Baldacci joins PrepMe in announcing free online SAT prep course for all juniors
January 31, 2007
PORTLAND – February 1, 2007 – Gov. John Baldacci and Angela Faherty, deputy commissioner of the Department of Education, joined with representatives from the online test preparation company PrepMe.com on Thursday to announce the offering of a free online SAT preparation course to every high school junior in Maine.
For the next three years, PrepMe.com plans to let every junior in Maine use its program without cost to students, schools or the State. The cost of the Gold Program is usually $300 and through this donation, over $4.5 million worth of test preparation per year will be made available.
“We are very grateful for this donation because it expands access to test preparation to all of our students, regardless of geography and financial situation,” Baldacci said.
In September 2005, the State of Maine made a bold, strategic decision to re-engineer the focus of high school education in the state toward college readiness by requiring all juniors to take the SAT each spring. The results from the April 2006 test, the first year of the program, were released in December.
As could be expected with the inclusion of so many students who may not have been considering college in their first few years of high school, many high school averages fell below the national averages. Across the state, school district personnel and teachers are working toward instituting new programs and instructional strategies to help raise scores in the coming years.
“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to play a valuable role in the academic and professional success of Maine’s students by helping them improve their mathematics, reading, and writing skills,” said PrepMe CEO Karan Goel.
Built by recent graduates of Stanford and The University of Chicago, PrepMe’s SAT program creates a personalized study plan based on a thorough diagnostic of each student’s strengths and weaknesses.
The program is comprised of instructive lessons and quizzes based on the essential elements of the SAT, lessons just like those taught by great teachers, not test-taking tricks. By making the program available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to every student in the state, PrepMe and the State of Maine are doing everything they can to level the playing field for all Maine students.
PrepMe is not associated with the College Board, which develops the SAT. Also, the “Me” in PrepMe does not stand for “Maine.”
As part of Maine’s SAT Initiative, the College Board provides access for all Maine students from the time they enter high school to an online program that supports their learning.
Faherty said the online course from PrepMe will help students to polish and refine learning that has already taken place.
“The SAT is the standard we believe all students can achieve to be prepared for the 21st century,” Faherty said. “Our juniors have 12 years of study and preparation behind them that leads them to this opportunity to demonstrate their personal best.”
Students across the country and around the world have recently used PrepMe’s program to significantly raise their scores. PrepMe’s innovative methods have been featured in Business Week, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Financial Times, Fortune Small Business Magazine, and The Houston Chronicle amongst others.
About PrepMe Premium Online Test Prep
PrepMe Corporation, based in Chicago, Ill., is a premium online test preparation service founded and provided by the nation’s highest test scorers to help bring customized, high-quality SAT and ACT preparation to students everywhere.
A leader in the Adaptive Learning Technology arena, PrepMe provides students with a customized test preparation course specifically targeting individual strengths and weaknesses. Students are also provided with one-on-one online tutoring and essay coaching from current students at the nation’s most selective universities.
The winner of the 2005 FORTUNE Small Business Magazine Student Showdown, PrepMe was founded in 2001 by three college students and aspiring entrepreneurs from Caltech, Stanford, and the University of Chicago who revolutionized the test prep industry by combining their know-how of successful SAT techniques and strategies with the popularity of the Internet. The three founders were featured in Business Week’s Best Entrepreneurs under 25 in 2006. The result is an industry-leading online test preparation service offered at half the cost of its competitors, making academic achievement accessible to all students.
For more information, please visit www.prepme.com.
David Connerty-Marin, Director of Communications, Maine Department of Education, 207-624-6880
