The project is designed to support the school district's voluntary desegregation plan by providing a highly individualized program to attract pupils from outside the school boundaries. A Bilingual-Bicultural Learning Center and supportive instruction personnel were installed in the school to help with the variety of needs of the individual…

To reduce ethnic isolation and provide a richer education for all seem to be goals and achievements in a major school district. Here is an encouraging model. (Editor/RK)

This paper discusses magnet schools generally and evaluates the other papers included with it in a single volume. Magnet schools have been fairly successful in meeting their stated goals, and in some cities, such as New York, they are so popular that parents must compete to gain their children's entrance. Still, magnets have tended to rely more on…

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…

This paper, based on a recent comparative study of magnet schools conducted by the Department of Education, describes the features of successfully designed magnet schools. First, the paper highlights some of the major findings from the study on which it is based. Although there is a wide degree of variation in the design, development, and…

The results of computer simulations of each of 17 variations on 4 prototypical desegregation plans applied to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) are reported in this document. The prototypes, each representing a category of proposals offered at one point or another during the litigation of the desegregation issues are: (1) an…

This document reports the results of computer simulations of each of 19 variations on 4 prototypical desegregation plans applied to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Each prototype represents one of the following categories of proposals offered during the litigation of the desegregation issue in the California courts: (1) an…

This document consists of nine papers which discuss the planning and design, implementation and maintenance, and evaluation of magnet schools. They are based on practical experience with magnet schools, which first appeared in the early 1970s. By 1982, the movement had grown to include more than 1,200 schools in 140 urban school districts, and the…

This paper provides a case study of eight magnet schools in Austin, Texas, to illustrate the role of evaluation research in assessing the impact of the magnet school experience on students and parents. After an introduction, the paper describes the history of Austin's magnet schools at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. Next,…

This paper, based loosely on findings presented in the other papers collected with it in a single volume, discusses general issues in designing magnet schools, focusing on three main themes: (1) the interdependence of program design and recruitment issues; (2) school level practices which help to turn racial desegregation into racial integration;…

The Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) Title VI provided funds to assist in the voluntary desegregation of the Milwaukee Public Schools through a variety of magnet special school programs which would attract area-wide or district-wide enrollment. These special programs are located in elementary, middle, and senior high schools throughout the city.…

Funds provided by the Emergency School Aid Act Title VII Magnet Project in 1978-1979 were largely responsible for attainment by the Milwaukee Public Schools of voluntary desegregation through specialty schools designed to meet a variety of student needs and interests. The positive impact of magnet schools on system goals was confirmed by…

Magnet schools are designed to increase students' chances of obtaining the type of education they desire, but little is known about the actual relationship between the magnet school experience and its benefit to students once they leave it, and more research is needed. While a considerable amount has been written about the effects that magnet…

This paper contributes to the knowledge about the effects that magnet schools have on improving educational quality. The history of magnet schools in American education is examined, linking it with several recent movements to reform and reorganize schooling. A synthesis of research findings from 12 district studies of magnet schools and various…

This document comprises a report on the architectural elements of choice in the desegregation process, a review of the choice process based on Minnesota's experience, and a statement of implications for state policymakers. The following organizational principles of the choice process are discussed: (1) enrollment based on a "first come, first…