Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company, and a leading educational publisher, today announced the selection of Scholastic Red, a professional development program being used in schools across the country to improve reading instruction, as a finalist in the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) 18th Annual Codie Awards. The Codie Awards showcase the software and digital content industry's finest products and services, and is the only peer recognition program in the industry.

"Scholastic Red is very honored to have been selected as a finalist for this year's Codie Awards," said John Lent, Vice President, Scholastic Education. "Scholastic has a long standing history of developing high quality, research-based products that meet the ever changing needs of schools. We are extremely pleased that our peers have recognized Scholastic Red as an innovative program that helps educators raise student achievement in reading."

Scholastic Red uniquely combines online and on-site learning to provide teachers all of the training, resources and ongoing support they need to implement research-based reading strategies in their classrooms. Red courses also support principals in providing instructional leadership and provide training for reading coaches - with the goal of helping the entire school community focus on reading improvement.

"The digital code and content industry is as innovative and vibrant as ever. For a company to make the cut as a finalist is a terrific achievement. Simply put, each finalist is a leader in its field. We are extremely proud to recognize the creativity and hard work that has brought them to this point," said Ken Wasch, SIIA President.

The 2003 Codie Awards winners will be announced on Tuesday, May 6, during the SIIA 2003 Annual Conference in San Francisco.

For more information about Scholastic Red, visit www.scholasticred.com or call (866)-888-5392.

About SIIA The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 800 leading software and information companies. For further information, http://www.siia.net.

Scholastic Corporation (NMS: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, textbooks, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, www.scholastic.com.