John Katzman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Katzman is the founder of The Princeton Review. A graduate of Princeton University, Katzman founded The Princeton Review in 1981, initially teaching SAT preparation to high-school students in New York City. Despite being the founder of a successful business based on preparing for a wide range of standardized tests (including the SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE, LSAT, and MCAT), Katzman is an outspoken critic of the modern preoccupation with standardized testing, and has argued that many tests are no better indicator of achievement in the relevant fields than grades and scores on other tests (such as the Advanced Placement exams) that students already complete. He is often invited to speak on topics related to education and the measurement of academic achievement.

Katzman also gained a bit of notoriety by becoming one of the earliest cyber-squatters. Among domains he registered (including those of many of the test types taught by the Princeton Review) was Kaplan.com. He lost the domain in arbitration after the rival test-prep company refused his offer to sell the domain for a case of beer (imported OR domestic). "Unfortunately," Katzman remarked, "these guys have no sense of humor, no vision, and no beer."

[edit] Selected Quotes

"You do need a common yardstick. You do need some way to judge an A at this school or this teacher versus an A at this school or this teacher. But there are lots of common yardsticks. Again, you could use blood type. You could use height. Anything is a common yardstick. What you have to say is, fine, it's common. But it is useful? And there are lots of tests that are more useful than the SAT that are also common."