Takoma Park Magnet School Evaluation : Part II, Final Report / John C. Larson and Others.

The objective of the magnet schools concept is to create quality educational programs with distinctive features which can attract or retain pupils of various ethnic types, and thereby contribute to racial balance in the schools. Magnet schools are intended to promote desegregation by permitting parents to make voluntary choices among schools, rather than through bussing or other student assignment plans. The present study sought to trace the workings of the magnet schools concept in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) from its design in the planning stages, through the implementation of quality educational programs, to the response of parents to the program, and finally to how this complete system influences desegregation within the seven elementary schools of the Takoma Park Cluster. Thus, the report contains the following sections: (1) Design of the Magnet Cluster; (2) Description of the Magnet School Program; (3) Program Comparisons with Nonmagnet Schools; (4) Parents' Knowledge of and Response to the Program; (5) Pupil Achievement; and (6) Desegregation Effects. Findings showed that the educational features prescribed for each of the magnet schools are functioning, and the magnet school programs appear to have higher levels of several educational quality factors. (Author/GK)

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