Led by strong gains in the U.S. higher education market plus solid performances in school testing and international education as well as favorable exchange rates, Pearson said this morning that earnings for 2009 will be higher than previous forecasts. Among its other operations, Pearson said Penguin had a strong holiday season that help to keep up the sales momentum in the second half of the year after a soft first six months. Penguin saw strong growth in digital book formats last year, especially in the U.S. The weakest performer for Pearson was in U.S. education, although the company said it saw a modest improvement in the fourth quarter. Pearson will release full results March 1.