Talk:Magnet school

Magnet vs. Charter

What's the difference? --Nissi Kim 02:32, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Please see the charter school article for details. The quick and dirty, as NPOV yet concise as possible: Magnet schools are public schools that have one or more specially focused curriculum elements. Charter schools are public schools that have, in essence, autonomy from the usual rules regarding public schools and are free to adopt alternative or experimental educational techniques. Many charter schools are also magnet schools, but the terms are not in the least interchangeable. Also note that my description only applies to the common US use of these terms; in Canada and elsewhere, the situation probably varies.

No, Magnet schools are schools that "draw" from multiple school zones in one (or more) school districts. Charter schools are also a cultural/historical phenomenon, and there are several school which might be considered charter schools but are not since they were established before the term was coined.

For a better comparison, consult the respective articles. Hope this helps, though! --SuperNova |T|C| 05:22, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Citations Please

Many public magnet schools are typically accused of catering to more intellectually adept or "gifted" students, who score well on tests and receive good grades. Some studies show that it is not the intelligence level of the students that cause them to succeed beyond their peers but rather the differences in teaching styles and smaller classroom sizes.

Sentences like these = no no... so yeah.. --Nissi Kim 02:18, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree. Although I understand firsthand that the schools that I am familiar with cover up their bad points so well that it is hard to find criticism in print about them, I would not support placing any major claim without a citation. (^'-')^ Covington 15:31, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Remove the "accused" paragraph and add something mentioning that some are magnet schools for the gifted. In my area there are "gifted and talented" magnet schools, not for certain "subjects". That's not an accusation, it's a fact. Don't add that last sentence again without a citation. --Howdybob 08:23, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Example Schools

I like it so far. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mythrandir (talk • contribs) 12:06, 23 December 2003

Someone suggested in the list of example schools:

note: maybe we should sort these into a table?

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.6.80.30 (talk • contribs) 00:25, 22 February 2006

Not me, but I've moved it from there to this talk page where it belongs. RossPatterson 00:49, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Need for examples

Do we really need "examples"? This isn't a directory or a phone book. --Nissi Kim 02:30, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm under the impression this was started to list some prominent ones; naturally, everyone thinks their school should be prominent, so the list has multiplied. Now, it's to the point where this article pops up on my Watchlist almost daily because someone's added a new school. My suggestion: replacing the list with the text For examples, see List of magnet schools -- a new article split off of this one that people can add to at will as an incomplete yet diverse list. I think such a list would be useful so that those interested in the topic could get more specific information about individual schools, while the main article remains uncluttered. We could then consider breaking the list down by state or level (elementary, middle, high, etc.) for ease of reference (e.g., "tell me about magnet schools in New England").

Any thoughts towards a consensus on the need for/placement of examples? --SuperNova |T|C| 05:15, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

My general feeling is that the current list is both too large and incomplete, and that a List of magnet schools wouldn't add any value. Wouldn't it be better to add [[Category:Magnet schools]] to any magnet school article and let the Wikipedia software assemble the list automagically at Category:Magnet schools? In general, exhaustive lists never are, and unless they provide some value (like the attempt in List of Stuyvesant High School people to show specialties and relationships between classmates vs. the alphabetical list in Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni), categories ought to be preferred. And there are already a few [[Category:Magnet schools in state_name]] categories already. RossPatterson 17:58, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

RossPatterson's suggestion works for me. So what is needed is:

• Adding the category tag to all schools listed currently, unless we find out that a school isn't actually a magnet school
• Linking to the category from this article

Does this sound accurate to everyone? --SuperNova |T|C| 22:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Maybe I should have waited, but I took care of both of those at the same time I replied above. I'd say there's one more task to undertake: paring the Examples list down to a half-dozen or so representative schools. RossPatterson 23:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Good job, I guess I should have checked first. My personal preference would be to list no examples, for reasons I stated above (everybody thinks their school is important). Otherwise, I would include: Thomas Jefferson, Maggie Walker, and Stuyvesant -- three schools that I've heard of despite being hundreds of miles away. I think maybe we should take a week or so and see what other people suggest and then come up with a "consensus" list, if we decide to keep this section. --SuperNova |T|C| 01:54, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Consensus is a good thing :-) Just for the record, I don't have a burning need for there to be an examples list at all. RossPatterson 03:07, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree that there is no need for specific examples. Though I think it would be helpful to point out how many magnet schools have themes, such as "math, science, and technology" or "performing arts." Tvahd (talk) 05:38, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

