John Katzman
John Katzman is an education entrepreneur.
He is the founder of Noodle Education, a search and recommendation engine for schools, tutors, instructional videos, coaches, and any other education resource. Prior to that, he founded 2U, which partners with the University of Southern California, Georgetown University, UNC-Chapel Hill and other universities to deliver degree programs online. He served as its CEO until January 2012.
Katzman, born in 1959, is best known as 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 has been involved in the founding of several other education companies, including Tutor.com and Student Advantage; he is an angel investor in several education technology ventures, and serves on the Boards or Advisory Boards of others.
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 is it useful? And there are lots of tests that are more useful than the SAT that are also common."