Magnet schools were created as a result of the failure of mandatory desegregation plans, but the magnet schools concept has spawned the ideas of controlled parent choice of schools and the chartering of public education. Implementation of the Goals 2000 Act could jeopardize trends magnet schools have set in motion. (SLD)

The success of the mandated school desegregation efforts of the Jefferson County (Kentucky) public schools demonstrates the potential of a countywide interdistrict plan relying largely on coercive desegregation techniques. The example contradicts the common assumption that mandated plans result in significant white enrollment losses. (SLD)

Explores the reasons for the persistence of and intense interest in the United States' oldest large-scale transfer of inner-city students to suburban high schools, that of Boston (Massachusetts). This voluntary desegregation program continues to thrive because it offers educational quality without producing a racial struggle for access to…

This book presents the findings of a study of school desegregation strategies conducted in order to examine which of the various approaches to school desegregation most effectively reduce the level of segregation in public schools. The first two chapters look at school desegregation since the 1950s and mandatory versus voluntary desegregation…

This paper reviews research on pupil recruitment strategies and admission policies for magnet programs and their impact on equal access. It is also based, in part, on a survey of 56 magnet school administrators whose programs are funded by the Magnet Schools Assistance Program. The paper is divided into six main sections. Section 1 discusses…

This two-part anthology of research summaries examines the potential of magnet schools to provide equal education and educational access for minority group children and reviews successful magnet programs. Part 1, "Magnet Schools, Desegregation, and Choice," contains the following chapters: (1) "Using Magnet Schools for…

The Los Angeles Unified School District's Permit with Transportation (PWT) Program allows volunteering students to be bused to attend schools other than those to which they would normally be assigned on the basis of residential location. Described are aspects of student participants' experiences, and of PWT Program activities at four receiving…

This report details the technical aspects of a 1983 evaluation of Year-Round Schools (YRS) in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is part of a combined effort to assess voluntary integration programs and is designed to inform the district's policy-makers on the progress the district has made in relieving the harms of racial isolation. A…

This educational plan for voluntary, cooperative school desegregation was designed to provide the St. Louis, Missouri Public School System with strategies for coping with desegregation effects, such as declining enrollments, teacher layoffs, and school closings. The primary components of the plan include: (1) permissive, interdistrict transfers on…

Sites in the San Diego (California) City school system that receive integration funds through their magnet, Voluntary Ethnic Enrollment Program, or Academic Enrichment Academy Program are accountable for their progress toward integration goals. Selection of the 23 study sites for this report was based on their inclusion in the 1995-96 schedule for…

This paper identifies and discusses components of successful magnet programs. It is based on a review of existing research literature and information gathered directly from school districts. First, the paper discusses separately the following elements, which are considered "core components": (1) leadership; (2) organizational structure; (3)…

Demographic trends are developing in Connecticut that show increasing racial segregation and divided educational facilities in contiguous urban and suburban school districts. Racial balance on a statewide basis is not sufficient to counteract the effects of the growth of the state's minority populations, the residential clustering of racial/ethnic…

Descriptive summaries of twenty-two rural and urban school systems throughout the United States are presented in this report. Data for each summary include: (1) an introduction which describes the school's student population, the school's desegregation strategy (court ordered or voluntary), grants received by the school, and problem areas focused…

Recent reports on educational reform tend to encourage a return to enforced uniformity in American public schools. If public education is to compete successfully with private education, however, increasing numbers of magnet schools should be established to provide diversity and genuine choice among public schools. (JBM)

The State Board of Education of Minnesota is preparing to adopt a metro-wide desegregation plan of a scope unique in the United States. The plan will require every school district in the seven-county metro area to desegregate the schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and it may require every school district in the state to reduce or close the…