Purpose: In this project, the researchers proposed to explore the effects of attending magnet schools on student academic achievement and to explore what factors might produce such an effect, if magnet schools are indeed better. At the time of the study, the use of magnet schools to accomplish public school improvement was a controversial policy. The research evidence at the time was inconclusive, in part because of differing policies regarding who can enroll in magnet schools. Some schools required students live within a particular area to be able to enroll while others allowed any parent or caregiver to enroll a student, regardless of residency.

Project Activities: The researchers proposed to carry out the project in a school district that provided a naturally randomized population of students in magnet and conventional public schools because the schools used a lottery system to make school assignments due to parents requesting magnet school assignments for more children than the magnet schools could accept.

The school district at the time had 35 middle schools, and 10 of them were magnet schools. This school district was located in a racially diverse urban area where half the students are from low-income families. The researchers would use school district data about students before and during their enrollment in middle school. The researchers proposed to analyze these data to determine whether students attending magnet middle schools made greater academic gains than comparable students enrolled in conventional public schools. They also proposed to examine the data to try to discover what factors contributed to magnet school success. In particular, the researchers wanted to focus on the possible effects of peers on student achievement, including the possible influence of student attendance and disciplinary histories. The researcher's overall goal for this project was to provide a rigorous study of magnet schools, the students within them, and the factors that contribute to whatever differences in student performance were found between magnet and conventional public schools.

Related IES Projects: National Research and Development Center on School Choice (R305A040043)

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Select Publications:

Book chapters

Ballou, D. (2009). Magnet School Outcomes. In M. Berends, M. Springer, D. Ballou, and H. Walberg (Eds.), Handbook of Research on School Choice (pp. 409–426). New York: Routledge.

Goldring, E. (2009). Perspectives on Magnet Schools. In M. Berends, M.G. Springer, D. Ballou, and H.J. Walberg (Eds.), Handbook of Research on School Choice (pp. 361–378). New York: Routledge.

** This project was submitted to and funded under Education Policy, Finance, and Systems in FY 2004.