The Princeton Review's Institutional SAT Prep Program Meets ESSA II Standards, Demonstrating Positive Impacts on Student Scores

Instructure Effectiveness Study Shows Statistically Significant Improved Student Outcomes for Users of SAT Prep Program

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princeton Review^®, one of the nation's leading education services companies, announced that a new effectiveness study has demonstrated that the company's SAT^® Prep meets Level II requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In addition, an accompanying logic model satisfies Level IV requirements, demonstrating that the SAT Prep program roadmap is informed by high-quality research. Both the effectiveness study and the logic model were completed by Instructure Research, a third-party research and evaluation group. The study and model were both designed to assess student outcomes for an institutional program in which a K–12 district partnered with The Princeton Review to provide test prep for its students.

To meet ESSA Level II requirements, the effectiveness study had to demonstrate at least one statistically significant positive effect on student outcomes; it showed two. It also had to include at least 350 participants; it had 626 in the "treatment" group, i.e., the group of students who engaged in The Princeton Review's SAT Prep course. (In total, the study examined outcomes for 1,252 students.) Other criteria for meeting ESSA Level II requirements included proper design and implementation of the quasi-experimental study, documentation of baseline equivalence, and use of statistical controls. All of these criteria were met.

The effectiveness study showed two statistically significant favorable outcomes. First, it demonstrated that students who attended SAT Prep sessions with The Princeton Review had higher spring 2024 SAT scores than demographically similar non-users. Second, the study demonstrated that increased student SAT Prep engagement led to higher scores. Students who attended four to seven sessions (moderate use) and 8–10 sessions (high use) had statistically significantly higher spring 2024 SAT scores than students who attended 0–3 sessions (low use).

"We are thrilled that the Instructure team's research showed what we and our students have always known—SAT prep from The Princeton Review works," said Bob Batten, Chief Executive Officer. "SAT scores have become an important tool for helping students gain admission to and win financial aid for college. We are honored to be part of students' higher education success stories."

All of the study participants were from the same Texas school district, which partnered with The Princeton Review to provide SAT Prep at no cost to students. Student participants were predominantly Hispanic (61 percent), followed by white (22 percent), African American (7 percent), Asian (6 percent), and multi-racial (4 percent). Twenty-six percent of student participants were economically disadvantaged. To ensure the validity of findings and adhere to ESSA Level II evidence standards, researchers created matched samples and conducted baseline equivalence testing for treatment (SAT Prep users) and comparison (SAT Prep non-users) student samples. They used fall 2023 PSAT™/SAT scores as a measure of students' baseline achievement, and spring 2024 SAT scores to evaluate student outcomes.

Enhancing the research basis for the effectiveness study is a logic model, completed in December 2024 by the Instructure team. The model satisfies the criteria for ESSA Level IV by demonstrating that the program design is informed by high-quality research.

"For more than four decades, we've helped students achieve ambitious exam results and gain admission to their dream schools," said Batten. "Our mission is to provide personalized, innovative, best-in-class private tutoring, test prep, and admission products and services to help students knock down barriers and achieve their academic goals. We are dedicated to advancing that mission in all we do for students."

About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school-bound students as well as working professionals achieve their education and career goals through its many education services and products. These include online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 44th year. The company's Tutor.com brand is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 27 million tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on X (formerly Twitter) @ThePrincetonRev and Instagram @theprincetonreview.

SAT^® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this product.

PSAT/NMSQT^® is a registered trademark of the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which are not affiliated with, and do not endorse, this product.

WEBSITE: www.princetonreview.com

SOURCE The Princeton Review