March 5, 2014

Kaplan Test Prep Comments on the College Board’s SAT Announcement

Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews

New York, NY (March 5, 2014) – The following statement is from Seppy Basili, vice president, Kaplan Test Prep, regarding today’s announcement by the College Board on upcoming changes to the SAT.

“We think it’s terrific that the College Board is making SAT prep widely available for students of all income levels. Not only are they validating that test prep works, but it’s something we’ve been doing for years. In fact, we hope they extend these kinds of opportunities to their AP programs as well. “

“It’s important to keep in mind that SAT scores have always been a measure of whether a student is prepared for college-level work and everyone should have an opportunity to put their best foot forward. Test prep is about knowing the content, having a strategy and developing confidence. Students and their families have long recognized that knowing what’s on an exam and how to prepare for it is critical to succeeding on it.”

To arrange an interview with a Kaplan SAT and college admissions expert about the upcoming changes to the test, please contact Russell Schaffer at 212.453.7538 or russell.schaffer@kaplan.com.

About Kaplan Test Prep

Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.

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February 27, 2014

ESC Region 12 Partners with Kaplan to Support College and Career Readiness for High School and Middle School Students

Partnership to Help Schools Meet Requirements of House Bill 5

Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)

Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanK12

New York, NY (February 27, 2014) – To help schools prepare students for college and/or the workforce, Education Service Center (ESC) Region 12, a nonprofit service organization that provides professional development and program support to school personnel, has partnered with Kaplan K12 Learning Services, a leading provider of skill building solutions for academic success and college readiness. This goal becomes increasingly important as Texas adjusts to a new landscape with the implementation of House Bill 5 (HB 5). HB 5 is shifting how schools prepare young people for college and careers through a diversified curriculum.

HB 5 initiated changes to the Texas Education Code (TEC) in a number of areas including curriculum, accountability, assessment and graduation planning. Students must now meet indicators to be deemed “college ready” in order to attempt earning an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

HB 5 encourages students to pursue Advanced Placement (AP) coursework to help them meet graduation requirements and earn endorsements. Through AP coursework, students can also achieve a performance acknowledgement on their diploma. The Texas Education Agency recently announced that the number of Texas graduates taking at least one Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Exam has more than doubled during the past decade. The number of low-income graduates taking at least one AP Exam has more than quadrupled, and the number of Hispanic/Latino graduates taking AP has nearly tripled over the last ten years. This expansion has resulted in a significant increase in the number of qualifying AP Exam scores typically required for college credit. Through this partnership, Kaplan will offer a program to supplement the core AP classroom and help students prepare for specific written-exam formats.

“Schools are working hard to transition to the new graduation plans and offer flexibility to students to find what interests them most and successfully transition to college or the workforce, said Dr. Jerry Maze, executive director for ESC Region 12. “As their partner, we are excited to offer a cost-saving and timely solution to help schools bolster their efforts to prepare students and staff with additional and customizable courses, test preparation and financial and graduation planning that will help them meet or exceed HB 5 requirements.”

Among the different academic and staff support programs that Kaplan K12 Learning Services will provide Texas students, parents and educators are:

ACADEMIC READINESS/ASSESSMENT: SAT®, PSAT®, and ACT® On Demand courses: On Demand courses for the ACT, PSAT, and SAT deliver Web-based, adaptive instruction based on individual learning needs to help students successfully prepare for these important college entrance exams. The programs provide 24/7 access to self-paced, online prep, delivered via Kaplan’s Smart Track technology that personalizes the curriculum based on each student’s performance.
STEP-BY-STEP PLANNING FOR COLLEGE: Kaplan Aspire: Designed for first-generation college applicants, Kaplan Aspire guides students through the college admissions process by helping them explore the value of college, navigate the application and financial aid process, and pursue post-secondary and career goals.
CURRICULUM SUPPORT & STAFF DEVELOPMENT:

Kaplan Foundations™ Level S, ELA and Math: The program builds critical skills for middle school academic and test prep success with two tiered leveled lessons for individualized instruction.
Teach!® Strategies and Resources: The online toolkit contains a wealth of materials to support rigorous, differentiated classroom instruction. It provides lesson planning resources and assets for ongoing professional development designed to enhance current teaching practices.
Kaplan’s College Readiness Professional Development Workshops: The seminars deliver on site or live, online content for up to 3 hours, preparing teachers and guidance counselors to help students navigate college admissions exams and the college admissions process.
Kaplan’s AP Writing Edge: This program includes 18 hours of instruction to supplement the core AP classroom and help students prepare for specific written-exam formats. Students taking a number of AP courses will benefit from this single writing course, which will give them effective tips, strategies and practice that they can leverage across all subject areas.

“Through this partnership with ESC Region 12, Kaplan K12 Learning Services will provide access to high-quality, proven college and career readiness programs to open more opportunities for students across central Texas, whether that path leads to college or directly into the workforce,” said Seppy Basili, general manager, Kaplan K12 Learning Services. “Kaplan and ESC Region 12 share a common mission of improving the success of students of all backgrounds, which is fundamental to economic success. We look forward to working closely with ESC Region 12 to set Texas students up for college and career success.”

