Over the last three decades, the magnet school program has been employed as a desegregation tool to eliminate, reduce, or prevent minority group isolation in public schools in America. By definition, the magnet school program has three essential elements: a unified curriculum based on a special theme or method of instruction, enrollment of students beyond the geographic attendance zone, and student and parent choice. The impetus for magnet school programs emerged from debates covering busing, choice programs, educational quality, and racial balance. The early development of the magnet concept as a desegregation tool can be traced to judicial engagement of well-known court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, where de jure segregation was ruled unconstitutional based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. In the late 1970s, the federal government began to provide financial support for magnet school programs through the Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA,1972) and established the Magnet Schools Assistance Program in 1984. Recent findings suggest that the magnet program may not be obtaining the desired results of eliminating, preventing, or reducing racial imbalances. Furthermore, it is believed that some districts receiving grants have little chance of reducing minority group isolation due to the limited pool of white students. This study was designed determine the extent of the reduction of minority group isolation in magnet school programs that received funding in the 1995 Magnet Schools Assistance Program. A survey instrument designed to gather enrollment information was mailed to the central office personnel who were responsible for the oversight of magnet school programs in sixty-four federally funded school districts. Findings of this study indicate that school districts with a significant population of minority students are unlikely to reduce minority group isolation using the Magnet Schools Assistance Program standard of at or no more than fifty percent minority enrollment in selected magnet programs even with financial assistance. Schools with high populations of minority students are unlikely to attract non-minority students. / Ed. D.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2008. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 17, 2009). Thesis advisor: L. David Fox. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to quantify core academic middle school teachers’ (English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social science) perspectives of career education. Prior research denotes that if career education exposure and awareness is provided in middle school grades, then students have the potential to develop a valuable understanding of various occupations available in the future (Akos, Konold, & Niles, 2004). Students observe what the work accomplishes and the effort required for the employee to be successful. If the occupation interests the students, then an increased motivation to complete their studies is likely to develop as they see the connection between what is taught in class and the opportunity for the desired career (Schaefer, & Rivera, 2012). In order to achieve that, the first step is to understand the teaching community’s viewpoint on career education and to use that knowledge to build successful programs. Teachers employed in a large school district in southeastern United States at the time of the study indicated their understanding of the concepts of future career orientation and career integration in its present state of use. The researcher distributed the tested CareerStart Teacher Perspective Survey (CTPS) and a selection of teacher related variables from charter, magnet, and traditional public middle schools to populate the study (n=199). Using ANOVA and regression analysis, the study found a significant difference in the value of future orientation and overall career education factors from males versus females. In addition, teachers ages 25-44 had a higher mean value for all factors than teachers of other age groups. There were no significant differences amongst teachers’ value of career education between the three different types of schools. This study contributes to the body of research pertaining to teacher perspectives of career education at the middle school level.

No description available.

This thesis is a descriptive case study of the first sustainability magnet themed elementary school in the U.S., the Sustainability Academy (SA) in Burlington, VT. The thesis provides an in depth case study narrative of the first pilot year of the SA (2009) as well as an examination of the analytical frameworks for evaluating the efficacy of sustainability movements in schools. A literature review is provided to distinguish between a type of static sustainability that supports the current educational paradigm and a type of sustainable education that identifies sustainability as a moving target and a deep process to transcend the current education paradigm. A step-by-step process for school evaluations of sustainability education is explored and discussed using: 1) the case study research of the SA in their pilot year; 2) the literature review on education and sustainability, systems thinking and school transformation; and 3) the exploration and adaptation of analytical frameworks for sustainability in education.

This report explores example models from nine different operational areas found in the arts schools movement, examines the positive and negative impact of each, and attempts to draw cursory conclusions that could be applied to those seeking to evaluate an existing, or establish a new, arts school. The operational areas included in this report are the purpose of the school, size and scope, finances, governance and administration, faculty and staff, facilities, recruitment/auditions/retention, community involvement, and learning and information resources. Over the past four decades, arts-focused primary and secondary schools have been established to provide students with an alternative to traditional campuses across the country using a variety of operational models and tactics for success but there has been limited documentation of their effectiveness. This report seeks to begin the establishment of such documentation. / text

This case study examined the perceptions of administrators, teachers and parents of the implementation of an elementary school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) academy program that featured characteristics of both magnet school programs and schoolwithin-a-school programs. I conducted interviews of key personnel, informed by classroom observations and a survey of parents to determine how stakeholders perceived equity in the access and allocation of opportunities and resources. The STEM Academy selected students from neighboring elementary schools and was housed within a larger K-5 elementary school. I found the STEM Academy teachers were widely praised for their innovations and teaching excellence, and alignment with emerging best practices. However, there were perceptions that their curriculum was neither sufficiently documented nor aligned with school division priorities, and was insufficiently communicated with school division central office leaders Academy parents, teachers, and community partners praised the Academy’s approach to curriculum, instruction, and uncommon learning experiences; but resentment and perceptions of inequity and exclusivity among most other stakeholders compromised the program implementation, leading to administrative and political pressure that challenged the Academy’s sustainability. I provide discussion and recommendations concerning elementary STEM programs, highlighting the importance of stakeholder perceptions and program evaluation. I also provide several suggestions for further research. / Ed. D.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 194 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Comparative analyses of district-run public schools and charter schools are limited to performance outcomes. There is a dearth of research on how the school-types vary on factors consequential to performance such as school climate. Public-private distinctions, such as in organizational autonomy, value orientations, funding structures, and management practices, could result in school climate dissimilarities between district-run public schools and charter schools. The aim of this dissertation is to assess the influence organizational factors have on school climate and determine if school-type affects school climate. Student and staff school climate survey data from the Miami-Dade school district were utilized for this dissertation. Structural equation modeling was employed to test theoretical models of students’ and staffs’ perceptions of school climate using data from 2001-2002 through 2015-2016 academic years. Within-between effects panel regression was utilized to test the effect of school-type on school climate constructs over time using data from 2005-2006 through 2015-2016 academic years. The structural equation results demonstrate that milieu, ecology, culture, and organizational structure influence students’ and staffs’ perceptions of their schools’ climates. Ecology has the strongest association with students’ perceptions of school climate. Job satisfaction, a part of milieu and culture, has the strongest association with staffs’ perceptions of school climate. The results indicate that the theoretical models of school climate employed by this study are sound. The within-between effects panel regression results demonstrate that characteristics inherent to school-type have a plausible influence on students’ perceptions of school climate, but not for staff. Charter school students rated their school climates more favorably than traditional public schools, but when other factors are controlled, traditional public schools and magnet schools had more favorable ratings. Public-sector values, collective bargaining, and school district oversight may be beneficial to schools’ climates. This dissertation underscores the impact management and funding structures have on school climate. The author recommends that the school climate concept and evaluations of schools’ organizational practices be incorporated into school improvement policies. The milieu, culture, ecology, and organizational structures of schools should be reviewed when assessing school quality.