This study reports the findings of a questionnaire survey developed to gather information on the general characteristics of magnet programs and to determine the use of magnet schools in overall district integration plans. Thirty-eight of 98 districts responding to the survey reported utilizing magnet schools for integration purposes. Forty-one…

A study was conducted to investigate: (1) how successful has the magnet school been in attracting a student body that is representative of the students in the school district? and (2) according to the perceptions of parents of pupils at a senior high magnet school, what are the important program and non-program factors affecting the…

Magnet schools differ from other forms of alternative schools in being specifically intended to assist school systems in their desegregation efforts. Magnet schools have been defined by the federal courts as those having a "distinctive program of study" designed to attract a cross section of students from all racial groups voluntarily. Several…

In this statement, the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division under the Reagan Administration proposes a method of voluntary school desegregation as an alternative to court litigation and mandatory busing. The method represents a response to the failure of previous desegregation attempts to elicit public support and provide equal…

Although a number of studies have shown that magnet programs have positive effects on educational outcomes for students, most of the outcome measures examined are tests taken before students graduate. This paper attempts to extend those studies by using survey data provided by graduates from a large, urban high school to compare the effects of the…

In rulings between 1954 and 1971, the Supreme Court always emphasized that racially segregated schools were inherently unconstitutional, although it upheld a system of student assignments that was neutral toward race. But with the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg Board of Education decision of 1971, the court embarked on a new remedial course. A…

This paper briefly reviews the current racial balance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania public schools and discusses the development of an evaluation system to assess progress toward desegregation. Priority products and services of the Desegregation Evaluation Unit, formed in 1979, are listed. A number of problems that must be addressed in order for…

According to the author, people who favor compulsory assignment of children to schools on the basis of race base their position on the assumptions that Americans will make no progress toward an integrated society except under compulsion, and that the proof of an integrated society is the even distribution of minorities throughout society. In this…

Information sources used by parents of majority and minority students in making decisions about school choice, with a focus on busing, are examined in this report. A mailed survey of parents of approximately 8,431 students in the San Jose Unified School District (California) yielded 934 responses, of which minority households comprised 60 percent…

In order to provide high quality specialized instruction and to achieve voluntary integration, a magnet program was developoed in the Fort Worth (Texas) Independent School District. The program is in its third year of implementation and currently is underway in two high schools, two middle schools, and an elementary school. Program features…

Presented here are the remarks of William Bradford Reynolds, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division at the Education Commission of the States National Project on Desegregation Strategies' Workshop. Reynolds states that mandatory busing and other remedial techniques to achieve racial balance in schools (measures tentatively sanctioned by…

In this paper, the author analyzes what has happened since 1954 in the area of school integration and suggests what he feels are appropriate policies for the future. He identifies two major changes that have affected school integration since 1954--a change in residential patterns that has increased segregation in recent years, and a change in the…

Magnet schools strive to draw students voluntarily to racially mixed settings by offering diversified educational opportunities. The impact of magnet schools on the political and organizational processes of a school system are discussed. (DF)

Magnet schools have recently been promoted as a school-improvement tool to liberate the poor from inferior schools. This paper presents findings of a study that assessed differences in organizational capacity for education reform between magnet and nonmagnet schools. Do families have a choice of better schools--schools with greater capacity to…

Contemporary desegregation planning has been dominated by the use of magnet schools and the controlled choice process. This paper includes an examination of the organizing principles of magnet schools. Following the description of the architecture of the magnet schools themselves is a review of the organizing principles involved in the controlled…