Excellence in education might best be achieved if a wide variety of educational options were made available to satisfy the broad diversity of student needs, if parents were allowed free choice among schools, and if parents, teachers, and principals worked together to make each school responsive to its unique constituency. (PGD)

The public schools in Flint (Michigan) offer a good example of how magnet schools can help desegregate a school system effectively and voluntarily. (Author)

Although the Montessori method has been known and practiced for almost a century in Europe and Asia, only recently has it gained recognition in American public schools. The key to the Montessori method's success is teachers specially trained to translate child development principles into classroom design, instructional strategies, and…

Ordered to desegregate, the Lowell (Massachusetts) Public Schools followed parent wishes and successfully provided a variety of magnet schools to encourage voluntary desegregation. Creation of these schools provided an opportunity for reviewing and improving the educational system as a whole. (PGD)

The Key School in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a magnet school with a heterogeneous student body in a large, urban district. The school has drawn national attention for its collaborative, interdisciplinary curriculum development and alternative assessment methods. The instructional program calls for central curricular themes to be continuously shaped…

Indian Creek Elementary School, a science and technology magnet school in Indianapolis, Indiana, is proud of its "high tech/soft touch" multimedia approach to learning. The standard high school computer education approach focusing on word processing, data processing, and other business applications will no longer suffice for…

Makes a case for magnet schools, especially as part of desegregation efforts. Briefly describes magnet schools around the country and some of their problems. (JM)

Describes the family-based administrative structure of the Alicia Chacon International School, a magnet elementary school in El Paso, Texas. Students are motivated to learn within the school's family environment through involvement in cultural activities, multilingual instruction, and family participation. (PKP)

Even as Goals 2000 (the latest manifestation of factory-model schooling) is being adopted nationwide, a smaller, but growing counter-movement aimed at decentralizing and democratizing public schools has emerged. Manifestations include magnet and charter schools and the new, smaller, autonomous institutions called in-district charter or pilot…

The City Magnet School in Lowell, Massachusetts, involves parents in policymaking, the principal and teachers in curriculum-setting and budgeting, and the kindergarten to eighth-grade students in defining the design and operation of the simulated "real world" society that forms the context in which the school's educational efforts occur.…

Magnet schools may prematurely limit academic choices and neglect the needs of poor children. (JM)

One Massachusetts elementary school, desegregated and rebuilt with a complete system of state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure, has shown how technology can influence school restructuring and student achievement. School's technology is integrated into the whole curriculum. Garfield School's experience shows that computers can benefit both…

If high- and middle-income parents make disproportionate use of school choice through residential and private school decisions, lower-income parents are more strongly represented in public school choices, many related to desegregation options. Magnet schools and voucher systems benefit those who hear about them. Universal controlled choice has had…