Evaluation of Conversion Magnet Schools

Contractor: AIR, University of California at San Diego, and BPA

Background/Research Questions:

Since the mid-1970s, magnet schools have been critical to school districts' efforts to implement voluntary desegregation plans and, in some cases, court desegregation orders. More recently, they have become an important component of public school choice as well as a strategy used by districts aiming to improve the achievement of all students, particularly students who are disadvantaged. Since 1985, the Office of Innovation and Improvement's (OII) Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP; funded at $104,829,073 in FY 2008) has provided grants to school districts to support magnet programs with the specific goals of reducing, eliminating, or preventing minority group isolation, improving student achievement, and promoting diversity and increasing choice in public schools through the development of innovative educational methods and practices.

Despite the popularity and longevity of this educational strategy, there have been few rigorous studies of the effects on important student outcomes, with mixed results. Drawing broad conclusions is particularly challenging because the structure and target population of magnet school programs are varied. This more targeted evaluation of magnet schools focuses on a single, common category of school receiving funding through MSAP: elementary schools that convert to become whole-school magnets.

• What is the relationship between magnet school conversion and student achievement and other outcomes including minority group isolation in schools?
• How do the relationships to student achievement and other outcomes vary according to the characteristics of magnet schools and of the regular public schools in the same districts?

Design:

A feasibility study determined that there was a sufficient number of conversion magnet schools funded in the two most recent grant cycles to conduct a quasi-experimental evaluation: approximately 25 magnet schools and 50 comparison schools. School records data including student achievement scores, demographic characteristics, and school attended are being collected for the three years before and after the magnet school conversion. An interrupted time series (ITS) analysis will be used to compare the trajectory of student achievement and other outcomes before the conversion to the trajectory of these outcomes after the conversion to determine if there is a significant difference. This design is strengthened by conducting the same analysis with matched (non-magnet) comparison schools in the same districts and comparing the results for the magnet and non-magnets schools.

Duration: 5 years (September 2006–September 2011).

Current Status: Data collection is underway. The final report on this study will be announced on http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/.