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Examining standardized testing with Anya Kamenetz

Award-winning education writer Anya Kamentez provides practical guidance for parents looking to understand standardized testing. She and Scott roll up their sleeves and delve deep into the nature, origins, drawbacks and future of our high-stakes testing culture.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Award-winning education writer Anya Kamenetz provides practical guidance for parents looking to understand standardized testing. She and Scott roll up their sleeves and delve deep into the nature, origins, drawbacks and future of our high-stakes testing culture. The dialogue spans varying topics including broadening our educational priorities, holding schools accountable, implementing better assessments and helping children beat the system.

In this episode you will hear about:


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  • How our educational culture’s myopic assessments are limiting student potential

  • Adapting a more holistic view of our students as being more than just an IQ or SAT score

  • The goals of our education and what’s missing from our current system

  • Several alternative assessment methods that present a fuller picture of ability and improvement

  • How to create a culture at home and in your community that helps children tackle these tests

  • How some parents are opting out of standardized testing entirely

  • State and federal mandates on standardized testing

  • What we can learn from Finland’s unique educational system

  • The numerous benefits of preschool

  • A broader conceptualization of intelligence

  • Who is falling through the cracks in our current score obsessed system

  • How 25%-40% of test taker’s scores are depressed by test anxiety

  • Some unique programs and schools that are doing things differently right now

 

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Anya Kamenetz is NPR’s lead digital education reporter. She’s the author of two previous books, Generation Debt and DIY U. She is a former senior writer for Fast Company, has a nationally syndicated column with Tribune Media, and her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN.com, Slate, Newsweek, O: The Oprah Magazine, and a wide variety of other publications. She has won two national awards from the Education Writers Association and appeared in the documentaries Generation Next, Default, and Ivory Tower. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter and can be found online at AnyaKamenetz.net.” –Blurb taken from Amazon.com

photo credit: pbs.org

Scott Barry Kaufman is a humanistic psychologist exploring the depths of human potential. He has taught courses on intelligence, creativity and well-being at Columbia University, N.Y.U., the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. He hosts the Psychology Podcast and is author and/or editor of nine books, including Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined. Find out more at http://ScottBarryKaufman.com. In 2015 he was named one of "50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world" by Business Insider. He wrote the extremely popular Beautiful Minds blog for Scientific American for close to a decade. Follow him on X.

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