Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Mountford, Meredith

Abstract

This research study examined how the United Opt Out grassroots movement grew from a small listserv in 2011 into a national formidable organization, now referred to as the Opt Out movement, which rallied against the use of high stakes tests as the primary determinant of student achievement as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002). While educators and parents did not oppose testing, they rejected the focus on a singular assessment created at the state level and the blatant disregard of other school-based assessments. It was soon evident that educators and parents had minimal input, while private corporate foundations and think tanks exerted a tremendous amount of influence on education policy. To counteract the corporate reform movement and to gain voice in education policy, grassroots movements, started and led by educators, began to organize. The Opt Out movement was one such movement that called on students to engage in civil disobedience by opting out of high stakes tests.

Extent

167 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00013347

Format

pdf

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