Some magnet schools have a competitive entrance process, requiring students to take an exam or submit an application in order to enter so admission requires a desire to enter the school. Some simply require an application to enter a lottery system. Magnet schools were originally started in the hope that their geographically open admissions would end racial segregation in "good" schools, and decrease de facto segregation of schools in poorer areas by offering a more enticing educational program. This continues to some extent today. Most magnet schools concentrate on a particular discipline or area of study, such as Science and Engineering , the Humanities , or the Fine Arts or Performing Arts .
Many public magnet schools are typically accused of catering to more intellectually adept or "gifted" students, who score well on tests and receive good grades. Some studies show that it is not the intelligence level of the students that cause them to succeed beyond their peers but rather the differences in teaching styles and smaller classroom sizes.
In some communities, past Racial Segregation issues resulted in court-ordered attendance plans and Forced Busing of children far from their homes and closer schools to achieve the required balance. Within a few years, in locations such as Richmond, Virginia additional magnet school programs for children of many different special talents were developed at facilities in locations which parents would have otherwise found undesirable. This effort to both attract voluntary enrollment and achieve the desired racial balance met with considerable success, and helped improve acceptance of the longer rides, hardships with transportation for extra-curricular activities, and the separation of siblings which may result when schools other than strictly neighborhood school plans are utilized. Even as districts such as Richmond were released from desegregation court-orders, the parental selection of magnet school programs has continued to contribute to more racially balanced schools than would have otherwise occurred. With a wide range of magnet school types, a suitable program could be found for many more children than only for the exceptionally bright ones for whom the earliest efforts were directed.
There are magnet schools at the Elementary School , Middle School , and High School levels, and they occasionally combine grades in certain classes. Some magnet programs are within comprehensive schools, as is the case with several "schools within a school" found in Virginia Beach, VA . The largest magnet district in the US is the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system.
- Bailey, Jerry D. RESEARCH NEEDED TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE OF MAGNET SCHOOLS. Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1987. ED 284 952.
- Blank, Rolf K. "Comparative Analysis of Local Planning and Development of Magnet Schools." In Rolf K. Blank and Paul R. Messier, (Eds.), ''PLANNING AND DEVELOPING MAGNET SCHOOLS: EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS''. Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1987. ED 284 946 (individual paper, ED 284 954).
- Clinchy, Evans. "Let Magnet Schools Guide the Way to Education Reform--And Diversity." ''AMERICAN SCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL'' 172 (1985): 43.
- Doyle, Denis P., and Marsha Levine. "Magnet Schools: Choice and Quality in Public Education." ''PHI DELTA KAPPAN'' 66 (1984): 265-70.
- Tsapatsaris, George. "How We Magnetized a City School System. A Special Report on Magnet Schools." ''PRINCIPAL'' 64 (1985): 8-10.
- Turner, Benjamin F. ''MAGNET SCHOOLS: A PLANNING GUIDE FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS''. Kent, OH: Ohio Center for Educational Development and Strategic Services, Kent State University, June 1984. ED 244 043.
Note: A more detailed list can be found through this Wikipedia list of .
- High Technology High School in Lincroft, New Jersey
- Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science at WPI in Worcester, Massachusetts
- Chamblee Charter High School in Chamblee, Georgia
- Alief Kerr High School in Houston, Texas
- School Of The Arts High School in San Francisco, California
- Lowell High School in San Francisco, California
- John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, California
- Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago, Illinois
- Troy High School in Fullerton, California
- Whitney High School in Cerritos, California
- North Hollywood High School in North Hollywood, California
- Sherman Oaks Center For Enriched Studies in Tarzana, California
- Murdock-Portal Elementary School in San Jose, California
- Dreyfoos School Of The Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida
- Dr. Michael M. Krop High School in Miami, Florida
- Coral Reef High School in Miami, Florida
- New World School Of The Arts in Miami, Florida
- Suncoast High School in Riviera Beach, Florida
- Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas
- Henry W. Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia
- North Springs High School in Atlanta, Georgia
- Central Fine Arts And International Baccalaureate Magnet High School in Macon, Georgia
- DuPont Manual Magnet High School in Louisville, Kentucky
- City College in Baltimore, Maryland
- Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore, Maryland
- School For The Arts in Baltimore, Maryland
- Montgomery Blair High School math, science, and computer science magnet program in Silver Spring, Maryland
- Morris County Academy For Math, Science, And Engineering in Rockaway, New Jersey
- Stuyvesant High School in New York City , New York
- Central High School Of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Julia R. Masterman Laboratory And Demonstration School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Lyndon Baines Johnson High School in Austin, Texas
- Maggie L. Walker Governor's School For Government And International Studies in Richmond, Virginia
- Thomas Jefferson High School For Science And Technology in Alexandria, Virginia
- Faria Elementary School in Cupertino, California
- Roosevelt High School in San Antonio, Texas aka D.A.T.A.
- Bronx High School Of Science in New York City, New York
- H-B Woodlawn Program in Arlington, Virginia
- The Mississippi School For Mathematics And Science in Columbus, Mississippi
- Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, New Jersey
- School Of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley, Minnesota
- Columbus High School Liberal Arts Magnet in Columbus, Georgia
- Magnet Schools
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-4/magnet.htm Improving Urban Education with Magnet Schools]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-925/choice.htm Choice in the Public Schools]
- Law Magnet Programs
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