ACT Inc. and Kaplan Test Prep announced on Monday a new partnership to offer live online preparation for the ACT exam starting this fall. The program — ACT Kaplan Online Prep Live — will allow students to ask questions during courses taught by “master teachers,” according to a news release.
As news of unlikely pairings goes, it’s not quite the same as cats and dogs declaring a worldwide truce. Still, it’s an unprecedented merger: The maker of the nation’s most widely used college-admission examination joining forces with a global test-prep titan.
The move marks the latest shift in the relationship between the testing companies and the vast industry that thrives on standardized tests. That relationship, though long strained, is becoming cozier in the age of high-tech communication. The College Board, which owns the SAT, once insisted that test prep was essentially useless. Now it promotes the importance of “SAT practice” through a partnership with Khan Academy, the online-education hub. That partnership allows SAT takers to watch video lessons, take diagnostic quizzes, and get personalized recommendations online — all free.
ACT has responded to that move by collaborating with a company founded by Stanley Kaplan, a man whose “great contribution,” as The New Yorker once put it, was to prove that the SAT — and, ergo, many a standardized test — “was eminently coachable.” Now, the same two companies that compete for college-bound consumers and state-testing contracts are embracing similar — though not identical — forms of test preparation.
What all that might mean for students and colleges alike remains to be seen. For now, let’s take a closer look at what ACT Inc. and Kaplan Test Prep plan to offer — and why.
What will students get?
The new program will include study materials, questions from a full-length ACT, and access to instructional videos. Students may also tune in to live 30- or 60-minute instructional sessions on various topics, such as algebra, geometry, and writing — everything the ACT covers — as well as noncognitive aspects of learning, like grit. “All kinds of things that help students build their confidence,” says Lee Weiss, vice president for college-admissions programs at Kaplan Test Prep.
Who are the “master teachers” who will lead the sessions?
They are teachers employed by Kaplan Test Prep who are selected as the most-effective instructors, Mr. Weiss says. The company already offers live-streaming instruction to small groups of students preparing for the ACT and SAT. Essentially, it will scale up that model to serve more students at once. In addition to teachers who appear on camera during lessons, other instructors will provide answers to the questions students pose.
How will students be able to interact with instructors?
There will be a chat function allowing students to get their questions answered in real time, Mr. Weiss says: “Even if we have many thousands of students, we will have enough TAs in the room to be able to do that.” Students may also ask questions in forums that instructors will later answer.
Who will — and won’t — have to pay for it?
The service will be free for low-income students who register for the ACT exam with a fee waiver. Everyone else will pay less than $200. “We explored the option of offering it free to everyone, but it became challenging to provide the highest quality and value,” Edward R. Colby, a spokesman for ACT Inc., writes in an email. “We felt it was more important to offer the best instruction at the lowest possible cost and then provide it to low-income students for free.”
The organization also plans to offer free live online sessions to all students, starting with “Understanding Your ACT Scores and What to Do Next” later this month.
Why is the partnership between ACT Inc. and Kaplan Test Prep necessary at this point?
To help democratize the college-preparation process, according to representatives of both entities. “We’ve always maintained that the best way to prepare is to learn more academic content,” Mr. Colby says, “and we’ve been looking for a way to do that on a broader scale.” Mr. Weiss suggests that the partnership might not have been feasible in the near past. “The technology is advancing so rapidly that it really gives us new opportunities to offer instruction that were not feasible five to 10 years ago,” he says.
Does this mean ACT Inc. believes test prep is effective?
Sort of. “Our research has shown that test prep tends to have a very modest impact on ACT scores, but taking challenging courses in school, that really is the differentiator,” Mr. Colby says. “This is not going to replace that, but it’s going to supplement that. It may help students brush up on skills, or learn and master new skills that lead to success in college. The focus here is on the content.”
How will the program get into the hands of students who need it the most?
The best test-prep program in the world isn’t likely to help students who lack time, know-how, and supportive adults who can help them. That’s why Mr. Weiss says the new program’s creators plan to promote it vigorously, especially among organizations that help underrepresented students: “We’re committed to work with community-based organizations and nonprofits. We’re going to build a really nice infrastructure to get students aware of this.”
Correction (4/19/2016, 12:57 p.m.): This article originally misstated who the new program’s “master teachers” are. They are current instructors employed by Kaplan Test Prep, not former schoolteachers. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.
Eric Hoover writes about admissions trends, enrollment-management challenges, and the meaning of Animal House, among other issues. He’s on Twitter @erichoov, and his email address is eric.hoover@chronicle.com.
