Opting in or opting out? Dilemmas for parents and administrators addressing racial inequality in urban schools

Abstract Standardized testing has long been criticized for reproducing racial inequalities, leading many scholars and advocates to view accountability and racial equity as fundamentally at odds. Yet schools pursuing racial equity may interpret the role of testing in markedly different ways. This article examines how school communities navigate the contested relationship between standardized testing and racial equity. Drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork (2016–2018) in two New York City public elementary schools implementing the city’s Diversity in Admissions (DiA) program, we analyze debates over whether to participate in state standardized testing. Although both schools embraced racial integration and equity goals, they reached opposite decisions. In one school, educators and parents framed testing as harmful to children and inconsistent with racial justice, leading the school community to opt out. In the other, stakeholders viewed testing as necessary for maintaining legitimacy, resources, and organizational standing, leading them to retain testing despite concerns about inequality. These contrasting responses related to differences in stakeholder values, logics, and interests, as well as community and organizational characteristics. The findings highlight the complexity of the debate over the relationship between racial inequality and testing and challenge the often taken-for-granted assumption among scholars that accountability uniformly reproduces racial inequality. The article also connects the findings to contemporary political debates.