Progress Learning and Horizon Education Have Teamed up to Make SAT and ACT Prep More Accessible for All

The SAT and ACT are no longer just college entrance exams. Today, they’re much more than that.

As many colleges across the U.S. opt to not use the SAT and ACT in the admissions process, over 20 states—including Nevada, Indiana, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, and more—are now making the SAT or ACT a mandatory summative assessment for high school graduation.

With all of these new changes, many students and teachers are wondering how best to prepare for these all-important exams. Lucky for you, the team at Progress Learning has been working hard behind the scenes these past few months, finding ways to make SAT and ACT test prep even more accessible to every single student across the country.

In an effort to expand and strengthen our high school experience, we have acquired Horizon Education—a leading provider of SAT, PSAT, ACT and PreACT test-prep services. With the addition of Horizon Education to our already powerful K-12 offering, we are now able to provide more first-in-class resources for students and professional development for teachers.

Let’s take a deeper dive into Horizon Education and how this acquisition will help your high schoolers prepare for the SAT and ACT.

About Horizon Education

College test prep pro, Dustin Bainbridge, founded Horizon Education in 2013 with one simple vision in mind: to make ACT and SAT test prep accessible to all students, no matter their background or socioeconomic status.

During his numerous years at Princeton Review, Dustin saw firsthand how many students from underrepresented communities were falling behind, not due to intelligence or desire but simply because they didn’t have the same access as other students to much-needed ACT and SAT test prep. Dustin decided he wanted to change that, and thus Horizon Education was born.
“Many of us live in a world that is unstandardized. Many of us wear different clothes, eat different foods and share different thoughts,” said Dustin during his TEDx talk. “However, in education, we are measured by standardized tests and grade-level standards that are set forth for each of us that we must master in order to succeed in school. So what happens when we take a child from an unstandardized world and put them in a standardized system? The achievement gap is what is formed.”

How Does Horizon Work?

While many colleges have dropped the SAT and ACT, many states are moving in the opposite direction, making these exams necessary for high school graduation. This makes studying for the SAT and ACT even more crucial for many high schoolers across the country, especially those in rural “test prep deserts” and underrepresented communities with historically low access to SAT and ACT test prep.

So how does Horizon help? Unlike other SAT/ACT preparation tools that are sold to consumers, Horizon partners directly with high schools to equip students with the resources they need to master these exams. This levels the playing field so students in underrepresented communities are fully prepared when test day comes. 

In addition to their personalized test prep tools, Horizon offers teacher training and professional development so teachers can become SAT/ACT Master Instructors in their high schools. Their powerful solutions also help educators use data to measure and analyze growth over time with diagnostic PSAT, SAT, PreACT, and ACT-aligned assessments, including detailed score reports and analysis.

Since starting Horizon, Dustin and the team have seen tremendous results, especially in low-income communities. They were able to increase standardized testing scores among students of color, boost graduation rates, and provide additional income for teachers.

As just one example, George Westinghouse CTE High School in Brooklyn decided to implement Horizon Education’s SAT readiness course in their classrooms. They used a six-week course, 15+ hours of prep instruction, 3 practice SAT assessments with data-driven reporting and in-person professional development training for 3 GWHS teachers.

The results? 95% of their students increased their total SAT score by completing the readiness course and overall, the school saw a 160-point average score improvement.

What Can Students and Teachers Expect in 2022-2023?

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Horizon has officially joined Progress Learning as a standalone add-on. This means that the thousands of high schools already subscribed to Progress Learning now have the option to purchase Horizon Education’s incredible tools and resources. Districts that have purchased Progress Learning for the 2022-2023 school year can also purchase this add-on to further supplement their high school graduation support.

What Does This Mean for the Digital SAT?

With the recent news that the SAT is going digital (goodbye, no. 2 pencils!), Progress Learning has been gearing up with all-new tech-enhanced items that have been specifically designed for standardized testing. We are excited to integrate these with Horizon Education over the coming months and find even more ways of supporting high schoolers.

Interested in bringing Horizon Education to your high school? Learn more today by requesting a demo with Progress Learning.