POV note

Nice start. I would like to see some more criticism about magnet schools; I'm familiar with some of the schools at the bottom of the list and I know that they are not above problems. (^'-')^ Covington 15:28, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Have at it, then. RossPatterson 01:12, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Worldwide view

I noted Kazakhstan#Education mentions a magnet school, so I googled and found one in Uganda (http://www.creativeconnections.org/musiclink_program/videos.php). They might be less easily found on a quick google than their US counterparts, but they appear to exist. Are there are any differences? TransUtopian 15:36, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

There are certainly schools of this type in Canada, though I've never heard the term "magnet school" used. They usually exist in large cities where the pool of students to fill them is high. Typical examples of the specialized services provided by the school are: a "gifted" program (for students who've gotten a high score on an intelligence test), music education, and French immersion. --Saforrest 04:25, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Though magnet schools may exist in other countries, we must note that magnet school is an American English term, at least for now. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to call "foreign" magnet schools magnet schools unless it becomes a generally accepted usage of the term. We first need to find out what other countries call these schools. If there is no English term, then the native word's translation may be appropriate, and should be discussed in the article. What does the U.K. call these type of school? If it's different from American usage, then why should the article be titled magnet school? For now, the article is acceptable, in my opinion, because the intro describes magnet school as an American concept. But to sustain a worldwide view, British, Australian, and Canadian editors (and others) could add what they can (most appropriately in a comparison section, because magnet schools is an American school type). But IMHO, this article is okay and does not need to be "globalized" (except for a comparison section, if appropriate) because it describes the American concept and the intricacies of magnet schools in the U.S. The intro is acceptable, and clearly and appropriately designates it as an American type of school. Wizmo 11:23, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

huh?

Since when is "academics" a "specific subject"? (It's not there any more; I got rid of it. But what were the rest of you doing?) Michael Hardy 22:30, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

self-righteous, much? Do you really wanna get all worked up by semantics? But thank you so much for your brilliant editing.Stupidhumanzz 19:43, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

"Purpose" section

the sentence "Some magnet programs are within comprehensive schools, as is the case with several "schools within a school" found in Virginia Beach, VA, and Austin, TX." includes wiki-links to Virginia Beach and Austin, but those links don't seem to contribute to the discussion regarding the "school within a school" magnet type. Would it be better to have a wiki-link to a page about the school(s) the author is actually referring to? Watercat04 01:05, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Info Box

What format are we supposed to use for this infobox? This article does not fit into the template of a school, and "Charter Schools" doesn't have an info box. I would make one, but I don't know what categories to include in the info box. If you know, please direct me. Chexmix53 (talk) 20:45, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

History

I created a history section that documented how magnet school came about, and then meshed together the purpose article into the history article. I think that this article needs to be expanded more, but there is really no template to go off of in figuring out how it needs to be set up. Chexmix53 (talk) 21:25, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

I plan on expanding on how the MSAP has changed over the years, particularly some of the changes in how it goes about determining which schools receive funding. Tvahd (talk) 05:12, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

I want to link, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, as this 2007 case determined that schools cannot use race as the determining factor in assigning students to schools. Tvahd (talk) 05:32, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

References

Haitian name

if anyone wants to make a Haitian version: Lekòl Magnet - http://news.dadeschools.net/releases/rls14/cr_rls/068_magnet.html WhisperToMe (talk) 23:09, 3 January 2016 (UTC)

Edits and Contribution

I am hoping to contribute a more well rounded analysis of magnet schools in The United States. I would like to focus on the history and need of magnet schools. SimBerg21 (talk) 03:50, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

Racial Isolation

Because magnet schools have the specific aim of facilitating voluntary desegregation, I feel that greater attention needs to be placed on its original conception This purpose makes magnet schools distinct from other forms of school choice. Tvahd (talk) 04:53, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

References

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Unclear sentence

The lead says:

"Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school zones that feed into certain schools.

Maybe it's just me, but even after reading that sentence five times, I still have absolutely no idea what I'm reading. Is "draw" supposed to be "draw in", as in attract students to study there? And what are these "boundaries defined by authorities"? And what are "zones that feed into" something? Absolutely unclear. Maybe most people reading this article are Americans, and get what it's supposed to say. But to me (Dutch), the lead really needs to be better for me to get it. --2001:1C06:19CA:D600:8100:890B:829E:DEA3 (talk) 19:21, 1 May 2023 (UTC)

I edited the first paragraph. Hopefully it's a bit clearer now. Please let me know if you still have questions. –Novem Linguae (talk) 23:43, 1 May 2023 (UTC)