College & Workforce Readiness

Princeton Review Backs Off From Test-Prep Claims

By Caralee J. Adams — May 13, 2010 1 min read
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Maybe I was right to be skeptical of all the postcards that are flooding my mailbox with claims that SAT test-prep classes will boost my high school student’s scores dramatically.

On Wednesday, the Princeton Review dropped ad claims for test-score improvement through its test-preparation courses. It was a voluntary action that the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus found to be necessary and appropriate, following a challenge by Kaplan Inc., a competing test-preparation service.

Kaplan complained the Princeton Review’s score-improvement claims weren’t based on improvement from one exam to another, but instead on the difference between results on Princeton’s diagnostic test and students’ self-reported scores on the actual exam after taking a Princeton Review course. Princeton agreed to permanently discontinue the claims.

Inside Higher Ed has a good piece giving some context to the issue.

These test-prep courses are costly, and it’s a smart move for students and parents to have realistic expectations about the results.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the College Bound blog.