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Kaplan Partners with ScholarCentric to Increase Graduation Rates and College Readiness

Kaplan Partners with ScholarCentric to Increase Graduation Rates and College Readiness

NEW YORK (Aug. 21, 2012)Kaplan K12 Learning Services [1], which partners with schools and districts to measurably propel student achievement, and ScholarCentric [2]™, a leading provider of programs designed to help students maximize their potential by developing the social-emotional/resiliency skills that are critical to engagement and academic performance, have joined forces to offer an expanded portfolio of college readiness solutions.

The path to college can be very challenging, and students need support to build confidence and motivation as well as academic skills. Many students who lack these qualities and skills struggle as they move through middle and high school. According to Civic Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center, the high school dropout rate remains elevated. Between 2001 and 2009, there was only a 3.5 percent increase nationally in the high school graduation rate. While 75 percent of U.S. students graduated in four years, about one in four still failed to graduate with their class.

To address the challenges that students face on their path to college, Kaplan, together with ScholarCentric, is growing its offerings to ensure that middle and high school students are confident, engaged, and motivated – key factors in improving academic performance and graduation rates according to a growing body of research. ScholarCentric’s research-based offerings for schools and districts include assessments and curricula for addressing the key social-emotional skills that are critical prerequisites to successful learning, including connections with educators, academic confidence, and intrinsic motivation. Equipped with concrete data on which students are at risk for academic failure and the underlying reasons why they struggle, educators are able to address the specific social-emotional needs of the student, leading to improved academic performance.

ScholarCentric’s programs complement Kaplan’s offerings for schools and districts, which include teacher resources to support rigorous, differentiated instruction and assessment; test readiness options for the PSAT, SAT, ACT and AP exams; skill-building lessons to deepen students’ knowledge of curriculum content and to teach critical thinking; as well as programs to guide students through the college admissions process.

“Kaplan and ScholarCentric share a common mission of working with educators to increase high school graduation rates and help more students get into college,” said Mark Freidberg, Vice President & General Manager of Kaplan K12. “Our ability to help students succeed on the SAT, ACT, PSAT and AP exams, combined with ScholarCentric’s Success Highways solution, will help ensure that students are academically resilient, supported to do their best, and inspired to go to college.”

“We believe that by pairing our unique, research-based solutions focused on student engagement with Kaplan’s comprehensive and effective college and career readiness offerings, we should see even better outcomes,” said Steven Weigler, CEO of ScholarCentric. “This partnership enables school districts to address the comprehensive range of student needs from middle school through college.”

About Kaplan K12 Learning Services
Kaplan K12 Learning Services, LLC (http://www.kaplank12.com [3]), a unit of Kaplan Test Prep (http://www.kaptest.com [4]), partners with schools to measurably propel student achievement. Kaplan K12 offers state test readiness programs to help students meet and exceed state standards, and college preparation solutions that support students as they prepare for college entrance exams and the admissions process. Its solutions also provide teachers with robust teaching resources and professional development support to impact achievement in their classrooms. Kaplan was recently recognized by ComputED Gazette’s 2012 Best Educational Awards (BESSIEs) for its ACT On Demand course as the “Top High School Test Preparation Website” and for its Teach! Strategies and Resources as the top Curriculum Development program in the “Teacher Tools” category. Kaplan Test Prep is a division of Kaplan Inc. (http://www.kaplan.com [5]), a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

About ScholarCentric
ScholarCentric focuses on helping students stay in school and achieve academic success. The company’s flagship product, Success Highways, is an innovative, research-based combination of assessment, curriculum and professional development designed to help transition middle and high school students into the higher grades and develop the academic resiliency skills they need to learn the rigorous coursework required to achieve a high school diploma. With Success Highways, students stay in school, score higher on achievement tests, and prepare for future education. This innovative program is aligned with state standards and was developed from the results of 15 years of University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee research and a seven-year pilot program in an urban school district. For more information, visit: www.ScholarCentric.com [6].

Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO)

Media Contacts

• Russell Schaffer, Kaplan K12 Learning Services, 212.453.7538, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com [7]

• Kristen Plemon, C. Blohm & Associates, 608-216-7300 x18, kristen@cblohm.com [8]