The Diane Rehm Show: "Rethinking Standardized Testing"

Source: “Rethinking Standardized Testing.” The Dianne Rehm Show. Dianne Rehm. Anya Kamenetz. Mathew Chingos. Elaine Weiss. WAMU 88.5. 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.

Source: “Rethinking Standardized Testing.” The Dianne Rehm Show. Dianne Rehm. Anya Kamenetz. Mathew Chingos. Elaine Weiss. WAMU 88.5. 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 
2015.You can listen to the program here.

Summary: This source is a radio broadcast panel discussion from National Public Radio. The discussion was question based, which means it was sort of a hodgepodge of comments based on Ms. Rehm’s questions. The focus was to critique standardized testing in this era of the No Child Left Behind education system.

Quality: This looks like a very high quality source. The host and all of the guests on this very well-known show appear to be experts in their respective fields. Dianne Rehm is a highly respected journalist for National Public Radio who, according to her website, has won a Peabody Award and was awarded a National Humanities Medal from President Barak Obama (“About…”). Elaine Weiss is head of the website A Broader Bolder Approach to Education and “…a cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School [with a] Ph.D. in public policy from the George Washington University” (“Mission…”). Mathew Chingos is “a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Research Director of its Brown Center on Education Policy” (“Matthew…”). Finally, Anya Kamenetz is the author of three books on education including The Test which is an in-depth look at the practice of standardized testing and is, “lead digital education reporter for NPR” (“About”).

Issues: This program is for educated people who know the key terms it moved quickly and few terms, like NEAP for example, were defined. Additionally, though the tone was thoughtful and sounded very objective, none of the guests were really in support of No Child Left Behind. This could lead the show to be biased. The reasons in favor of NCLB were alluded to, but never thoroughly discussed.

Key Words and Phrases:
- Disaggregate
- Gifted Students
- NAPE (National Assessment of Educational Progress)
- No Child Left Behind
- Project vs. Assessment-Based Education
- Parents in Education
- Standardized Testing
- Teaching the Test

Works Cited

“About” Anyakamenetz.net. Wordpress. n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

“About Dianne Rehm.” The Dianne Rehm Show. WAMU 88.5 American University Radio. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

“Matthew M. Chingos.” Brookings: Matthew M. Chingos. The Brookings Institution. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

“Mission and Who We Are” Broader, Bolder Approach to Education: Mission and Who We Are. Tarek. Boldapproach.org. n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.