Report Highlights

For nearly four decades, magnet schools have been an important element
in American public school education, offering innovative programs not
generally available in local schools and providing opportunities for
students to learn in racially diverse environments. Federal support for
magnet schools began in 1972 with the Emergency School Assistance
Program, continued until 1981. Support for magnet schools resumed in
1984 with the authorization of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program
(MSAP).[^1] In authorizing the MSAP in 1994, Congress concluded that it
is in the best interest of the Federal Government to continue to support
school districts in implementing court-ordered or voluntary
desegregation plans, ensure equitable access to quality education for
all students, and assist local educational agencies in implementing
innovative programs that contribute to systemic reform.

From 1985 through 1998, 379 MSAP grants were awarded to 171 school
districts in 35 states and the District of Columbia. These projects
support magnet programs in public elementary, middle, and high schools
throughout the country.[^2] To evaluate the MSAP, the American
Institutes for Research was awarded a four-year contract in 1998, and
our focus is on the 57 projects funded by the U.S. Department of
Education (ED) for three-year MSAP grants in 1998.

Our evaluation is guided by seven major evaluation questions: I. What
are the characteristics of MSAP projects? II. To what extent are
federally funded magnet projects reducing the incidence or degree of
minority isolation in their programs? III. What are the characteristics
of MSAP districts? IV. To what extent are federally funded magnet
projects promoting systemic, standards-based reform? V. To what extent
do federally funded magnet projects feature innovative educational
methods and practices that meet identified student needs and interests?
VI. To what extent do federally funded magnet projects strengthen
students' knowledge of academic subjects and skills needed for
successful careers in the future? and VII. How has the MSAP contributed
to the development and implementation of magnet projects?

This Year 1 report is based on information we gained from reviews of the
MSAP applications for the 57 projects funded in 1998; data that grantees
provided in their 1998-99 performance reports to ED; the Common Core of
Data and other extant data sources; and data we gathered. Our data
collection included interviews with the MSAP Project Directors, project
surveys, district data requests, and surveys of the principals of
MSAP-supported schools.

In this report, we provide details about the types of districts that are
funded by the MSAP and the projects that they establish. We describe the
desegregation and achievement objectives that the projects have set, but
the data were not yet available to report on the extent to which those
objectives have been met. We also describe the systemic reforms that
MSAP projects are designed to support, the innovative methods and
practices that the projects are implementing in federally funded magnet
schools, and the support that is available to MSAP projects from ED and
other sources.

####### 

####### Findings in Brief

-   **MSAP-funded magnet programs are most commonly found in elementary
    schools.** Among the 292 schools supported by MSAP grants in 1998,
    60 percent are elementary schools, 24 percent are middle schools, 14
    percent are high schools, and 2 percent are combined-level schools
    (e.g., schools with grades 4-12).

-   **MSAP-supported schools most often offer programs to all of the
    students in a particular school or grade, rather than only some
    students.** Of the 292 MSAP schools in 1998, 89 percent have whole
    school programs (i.e., programs that are offered to all students or
    to specified grades). The remaining 11 percent feature
    programs-within-schools (e.g., a performing arts program) that are
    offered to only some students and are generally found in high
    schools.

-   **About three quarters of students enrolled in MSAP programs are
    members of racial or ethnic minorities.** In 1998-99, over 165,000
    students were enrolled in MSAP schools, and, as might be expected in
    schools that are trying to desegregate, 74 percent of the students
    in whole school programs and 66 percent of those in PWSs were
    minority students.

-   **A little more than half (54 percent) of the districts funded by
    MSAP in 1998 operate under a voluntary desegregation plan (i.e., one
    approved by their Board of Education).** The remainder (46 percent)
    operate under a required desegregation plan---that is, one required
    by a court, state agency, or ED's Office for Civil Rights.

-   **Of the 57 districts that were funded by MSAP in 1998, nearly all
    are located in metropolitan areas and have large student
    populations.** Two thirds (66 percent) of the MSAP districts serve
    primarily central city students in large metropolitan areas, and
    almost one third (32 percent) serve mainly suburban students.

-   **Almost two thirds of MSAP districts maintain waiting lists for one
    or more of their MSAP programs.** Nearly all of these districts keep
    the lists into the school year and admit students if spaces become
    available.

