Argue for or against for-profit test publishers. 2nd Part

Read your classmates’ posts and build on (=add new claim that a classmate may have missed) or refute at least one argument.

Even as free online test prep grows, Kaplan’s services are still in demand (as they should be)
COLLAPSE
Despite the rise in open access test prep, Kaplan Test Prep is still a necessary entity for students preparing for tests like the SAT or even the GED. Kaplan can continue to thrive as a useful tool for students in the appropriate market, providing a structured, consistent environment for learning.

Kaplan is one of the leading test prep companies, offering assistance with over ninety standardized tests including the SAT and ACT (“Test Preparation”). Kaplan services can be expensive, however, and therefore are not necessarily available to all students (Chute, “College Board jumps into SAT coaching as test changes loom”). An issue that has arisen in regards to tests such as the SAT and ACT, is that students from lower income families do poorly compared to the more well-off students. One hypothesis is that the students with money have more opportunities for test prep, including services from companies like Kaplan or The Princeton Review (Mapp, “Education nonprofit rides next wave of test preparation”).

With the age of digital learning upon us, it would thus make sense that any sort of free access to practice tests would be a threat to Kaplan. This is exactly the case with Khan Academy, which offers free content in the form of tutorials and practice tests in reading, writing, and math. Khan Academy has also teamed up with College Board, the creator and administrator of these tests. Such a pair could provide quite the influence on schools and students, ultimately giving these lesser-advantaged kids a higher probability of doing well on College Board exams (Mapp, “Education nonprofit rides next wave of test preparation”).

Kaplan has not been completely cut out, however, and manages to have a sizable influence on students. Resources like Kaplan allow students to see better results on College Board tests, making schools more likely to continue to support College Board, and also proving Kaplan’s own worth. When students do well on these tests, it reflects what they are learning, how they use that knowledge, and how that knowledge and the testing environment will prepare them for a college setting (Chute, “College Board jumps into SAT coaching as test changes loom; Greenstein, “SAT Prep is Not ‘Gaming the System’”).

It is only natural then, that College Board would want to continue to support an organization like Kaplan. That is why, even after signing with Khan Academy and their free access, College Board continued to keep test prep companies like Kaplan informed about upcoming changes in the SAT, in particular. This allowed these companies to continue to prepare PSAT and SAT manuals and practice exams (Chute, “College Board jumps into SAT coaching as test changes loom”). It proved valuable, too, because, as has become the eternal debate within publishing—digital over print—parents and students were still looking for physical books