Opting Out: Parents Creating Contested Spaces to Challenge Standardized Tests

Mitra, Dana; Mann, Bryan; Hlavacik, Mark

Opting Out: Parents Creating Contested Spaces to Challenge Standardized Tests

dc.contributor.author	Mitra, Dana
dc.contributor.author	Mann, Bryan
dc.contributor.author	Hlavacik, Mark
dc.contributor.other	University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned	2018-08-07T16:29:34Z
dc.date.available	2018-08-07T16:29:34Z
dc.description	We explore how the opt-out movement has responded to the combination of a stringent federal policy with weak and often variable implementation among the states. Gaps between federal expectations and states’ understandings of just how to make NCLB’s demands a reality have created policy ambiguity. Parents who oppose standardized testing have recognized the resulting tensions and oversights in state education systems as a policy vacuum rife with opportunities for resistance. We examine how parents have exploited policy ambiguity through creating contested spaces—places of agency in stringent policy environments in which grassroots can question policy authority and take action. We conclude by considering whether these contested spaces are sustainable and whether the policy outcomes generated in contested spaces are reasonably equitable.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Mitra, D., Mann, B., and Hlavacik, M. (2016). Opting out: Parents creating contested spaces to challenge standardized tests. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(31).
dc.identifier.uri	http://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/3721
dc.rights.license	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subject	Education policy
dc.subject	Standardized tests
dc.subject.lcsh	Education and state
dc.subject.lcsh	Parent-teacher relationships—Law and legislation
dc.subject.lcsh	Education—Standards—United States
dc.subject.lcsh	United States. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
dc.title	Opting Out: Parents Creating Contested Spaces to Challenge Standardized Tests	en_US