The Impact of Terminology on Public Support for the Opt Out Movement

• In Event: Parent Activism: The Opt-Out Movement

Abstract

Although the Opt Out movement, in which parents are choosing to keep their children from taking state standardized tests, offers a serious challenge to contemporary education reform, we know very little about public opinion towards the movement. We address this void using data from a national online survey (n=2,107). An embedded survey experiment suggests that the wording of the question has a significant effect on public opinion. Results show that respondents are more supportive of parents described in political/ethical terms (“boycotting”) than parents described in neutral terms (“opting out” or “excusing”). We discuss the implications of these findings to the study of the politics of education, specifically to the study of social movements in education.

Authors

• Oren Pizmony Levy, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Benjamin Cosman

• Mordechai Miron, Tel Aviv University