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Draft:Kaplan Test Prep

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Kaplan Test Prep
IndustryEducation
Founded1938
FounderStanley Kaplan
Headquarters
New York City
ProductsTest Preparation
ParentKaplan, Inc.
DivisionsAdmissions (pre-College and graduate admissions prep programs), Licensure (medical and nursing licensure prep programs, bar review), Metis (data science programs)
WebsiteKaptest.com

Kaplan Test Prep is the first and largest test prep company in the United States,[1] having helped millions of students prepare for standardized exams since its founding in 1938. It sells preparation materials for more than 100 standardized tests through tutoring, on-site classes, asynchronous and live programs, print books, and digital products.[2]

Kaplan Test Prep is a unit of global education company Kaplan, Inc., which also includes Kaplan Higher Education and Kaplan International.

History

As a teenager, Stanley Kaplan began tutoring neighborhood students out of his parents’ Brooklyn home in 1938, helping them prepare for the New York State Regents Exams. In 1946, a high school junior named Elizabeth came to him for help preparing for a new test called the Scholastic Aptitude Test.[3] From then on, Kaplan began preparing students for the SAT, which he viewed as providing a more level playing field by “ushering a larger, more diverse group of students into the world of higher education. It could give students the opportunity to get into the top colleges without attending a prestigious private school or being the child of an alumnus or big contributor."[4] Adoption of the SAT as an admissions requirement at U.S. colleges and universities grew throughout the 1950’s and the 1960's, and combined with the large number of college applicants from the baby boom generation, these years saw a dramatic increase in the need for test prep services.[5]

Throughout this period, Kaplan’s students were going through college and coming back to him seeking help with graduate and professional admissions exams, including the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and Dental Admission Test (DAT).[6]

By 1975, Kaplan had opened 70 learning centers.[7] Although Kaplan's claims that it could raise test scores were criticized by the educational establishment, which had claimed that tests like the SAT were "impervious to coaching,"[8] in 1979 the Federal Trade Commission found that test preparation could improve students’ scores.[9] Demonstrating that standardized tests were coachable helped undermine their use as a tool to keep certain groups of students out of elite schools.[10]

In 1985, The Washington Post Company (now Graham Holdings Company) bought the company from Stanley Kaplan.[11] In 1994, Jonathan Grayer was appointed CEO[12] and led the expansion of Kaplan into other educational areas beyond test preparation, such as higher education[13]and English language programs,[14] forming the educational services corporation of Kaplan, Inc. in 2000.[15]

Kaplan Test Prep Today

Kaplan Test Prep today operates as the test prep arm of Kaplan Inc. It delivers courses at numerous venues throughout the U.S., including Puerto Rico, Canada, and London. These courses are taught at more than 70 Kaplan Test Prep-branded locations and hundreds of other locations such as hotels, high schools and universities. Kaplan Test Prep also offers courses online, typically in a live online classroom or a self-study format. Private tutoring services are provided in person in select markets and online throughout the U.S. In addition, Kaplan Test Prep licenses material for certain of its courses to third parties and to a Kaplan affiliate, which, during 2017, delivered courses at 63 locations in 35 countries outside the U.S. Kaplan Test Prep also offers college admissions examination preparation courses and materials directly to high schools and school districts.[16]

In 2016, Kaplan Test Prep partnered with ACT, Inc, the maker of the ACT college admissions test, to deliver free and low-cost live online test prep programs.[17]

Products and Services

Kapan Test Prep offers preparation for various tests at the Kaplan Test Prep website:[18]

Kaplan Test Prep also owns Metis, a data science training provider that offers a bootcamp, part-time professional development courses, and corporate training. Metis was launched in 2014.[19]

Cultural References

“Stanley Kaplan” was the answer to a Jeopardy question “At 14, he tutored Brooklyn schoolmates for 25 cents an hour: later he founded a test prep empire” (aired November 11, 2015).[20]

In the sitcom Married (S1 Ep4 “Uncool”) Lina Bowman says, “I should go back to school. I should take one of those tests. I think I should take the MCAT or the LSAT or the GMAT. I should just cancel this lunch and take a Kaplan course” (aired August 7, 2014).[21]

In the U.S. sitcom The Office (S2 Ep 4 “The Fire”), Michael Scott notices a Kaplan test prep book in the back of Ryan Howard’s car and comments, “Oh, Stanley Kaplan, I know him” (aired October 11, 2005).[22]

Stephen Colbert shadowed Kaplan Test Prep’s CEO John Polstein as part of a segment called “The Jobbing Of America - CEOs” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (aired June 4, 2003).[23]

Kaplan GED books are featured throughout the 2018 Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish comedy Night School (2018 film).[24]

Kaplan is occasionally part of crossword puzzle hints in The New York Times, as in “Subj. of a Kaplan prep course” (8 Down)[25] or “What some Kaplan guides help prep for” (1 Down).[26]

Category:Test preparation companies Category:Companies established in 1938 Category:Education companies of the United States

References

  1. ^ The Washington Post, "Test-Prep Pioneer Stanley H. Kaplan Dies at 90"
  2. ^ Graham Holdings Company Annual Report, 2018
  3. ^ The New Yorker "Examined Life" December 17, 2001
  4. ^ Stanley H. Kaplan, Test Pilot (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001). 26-34
  5. ^ The New York Times "Stanley Kaplan, Teacher of Testing" September, 20 1981
  6. ^ Stanley H. Kaplan, Test Pilot (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001). 66.
  7. ^ PBS Frontline, "A History of the SAT Prep Business", Retrieved on 23 February 2018.
  8. ^ The New York Times, "‘Coaching’ Findings. May Change S.A.T." June 5, 1979
  9. ^ The New York Times "Stanley Kaplan, Pioneer in Preparing Students for Exams, Dies at 90"
  10. ^ The New Yorker "Examined Life" December 17, 2001
  11. ^ PBS Frontline, "A History of the SAT Prep Business", Retrieved on 23 February 2018.
  12. ^ CNN.com "Kaplan is starting an online college -- minus the keggers" April 10, 2000
  13. ^ The Washington Post "Kaplan to Buy Quest Education, Operator of Specialty Schools" June 28, 2000
  14. ^ The Street "Kaplan Buys Aspect Education" October 10, 2006
  15. ^ The Washington Post Company Annual Report, 2000
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ The Higher Education Journal "ACT and Kaplan collaborate to Make Test Prep Live, Free" April 18, 2016
  18. ^ "Official website". Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  19. ^ Venture Beat, "Starting in September, you can learn about data science through Kaplan", Retrieved on 16 July 2018.
  20. ^ Jeopardy! Archive Show #7174, Thursday, November 19, 2015
  21. ^ AV Club Review: Married, "Uncool" August 7, 2014
  22. ^ Springfield! Springfield! "The Office Season 2, Episode 4 script"
  23. ^ ComedyCentral.com "The Jobbing of America - CEOs" segment, June 4, 2003
  24. ^ YouTube "Night School Official Trailer" April 3, 2018
  25. ^ August 17, 2017 New York Times Crossword Puzzle Answers
  26. ^ July 8, 2018 New York Times Crossword Puzzle Answers
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