The Bubble Bursts: The 2015 Opt-Out Movement in New Jersey

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
CPRE Working Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
Educational Leadership
Education Economics
Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Stephens, Francine
Kubelka, Julie
McGuinn, Patrick
Ingersoll, Hannah
Contributor
Abstract

The Bubble Bursts: The 2015 Opt-Out Movement in New Jersey analyzes the scope, factors, and context of the opt-out movement that occurred in New Jersey in the spring of 2015. Using test participation data released in February 2016 by the New Jersey Department of Education, we found that approximately 135,000 students did not take the state assessment in the spring of 2015. Depending on how it was calculated, this represented between 11-19% of the population of students eligible for testing in grades 3 to 11 in the state. There was also a positive correlation between higher district opt-out rates and wealthier districts. We found that several factors contributed to these trends. Predominant amongst these were an accumulated skepticism with high stakes testing in general and the new PARCC assessment in particular, concerns from the Common Core State Standards rollout, teacher union opposition to premature teacher accountability, and confusion in the messages of state policymakers about graduation requirements. These explanatory factors were based upon interviews with over 30 state policymakers, professional education association representatives, advocacy group leaders, school administrators, teachers, parents, and students.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2016-09-01
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
View on the CPRE website (http://www.cpre.org/bubble-bursts-2015-opt-out-movement-new-jersey).
Recommended citation
Collection