For more information, contact Chris Holecek at cholecek@esc12.net or 254.297.1284 or visit www.esc12.net/hb5.

*SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. PSAT/NMSQT is a trademark jointly owned by the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product. None of the trademark holders are affiliated with Kaplan or this partnership.

About Kaplan Test Prep

About ESC Region 12

Education Service Center Region 12 (http://www.esc12.net) services focus on helping schools save money and leverage resources into the classroom. One of 20 regional education service centers statewide, ESC Region 12 offers training and expert assistance to educators and school personnel to increase student achievement. ESC Region 12 offers effective, economical programs and services through professional development, expert assistance, direct services and alternative educator certification.

Based in Waco, ESC Region 12 serves 77 school districts, 12 charters and private/parochial schools in Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, McLennan, Mills and Navarro counties. Everything the center offers focuses on helping educators be successful and helping schools save money and leverage resources—driving more money to students in the classroom—where it matters most.

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February 26, 2014

Kaplan Test Prep Introduces the First GMAT Course eBook for Kindle Fire Tablets and Kindle Reading Apps via Whispercast

With Tablet Adoption Surging, the Kindle Cross-Platform Offering Allows Aspiring Business School Students Greater Study Flexibility

Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)

Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanGMATPrep

New York, NY (February 25, 2014) – Kaplan Test Prep has collaborated with Amazon to bring its GMAT course book directly to students enrolled in Kaplan courses using the cross-platform Kindle reading apps and Kindle Fire tablets—making it the first Kindle-compatible Kaplan GMAT course available for aspiring business school students. Kaplan GMAT students will have the ability to study across multiple devices—Kindle Fire and Android tablets, iPads, PCs and Macs—and take advantage of features such as note taking, highlighting, tracking progress, word look up, searching and syncing across Kindle reading apps and Kindle Fire tablets. The digital offering will enable increased study flexibility for Kaplan GMAT students.

“We are excited to be collaborating with Kaplan using Amazon’s Whispercast technology to help deliver the first eBook GMAT course. By using Whispercast, Kaplan is making it easy for students to access their content using the familiar Kindle interface,” said Raghu Murthi, vice president, Kindle Education. “Kaplan is the leader in prepping aspiring business students and now with the Kaplan GMAT course book available on the cross-platform Kindle reading apps and Kindle Fire tablets, these students are better able to take advantage of the technology they already use daily and the unique features Kindle offers—Whispersync, X-Ray, Notes and Popular Highlights.”

“Until recently, the adoption of tablets and eBooks for studying has lagged the adoption of eBooks for leisure reading, because studying involves engagement with the book through highlighting, note-taking and other tactile actions,” said Lee Weiss, executive director of emerging products, Kaplan Test Prep. “But as these functions became more user-friendly in eBook form and device ownership continues to grow, we’re now seeing a demand for test preparation that’s portable, comprehensive and ubiquitous. We’re thrilled to be working with Amazon, a continual innovator and the leader in eBook delivery, to provide students with choices that allow them to prepare for the GMAT virtually anytime, anywhere, using the Kindle reading apps across multiple devices.”

Kaplan Test Prep is working with Amazon to launch similar products for students enrolled in Kaplan’s test prep courses for the GRE, LSAT, MCAT and other high-stakes exams in the next few months via Amazon’s Whispercast technology. Whispercast is a self-service tool for schools and businesses to manage large deployments of Kindle devices and to support the purchase and distribution of eBooks and documents. The content distributed using Whispercast can be accessed across multiple platforms using the free Kindle reading apps. Whispercast also supports the purchase and distribution of apps from the Amazon Appstore for Kindle Fire tablets.

Usage of tablet devices for educational purposes is becoming increasingly popular at graduate-level programs and undergraduate colleges across the United States. Stanford medical school currently provides all of its first year students with tablets; top-ranked University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business piloted a program for its EMBA students by giving them all tablets this past fall; and George Washington University’s medical school plans to give all of its entering students a tablet beginning with the class entering this fall.

*GMAT^® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council^TM. The Graduate Management Admission Council^TM does not endorse, and is not affiliated with the owner or content of Kaplan Test Prep.

About Kaplan Test Prep

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the world’s best-selling and most advanced e-reader. It features new display technology with higher contrast, the next generation built-in light, a faster processor, the latest touch technology, and exclusive new features designed from the ground up for readers. Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, features improved fonts and faster page turns. The new Kindle Fire HDX features a stunning exclusive 7” or 8.9” HDX display, a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, 2x more memory, and 11 hours of battery life, as well as exclusive new features of Fire OS 3.0 including X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, Prime Instant Video downloads, and the revolutionary new Mayday button. The all-new Kindle Fire HD includes an HD display, high-performance processor and dual speakers at a breakthrough price.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, www.amazon.es, www.amazon.br, www.amazon.mx, www.amazon.com.au. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

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