Magnet schools were originally created to attract a diverse student population. Using data from the 23 magnet schools in St. Louis, this longitudinal study is twofold: first, to review the performance outcomes of the magnet schools across a 5-year period, between 2005-2006 and 2009-2010, and second, to examine whether the magnet schools are fostering segregation among the city’s Black families. The relationship between a school’s demographics, its surrounding community, and student outcomes is investigated. Finally, these data are used to question whether student demographics should matter for Black students if appropriate academic outcomes are being met.
BallouD. (2009). Magnet school outcomes. In BerendsM.SpringerM. G.BallouD.WalbergH. J. (Eds.), Handbook of research on school choice (pp. 409-426). New York, NY: Routledge.
2.
BermanP.McLaughlinM. W. (1978). Federal programs supporting educational change, Vol. VIII: Implementing and sustaining innovations (Vol. 8). Santa Monica, CA: Rand.
3.
BettsJ.RiceL.ZauA.TangE.KoedelC. (2006). Does school choice work? Effects on student integration and academic achievement. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
4.
BifulcoR.CobbC. D.BellC. A. (2009). Can interdistrict choice boost student achievement?Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31, 323-345.
5.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
6.
ChoidoA. J.Hernandez-MurilloR.OwyangM. T. (2010). Nonlinear effects of school quality on house prices. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, 92, 185-204.
7.
ColemanJ. S.CampbellE. Q.HobsonC. J.McPartlandJ.MoodA. M.. . . YorkR. L. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
8.
CoultonC. J.KorbinJ.ChanT.SuM. (2001). Mapping residents’ perceptions of neighborhood boundaries: A methodological note. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 371-383.
9.
FosterM. (1998). Black teachers on teaching. New York, NY: The New Press.
10.
FrankenbergE.Siegel-HawleyG. (2009). An overlooked model. American School Board Journal, 196(11), 34-35.
11.
FreivogelW. H. (2002). St. Louis: Desegregation and school choice in the land of Dred Scott. In The Century Foundation (Ed.), Divided we fail: Coming together through public school choice (pp. 209-235). New York, NY: Century Foundation Press.
12.
GamoranA. (1996). Student achievement in public magnet, public comprehensive, and private city high schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18, 1-18.
13.
HarrisD. N. (2006). Ending the blame game on educational inequality: A study of “high-flying” schools and NCLB. Tempe: Educational Policy Research Unit, Arizona State University.
14.
HeaneyG. W.UchitelleS. (2004). Unending struggle: The long road to an equal education in St. Louis. St. Louis, MO: Reedy Press.
15.
HeckR. H. (2004). Studying educational and social policy: Theoretical concepts and research methods. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
16.
KahlenbergR. D. (2006). Helping children move from bad schools to good ones. New York, NY: The Century Foundation.
17.
La PierreD. B. (1987). Voluntary interdistrict school desegregation in St. Louis: The special master’s tale. Wisconsin Law Review, 6, 971-1040.
18.
MilnerH. R. (2010). Start where you are, but don’t stay there. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
19.
Missouri Department of Education. (2013). Missouri comprehensive data system. Available from http://mcds.dese.mo.gov
20.
MorrisJ. E. (2004). Can anything good come from Nazareth: Race, class, and African American schooling and community in the urban South and Midwest. American Educational Research Journal, 41, 69-112.
21.
MorrisJ. E. (2008). Research, ideology, and the Brown decision: Counter-narratives to the historical and contemporary representation of black schooling. Teachers College Record, 110, 713-732.
22.
National Association of Charter School Authorizers. (2009). Public school in St. Louis: Place, performance and promise. Chicago, IL: Author.
23.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). Number of students in membership in operating public elementary and secondary schools, by school type, charter, magnet, Title I, and Title I schoolwide status, and state or jurisdiction: School year 2010-11. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/pesschools10/tables/table_03.asp
24.
OrfieldG.FrankenbergE.GarcesL. M. (2008). Statement of American social scientists of research on school desegregation to the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County. Urban Review, 40, 96-136.
25.
SaporitoS. (2003). Private choices, public consequences: Magnet school choice and segregation by race and poverty. Social Problems, 50, 181-203.
26.
SmrekarC.GoldringE. (1999). School choice in urban America: Magnet schools and the pursuit of equity. Critical issues in educational leadership series. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
WellsA. S.CrainR. L. (1997). Stepping over the color line: African-American students in white suburban schools. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
32.
WilliamsS. M. (2010). Through the eyes of friends: An investigation of school context and cross-racial friendships in racially mixed schools. Urban Education, 45, 480-505.
33.
WilliamsS. M. (2012). The politics of maintaining balanced schools: An examination of three districts. In KahlenbergR. (Ed.), The future of school integration: Socioeconomic diversity as an education reform strategy (pp. 257-279). New York, NY: The Century Foundation Press.
34.
YuC. M.TaylorW. T.GoldringE.SmrekarC.PicheD. (1997). Do magnet schools serve children in need?Washington, DC: Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights.
