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You
are here: POLICY ISSUE: MAGNET SCHOOLS DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
There are four essential ingredients to a magnet school--1) distinctive curriculum; 2) unique district purpose for voluntary desegregation; 3) opportunity for school choice; and 4) access to students beyond attendance zone. Most magnet schools also have one of five types of curricular themes: fine, applied or performing arts; the sciences; social studies occupations; general academics; and traditional and fundamental schools.
PRESENT SITUATION in Leon County
SAIL and Rickards (IB program) are magnet high schools. Leon has no magnet middle or elementary schools.
PRESENT SITUATION in Other Florida Counties
A statewide survey (attached) shows 19 counties with magnet schools or programs. Dade, Broward, Sarasota and Pinellas Counties have the largest number of magnet schools. Many or most magnet schools tend to be middle or high schools; however, Pinellas County has an extensive program of "fundamental" elementary schools which require participation by parents in the schools' curriculum, conferences, and disciplinary practices, required transportation and self-contained classrooms. The key to enforcement is the parent contract which conditions the students' continued enrollment in the school and the right of the school to reassign students to another school.INTENDED OUTCOME - Affect on District Capacity Needs
If different magnet school offered different programs, schools could be utilized more fully (seat capacity) and some duplicate programs could possible be eliminated at other schools.COST CONSIDERATIONS
ACADEMIC CONSIDERATIONS
It appears that student achievement is higher in magnet schools when compared to the regular school. Reading achievement data gathered on 32 of the 45 magnets studied by Dentler in 1983, showed that 26 magnets equaled or exceeded the mean scores for their districts. Math achievement was similar. However, only 9 of the 32 magnets outstripped their district averages dramatically.An evaluation of Kansas City Schools' magnet school in 1990-91 revealed that achievement trends for minority students at the school remained lower than those of non-minority students and were generally below state and national norms as well.
The following question remains unanswered--are magnets successful, for example, because they draw the best students from other schools? One needs also to remember that pedagogical and administrative features of magnets produce powerful effects in and of themselves. Their focus,organizational cohesiveness, strong leadership by the principal and relative freedom from central office rules and procedures are highly correlated with improve achievement scores.
The researcher Blank probably best sums up the situation when he states that many magnet students clearly outperform their local nonmagnet counterparts on achievement tests, others do not, some do not maintain these gains over time periods of more than a year, and some of the analyses are too imprecise to make a comparative conclusion.
STUDENT CONSIDERATIONS
Even though a study conducted in 1990 (Blank) showed that only 1/5 of magnets practiced selectivity in their admission students on criteria other than race or ethnicity, studies have shown that magnets generally are not composed of educationally representative subsets of students. Magnets attract slightly above average achievers who have better than average attendance and conduct records and are interested in the program's curricular theme.PARENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
For all types of students, from the neediest to the most outstanding, alternatives seem to produce significant growth and achievement: cognitive, social, and affective. Both attendance and student behavior improve in schools of choice. Alternative schools prove highly attractive to those who are associated with them--staff, students, and parents. In various ways, all three groups show unusual satisfaction and approval rates. The success of alternative schools is variously attributed to the benefits of smallness, choice, climate, and degree of staff autonomy. Alternatives manage to "personalize" the school environment and to make it a genuine community of individuals. The two instructional modes most distinctive of alternative schools are independent study and experiential learning. Alternatives have institutionalized diversity. They exist in varying types and appear to be a well-established component of school districts across the country.Draft May 23, 1995
Go Back to: Restructuring Educational Facilities Article
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