A Sky Without Stars

[dtengineering]

If only magnet schools were simply about taking "the most gifted".

The research, and history, shows there is a lot more to it than that, primarily related to parents' education, affluence, and expectations for their kids.

It doesn't mean magnet schools are "wrong" or "bad", any more than it means that private schools, or religious schools are. Parents, with the motivation and ability to do so, reasonbly seek out the perceived best opportunities for their children. Those same parents also tend to be the most able to bring funding, support and other strengths to their children's schools.

One of my favorite studies (wish I had the citation here...) showed that students in magnet schools had higher average academic success than those in non-magent schools. But the district they studied had fewer spaces in magnet schools than they had applicants, so they conducted a lottery to see which students would get in to the magnet schools. When they compared the success of the students in the magnet schools, to those who had applied for admission to the magnet schools, but been denied entry, they found almost no difference in academic success. They were able to argue, convincingly, that being in a magnet school made very little difference to a student's academic success... but having a parent who wanted them to be in a magnet school and was able to co-ordinate an application, and was prepared for the extra cost of transportation to get to the magnet school, was a HUGE factor in the student's success.

That can create challenges for schools that loose student and parent leaders to the magnet schools. Good, bad... right, wrong... hard to say... but, like so much in education, a complex issue with lots of grey areas.

It's great that you are able to use robotics as an enrichment activity to draw the best out of your students.

Jason