Magnet School

How It Works

Magnet schools were originally created in the 1960s and 1970s as a voluntary desegregation strategy: by offering specialized programs that attracted students of all backgrounds, they could achieve diversity without mandatory busing. Today, there are approximately 3,500 magnet schools serving about 3.5 million students in the United States. Magnet schools differ from charter schools in important ways: magnets are typically operated by the school district (not independently), they may have selective admissions based on academic performance or audition (for arts programs), and they are staffed by district employees. Common magnet themes include STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), performing and visual arts, International Baccalaureate (IB), Montessori, language immersion, and career and technical education. Because magnet schools often select or attract higher-performing students, their test scores tend to be above average. However, this selection effect makes direct comparison with neighborhood schools complex. A magnet school's high proficiency rate may reflect its admissions process as much as its instructional quality. On OpenSchoolData, magnet schools are labeled with a "Magnet" tag. The same data is presented for magnet and non-magnet schools, but parents should consider the selection factor when interpreting proficiency rates. Enrollment data and demographics are particularly useful for evaluating magnets because they reveal the student population the school serves.

Related Terms

• Charter School, A publicly funded school that operates independently of the traditional school district system under a charter (contract) that grants operational flexibility in exchange for accountability for results.
• School Choice, The principle and set of policies that allow families to choose which school their child attends rather than being assigned to a school based solely on residential address.
• Advanced Placement (AP), College-level courses offered in high schools through the College Board, allowing students to earn college credit by passing a standardized AP exam scored on a 1-5 scale.
• Gifted and Talented Program, Specialized educational services for students identified as having exceptional academic or creative abilities, offering accelerated or enriched curriculum beyond the standard grade-level program.