Public Transparency, Student Privacy, and Technological Persuasion in Education: Refining Some Concerns of Opt Out.

Resistance to high-stakes testing was spurred by the signing of No Child Left Behind and grew rapidly with the implementation of Race to the Top and then Common Core State Standards. This paper provides a brief history for the emergence of the opt out movement in the U.S. during this era, and it explains some of the complexities that both fueled and constrained its growth. Finally, it examines some of the overarching concerns expressed by leaders in the movement, which include problems inherent to a reductionistic belief about human learning, as well as its connection to public transparency, student privacy, and technological persuasion.