UPDATE 2-Scholastic Q2 profit beats estimates

* Q2 EPS from continuing ops $2.62 vs est $2.33

* Q2 rev $685.3 mln vs est $684.7 mln

* Reaffirms FY2012 outlook

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Scholastic Corp posted a second-quarter profit above Wall Street expectations, helped by higher sales of its educational programs for struggling students and stable revenue from sales of its children's books.

The publisher of the Harry Potter series also reaffirmed its full-year 2012 outlook.

The company said revenue from the Educational Technology and Services segment rose 30 percent driven by strong sales of its READ 180 Next Generation and System 44 programs - which are aimed at improving reading skills among school children.

The Children's Book Publishing and Distribution segment, which contributed more than half of Scholastic's quarterly revenue, was able to sustain revenue growth helped by some of the newer titles.

The new best-sellers include Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" trilogy, Walter Wick's "Can You See What I See? Toyland Express", as well as Brian Selznick's "Wonderstruck" and "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," Scholastic said.

The company also said it remains on track to introduce its children's e-reading application and e-bookstore in March 2012.

Last quarter, Scholastic, whose markets include Canada, the U.K., Australia, India and China, said it would cut annual non-digital costs by $15 million to fund the roll-out of its children's e-reading application and e-bookstore.

E-books account for about 25 percent of book sales by volume and 20 percent by revenue in the United States. In Britain, the figure is about 10 percent by volume, while the rest of Europe and Asia excluding Japan are just getting off the ground.

Scholastic's Sept-Nov earnings from continuing operations rose to $82.8 million, or $2.60 a share, from $74.9 million, or $2.14 a share, a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter rose 3 percent to $685.3 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S expected Scholastic to earn $2.33 a share on revenue of $684.7 million in the quarter -- seasonally its strongest.

Shares of the New-York based company, whose rivals include CBS Corp's publishing unit, Simon & Schuster, and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, have lost about a fifth of their value since touching a year-high of $32 on March 22, a day before it cut its full-year forecast.

They closed at $25.68 on Wednesday on Nasdaq.