Test preparation
Encyclopedia
Test preparation or exam preparation primarily refers to educational courses, tutoring services, and educational materials/learning tools designed to increase student
s' performance on standardized test
s, particularly entrance examination
s used for admissions to institutions of higher education
, such as college (e.g. the SAT
and ACT), business school
(the GMAT), law school
(the LSAT), medical school
(the MCAT), and graduate school
(the GRE
). Less commonly, the term is used to refer to studying for other types of tests.
Test preparation for the SAT is a highly lucrative field. Some have criticized the SAT because preparation often can lead to much higher scores, but others have embraced the opportunity to improve their scores.
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s' performance on standardized test
Standardized test
A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a...
s, particularly entrance examination
Entrance examination
An entrance examination is an examination that many educational institutions use to select students for admission. These exams may be administered at any level of education, from primary to higher education, although they are more common at higher levels....
s used for admissions to institutions of higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
, such as college (e.g. the SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
and ACT), business school
Business school
A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in Business Administration. It teaches topics such as accounting, administration, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, public relations, strategy, human resource...
(the GMAT), law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
(the LSAT), medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
(the MCAT), and graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
(the GRE
Graduate Record Examination
The Graduate Record Examinations is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States, in other English-speaking countries and for English-taught graduate and business programs world-wide...
). Less commonly, the term is used to refer to studying for other types of tests.
Companies
Major companies offering test preparation services include:- C2 EducationC2 EducationC2 Education is a for-profit American company that offers subject tutoring, and tutoring for standardized achievement tests, in particular those offered by the Educational Testing Service , such as the PSAT and SAT, and also the ACT offered by ACT, Inc...
- GrockitGrockitGrockit is an online social learning game company. Grockit prepares students for the SAT, ACT, GMAT, LSAT and GRE standardized exams. Students can take practice tests while collaborating online with other users. Grockit was founded in 2006 by Farbood Nivi...
- KaplanKaplan, Inc.Kaplan, Inc. is a for-profit corporation headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan. Kaplan provides higher education programs, professional training courses, test preparation materials and other services for various levels of education...
- KnewtonKnewtonKnewton is an adaptive learning company that has developed a platform to personalize educational content. The Knewton platform allows schools, publishers, and developers to provide adaptive learning for any student. Knewton recently announced a partnership with Pearson Education to power the...
- The Princeton ReviewThe Princeton ReviewThe Princeton Review is an American-based standardized test preparation and admissions consulting company. The Princeton Review operates in 41 states and 22 countries across the globe. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT and advice regarding college...
- Revolution prepRevolution prepRevolution Prep is a for-profit American company that offers test preparation courses, including group classes, private tutoring, and online courses for the SAT and ACT standardized achievement tests...
- StudyPointStudyPointStudyPoint is a for-profit American company that provides academic and test preparation tutoring to students in grades K-12. It offers preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT, ACT, PSAT, and SAT Subject Tests, as well as tutoring for academic subjects such as math, biology,...
- Sylvan LearningSylvan LearningSylvan Learning consists of franchised and corporate supplemental learning centers which provide personalized instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills, homework support, and test preparation for college entrance and state exams...
Resource providers
Most companies and educators that offer test preparation services also offer traditional (hard copy) and technology-based learning tools, such as books and other printed matter, software, websites, hand-held devices, or content for such devices. So do most test makers, publishers of self-help, instructional and educational materials, and makers of hardware and software. Some prominent resource providers in the United States include:Test makers
- ACT, Inc. - publisher of the ACT
- American Council on EducationAmerican Council on EducationThe American Council on Education is a United States organization, established in 1918, comprising over 1,800 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education-related associations, organizations, and corporations....
(ACE) - publisher of the GEDGEDGeneral Educational Development tests are a group of five subject tests which, when passed, certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills...
test - Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)Association of American Medical CollegesThe Association of American Medical Colleges is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC and established in 1876. It administers the Medical College Admission Test...
- publisher of the MCAT test - College BoardCollege BoardThe College Board is a membership association in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board . It is composed of more than 5,900 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. It sells standardized tests used by academically oriented...
- publisher of the SATSATThe SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
test - Educational Testing Service (ETS)Educational Testing ServiceEducational Testing Service , founded in 1947, is the world's largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization...
- publisher of the GREGREGRE may refer to:* Gecko , used by Mozilla web browsers* GRE , a Japanese multinational radio and electronics equipment manufacturer...
and TOEFLTOEFLThe Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL , evaluates the ability of an individual to use and understand English in an academic setting....
tests - Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) - publisher of the GMAT
- Harcourt AssessmentHarcourt AssessmentHarcourt Assessment was a company that published and distributed educational and psychological assessment tools and therapy resources and provided educational assessment and data management services for national, state, district and local assessments...
- publisher of the Miller Analogies TestMiller Analogies TestThe Miller Analogies Test is a standardized test used primarily for graduate school admissions in the USA. Created and still published by Harcourt Assessment, the MAT consists of 120 questions in 60 minutes ....
(MAT) - Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) - publisher of the LSAT test
Third parties
- Barron's Educational SeriesBarron's Educational SeriesBarron's Educational Series, Inc. is an American test preparation company, founded in 1941 as a publisher of materials to help students to prepare for college entrance examinations, and that offers online college entrance exam preparation classes...
Test Prep - publisher of books and educational materials - CliffsNotesCliffsNotesCliffsNotes are a series of student study guides available primarily in the United States. The guides present and explain literary and other works in pamphlet form or online. Detractors of the study guides claim they let students bypass reading the assigned literature...
Test Prep - a publisher of study guides - The Complete Idiot's Guides - publisher of instructional reference books, such as The Complete Idiot's Guide to Acing the GRE (ISBN 978-1592575152)
- For Dummies Test Prep Guides - publisher of instructional/reference books
- Gary R. GruberGary GruberGary R. Gruber is an American physicist, educator, and author who has written many books and software programs for standardized test preparation....
, PhD - educator and author - McGraw-HillMcGraw-HillThe McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
Test Prep and Study Guides - publisher of books and educational materials - Peterson'sPeterson'sPeterson’s, founded in 1966, is an American company offering a wide range of live, print, and online products and services including test preparation, school searches, financial aid searches, career exploration tools, and professional writing services...
Test Prep - publisher of books and educational materials - SparkNotesSparkNotesSparkNotes, originally part of a website called The Spark, is a company started by Harvard students Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, Chris Coyne, and Eli Bolotin in 1999 that originally provided study guides for literature, poetry, history, film, and philosophy...
Test Prep - a publisher of study guides - Texas InstrumentsTexas InstrumentsTexas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
Test Prep Solutions- technology company that offers test-maker approved calculators and a variety of test preparation and test-taking tools
Criticism
Some test-preparation programs have been proven to help students improve test scores, but others may have little effect.Test preparation for the SAT is a highly lucrative field. Some have criticized the SAT because preparation often can lead to much higher scores, but others have embraced the opportunity to improve their scores.