Date of Award

8-22-2025

Date Published

September 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Sociology

Advisor(s)

Amy Lutz

Keywords

high-stakes testing;Opt Out Movement

Subject Categories

Social and Behavioral Sciences | Sociology

Abstract

Public state education systems are required by federal law to assess student learning in order to receive certain federal funding for the state’s education system. Typically, the metric are standardized testing regimes. New York State is no exception and requires students in grades 3-8 to take annual English Language Arts and Mathematics exams to meet that requirement. However, New York State is a unique case, as it has the highest Opt Out rate, or noncompliance on taking the exams, in the country. While the majority of the literature on the Opt Out Movement has focused on who is more likely to Opt Out and why they do so, there are still gaps existing in the literature. Using semi-structured interviews and Best’s (2021) social problems process, this study interviews both people whose children were Opted Out and those who had their children take the exams, as people are embedded in communities and do not make decisions free from community or societal influences. This study had four research questions: 1.) how has the Opt Out Movement changed/developed over time? 2.) how do parents and education professionals make meaning of education trends and the exams? 3.) what role does class play in the Movement & 4.) how do differing levels of bureaucracy affect Opt Out actors? Major findings were that the high Opt Out rate in New York is due the timing of factors interacting with each other to create the “perfect storm”, 2.) in agreement with much existing literature, class does play a role in the decision-making and meaning-making, but the current bifurcation of wanting to Opt Out vs not supporting it is not accurate. Parents can want to Opt Out, but do not, not everyone Opts Out for the same reasons, and some engage in the behavior, yet do not identify with the Movement, 3) class privilege made the Opt Out Movement possible, but perceptions about supports also drove people away, and 4). Despite educational bureaucracies having formal power, Opt Out supporters were able to use informal power to push back, including engaging in gossip.

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Open Access

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