Desegregated schools are linked to educational and social advantages whereas myriad harms are connected to segregated schools, yet the emphasis on school desegregation has recently receded in two North Carolina city-suburban school districts historically touted for their far-reaching efforts: Charlotte and Raleigh. In this article, we use…

School choice is a popular and controversial topic across the nation. School choice options include both public schools such as charter schools and magnet schools, as well as private school options. In North Carolina, the cap was lifted on the number of charter schools in 2011 and since that time additional charter schools have opened each year.…

Magnet schools are one of the largest sectors of choice schools in the United States. In this study, we explored the heterogeneity in magnet-school effects on student achievement by examining 24 magnet schools, funded under the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP), in 5 school districts across 4 states. The magnet effects were synthesized…

Magnet schools were originally created to attract a diverse student population. Using data from the 23 magnet schools in St. Louis, this longitudinal study is twofold: first, to review the performance outcomes of the magnet schools across a 5-year period, between 2005-2006 and 2009-2010, and second, to examine whether the magnet schools are…

Magnet schools are one of the largest sectors of choice schools in the United States. In this study, we explored whether there is heterogeneity in magnet school effects on student achievement by examining the effectiveness of 24 recently funded magnet schools in 5 school districts across 4 states. We used a two-step analysis: First, separate…

This study of 952 fifth and sixth graders in Washington, DC, and Alexandria, Virginia, found that students who were offered the "Higher Achievement" program had higher test scores in mathematical problem solving and were more likely to be admitted to and attend private competitive high schools. "Higher Achievement" is a…

The ability of nonexperimental estimators to match impact estimates derived from random assignment is examined using data from the evaluation of two interdistrict magnet schools. As in previous within-study comparisons, nonexperimental estimates differ from estimates based on random assignment when nonexperimental estimators are implemented…

As part of a larger study on school choice, researchers at the National Center on School Choice examined variation in leadership practices across school types, relying on a convenience matched sample of schools that included charter, magnet, private, and traditional public schools. A total of 284 schools agreed to participate in the study--116…

Nationwide, magnet programs enroll more than twice the number of students served by charter schools, making them the most popular form of school choice. Across the U.S., over 1.5 million U.S. children attend magnet schools. In Miami-Dade County Public Schools, over 42,000 students are enrolled in magnet programs. The bulk of this report focuses on…

Everyone knows that student achievement often suffers when children and families move, leaving behind their school and neighborhood, yet, in urban districts like Los Angeles, mobility is now encouraged by the development of mixed-markets of diverse schools, including charter, pilot, and magnet schools in. Over 60 new school facilities were opened…

The research is to understand the historical sociopolitical context of the emergence of school choice, more specifically magnet schools, and the consequences of this choice on student enrollment patterns. The approach is a critical examination of Neoliberalism as an ideology and polarizing sociopolitical movement and the intersection of this…

This paper examines market and institutional perspectives to provide a framework for exploring curricular and instructional differentiation in school choice. It reviews previous research on the relationship between school choice and curricular, and instructional differentiation and innovation, and explores the extent to which principals and…

This article compares Reagan's and Thatcher's redirection in school policy. Devices of "privatization" include the effective schools movement, devolution of authority, and magnet schools, and the new buzz words are "choice" and "competition." The challenge in school reform is to decentralize, deregulate, and even…

Explores the most-effective type of desegregation plan for the reduction of segregation in public schools by using a choice-assignment continuum for 20 plans to account for variation in desegregation orders. Plans the rely on assignment reduce the level of desegregation more than do choice plans. (SLD)

Examines whether controlled choice is a superior desegregation tool for urban schools. A study of 20 school districts with minority populations above 30% revealed controlled choice to be as unpopular as mandatory reassignments, to produce greater white flight than magnet-voluntary plans, and to offer less interracial exposure than do voluntary…