-   **Two thirds of MSAP schools have the desegregation objective of
    *reducing* minority group isolation.**[^3] Ten percent are trying to
    eliminate it, and six percent are trying to prevent it.

-   **Few MSAP programs base student admissions on test scores,
    demonstrated skills, or past academic records.** Only 10 percent of
    MSAP programs establish such performance standards, and most of
    these programs are found at the middle and high school levels, where
    programs-within-school (PWSs) are more common.

-   **Almost all of the MSAP districts report that they place a major
    emphasis on standards-based reform.** More than 80 percent of MSAP
    districts report that they place a major emphasis on establishing
    high standards for students and on aligning curricula with
    standards.

-   **Most MSAP projects report that the themes and goals of their
    magnet programs are consistent with state and district standards.**
    Nearly 90 percent of Project Directors indicate that state and
    district standards match the goals of their MSAP schools to a great
    extent.

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-   **MSAP schools have adopted a variety of themes, or focus areas,
    with many focusing on science, technology, the arts, communication,
    and careers.** The themes help nurture the development of a unique
    school identity and promote a coherent curriculum and program of
    instruction. Many MSAP schools have also adopted programs based on
    externally developed comprehensive models.

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-   **MSAP schools have reportedly developed programs that respond to
    individual students' needs.** Nearly all MSAP schools provide
    additional time for low achievers, individualized instruction, and
    tutoring by non-school staff. High percentages of MSAP schools also
    include students with Individual Education Plans and students with
    limited English proficiency in their regular MSAP activities.

-   **Some of the achievement objectives set by MSAP grantees are either
    changing or unclear.** The overall patterns in the achievement
    objectives are clear and are described in our report. Because of a
    variety of factors, however, the objectives may not be those on
    which student achievement is measured in all projects.[^4]

-   **Virtually every MSAP program has objectives for student
    achievement in language arts and mathematics.** Substantial numbers
    of programs have objectives pertaining to achievement in other
    academic subjects, performance and applied learning skills,
    job-related skills, career awareness, and behaviors relating to
    current and future academic success.

-   **Standardized test scores are by far the most common measure of
    student achievement in MSAP schools.** Over 95 percent of the MSAP
    programs at all three levels (elementary, middle, and high school)
    based some or all of their achievement objectives on standardized
    tests; over 70 percent of the MSAP programs specified alternative
    assessments.

-   **MSAP projects spend about 45 percent of their budgets on staff
    salaries and fringe benefits, about 20 percent on equipment, and
    about 20 percent on supplies.** This is also reflected in MSAP
    principals' reports that the most important thing MSAP grants enable
    them to do is provide additional staff for their schools.

-   **On average, MSAP grants provide about \$300,000 to each MSAP
    school per year.** This amount varies widely across the projects,
    for example, in 1998-99, school budgets ranged from \$11,000 (for a
    school with a planning year) to more than \$800,000 (for a school
    establishing a technology-based program).

**Future Reports**

Our Year 2 report will report on our findings as to the extent to which
the 57 projects have met their desegregation and achievement objectives.
It will also include data from later performance reports that the
projects submitted to ED and information from another round of data
collection (interviews, project surveys, and principal surveys
administered during 2000-01) from the 57 projects.

An important component of our future reports will be case studies based
on visits we made to eight MSAP projects in spring 2000 and are
re-visiting in spring 2001. In addition to descriptions of our
interviews and observations at these project sites, our reports will
include data from surveys of principals in comparison schools, surveys
of teachers in both MSAP and comparison schools, and student focus
groups in the Case Study districts. We also will gather student-level
data to permit more rigorous analyses of student achievement in these
districts. All of these data sources will enable us to provide in-depth
reports of the MSAP projects and their progress in attaining their
objectives.

[^1]: 20 U.S.C. 7202

[^2]: In this report, we refer to the **MSAP** (the ED source of federal
    funding and assistance for magnet schools), the 57 school
    **districts** receiving MSAP grants in 1998, the **projects** that
    the districts developed with MSAP funds, and the **MSAP schools**
    (with one or more magnet **programs)** supported by the projects.

[^3]: Minority group isolation refers to schools in which minority group
    students constitute more than 50 percent of school enrollment.
    Schools that have the objective of reducing have minority
    enrollments that exceed 50 percent, and their objective is to lower
    the percentage.

[^4]: We will describe changes in achievement objectives and provide
    data on the extent to which objectives are met in our Year 2 report