A report released by the Software Information Industry Association finds that testing and assessment products are the biggest category among education technology sales.

In "Testing and Assessment: A PreK-12 U.S. Education Technology Market Report", these products "include software, digital content and related digital services- now make up the largest single category of educational technology sales," said an article on THEJournal.com. 

"Vendor responses to SIIA’s annual U.S. Education Technology Market: PreK-12 survey showed that sales in this category have increased 57 percent over the last three years of the survey," the article said. "For the 2012-2013 school year, sales in the testing and assessment category reached almost $2.5 billion."

According to the article, participants in the survey identified four key factors "affecting the recent growth of the digital testing and assessment market segment":

1. The Common Core State Standards are changing curricula.
2. The rollout of Common Core assessments is galvanizing activity.
3. There is widespread demand for more and better formative assessments. 
4. Testing and assessment is leading the transition from print to digital. 

"We view the growth of the preK-12 testing and assessment market segment over the last several years as even more remarkable, given that it has occurred in difficult economic times during an overall preK-12 budget and spending decline," said Karen Billings, vice president of the SIIA Education Division.

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor