughout the mid-20th century. The company published mathematics textbooks, science series, social studies materials, and language arts curricula. Scott Foresman became one of the major American educational publishers, competing with Houghton Mifflin, Macmillan, and Ginn and Company for adoption in state and local school districts.

In 1964, Scott Foresman published the "Dick and Jane" readers' last major revision, titled "Scott Foresman Reading Systems." By this time, the company was facing growing criticism that its reading materials did not reflect the diversity of American schoolchildren. The series' predominantly white, middle-class characters and suburban settings drew criticism from educators and civil rights advocates. This criticism, combined with the shift toward phonics-based reading instruction, led to the eventual discontinuation of the Dick and Jane approach.

The company was acquired by Time Inc. in 1967, which merged Scott Foresman with its other educational publishing holdings. In 1986, Time Inc. sold Scott Foresman to HarperCollins, a publishing company then owned by News Corporation. Under HarperCollins ownership, Scott Foresman continued to publish K-12 textbooks and began developing digital learning materials.

In 1996, Pearson plc acquired HarperCollins Educational Publishing from News Corporation for $580 million. This acquisition brought Scott Foresman, Addison-Wesley, and Silver Burdett Ginn into Pearson's portfolio. The acquisition was part of Pearson's broader strategy to build a global education publishing business, which also included the 1998 acquisition of Simon & Schuster's education and professional divisions for $4.6 billion.

Following the Pearson acquisition, Scott Foresman was integrated into Pearson's School division. The brand continued to publish reading, mathematics, science, and social studies textbooks, increasingly supplemented by digital learning platforms. Pearson invested in developing online assessment tools, interactive digital textbooks, and adaptive learning platforms that incorporated Scott Foresman content.

In the 2010s and 2020s, the educational publishing market underwent significant disruption from digital learning technologies, open educational resources, and changes in state adoption processes. Pearson sold its U.S. K-12 courseware business in 2019, though Scott Foresman content continued to be distributed through Pearson's digital platforms and licensing arrangements. The brand's reading and science curricula remain available through Pearson's school product offerings as of 2026.