March 9, 2010

The role of magnet schools in Wake County

Purpose

One of the most discussed issues in the current debate about future student assignment plans is the role of magnet schools in Wake County. From redistributing magnet school programs throughout the county to leaving the current system largely untouched, school board members have floated a number of ideas since a new majority took office Dec. 1.

The purpose of this review is to help parents and others understand the advantages and challenges of different approaches. It also addresses possible changes that can be made to better address the original goals of the program – to fill schools that would otherwise be under-enrolled and avoid high concentrations of poverty.      

This is the third topic review in an ongoing series and the second that directly addresses school assignment issues. Some of the conclusions of this review draw upon the findings of the Feb. 8 analysis titled “Assigning students to their closest school.”

Future reviews will discuss other key aspects of any student assignment plan, including what it would require to offer families both stability and balance.

Summary

Today’s magnet school program has gone through numerous changes since it was introduced in 1982, but two basic goals have remained the same – to fill seats that would otherwise go empty while creating a more diverse student body.

In 1982, a diverse student body meant racial integration. Today it refers to socio-economic balance. Regardless of the definition, the magnet program has remained an effective tool for achieving both goals even as the system has grown to 140,000 students.

More than 29,600 students are enrolled in 33 magnet schools – 10,500 of them by choice. That makes it virtually impossible to make major changes to the program without the effects of those changes rippling out to every corner of the county. 

Without the magnet program, it would be extremely difficult for the school system to avoid poverty levels exceeding 66 percent in roughly two dozen schools. (See map below)  Those schools would be located mostly inside the I-440 Beltline, in eastern Wake County and in the Garner area.

The final number of schools with high concentrations of poverty will depend on how the school board defines a community and its choices. Board Vice-Chair Debra Goldman, for example, has often praised magnet schools for the sense of community they create with families and students. Other board members tend to fall back on the tighter geographic boundaries of a neighborhood.

A recent resolution approved by the school board refers to assignment areas based on school system functions such as transportation, maintenance and the roles of seven “area superintendents” who oversee schools in different regions of the county.

The role of magnet schools in such a “community-based assignment plan” will ultimately decide how many schools have high concentrations of poverty. Excluding alternative schools, the system currently has four schools where the percentage of low-income students meets or exceeds 66 percent.

View Schools with large F/R populations in a larger map

Based on factors such as the number of school-age children in a neighborhood, family income levels and school capacity, the schools above would be the most likely to enroll a large percentage of low-income students without magnet programs. (Click on the markers inside the map to see individual school data.)

This review does not assume current magnet school themes or even the current lineup of magnet schools must remain the same. But it does assume the schools will be placed where they can most effectively fill empty seats and help maintain socio-economic balance.

Magnet schools with different themes could be distributed equally among assignment zones, but the result would be a magnet program in name only. What is lost in that approach is the opportunity to create any assignment plan that provides both balance and stability.

Understanding the details:

Capacity 

As shown in a map that accompanied the Feb. 8 review, as many as nine schools from downtown Raleigh to Brooks Elementary just north of the Beltline would likely be well under capacity without the magnet program. Several schools along the US 70 corridor in Garner and along the US 64 corridor from Knightdale to Zebulon would also be significantly under capacity.

The mismatch between capacity and neighborhood patterns is hardly limited to those schools. As the map shows, similar situations can be found throughout Wake County. But the schools in Raleigh, Garner and along US 64 are unique because families from some of the adjoining neighborhoods are often noticeably poorer.

If families were taken only from nearby neighborhoods to fill the schools that are under capacity, the schools in these corridors would quickly enroll a disproportionate share of low-income students. Elementary schools such as Joyner and Conn, for example, fit this description.

It’s not that the neighborhoods surrounding Conn and Joyner are overwhelmingly poor, but they are older and many residents no longer have school-age kids. Magnet programs designed to attract middle-class families from outside the area offset that shortfall. 

In other neighborhoods, there are simply too many poor families to ensure any kind of balance. In those cases, there are more low-income students than schools in the immediate area can accommodate.

The drawback to creating a balanced student body in those schools is obvious: students from low-income families must be moved out to create seats for middle-class families attracted by the magnet program.

That is the compromise that the school district has brokered for years among middle-class and low-income families. The tool used is the magnet school program. It’s used because decades of research have made clear that high-poverty, urban classrooms quickly develop problems that traditional schools are not equipped to counter.

One of the first problems those schools see is an inability to attract good teachers and principals who are willing to stay. Quality teachers and principals are the key to academic success.  

Teacher quality
 
The ability to attract quality teachers and principals to high-poverty schools has generated countless studies from research at Duke University, research at UNC-Chapel Hill and research nationally that spans decades.

“The consistency of the patterns across many measures of qualifications for both teachers and principals leaves no doubt that students in the high-poverty schools are served by school personnel with lower qualifications than those in the lower poverty schools,” states a 2007 study authored in part by Helen Ladd of the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. “The differences largely reflect predictable outcomes of the labor market for teachers and principals.”

Such blunt statements are echoed in many studies and are rarely a surprise to any principal or superintendent who has had to recruit educators for a job in high-poverty schools.

Achievement

While the test scores of low-income students in Wake County exceed state and national averages in some areas, there are other key areas where academic performance lags. Critics of the system often point solely to the lagging scores when suggesting the county is failing its poor students.

The achievement levels of poorer children in Wake County are unacceptable. Some might suggest the scores are predictable given that Wake County spends less than the state average and less than the national average per student. Regardless, there is no good reason for a system with Wake County’s talents and resources to post such scores.

But raising test scores was never a stated goal of the magnet program. The goal is to provide “equity in educational programs.” In layman’s terms, that means making sure students in poorer parts of the county aren’t stuck in schools with lower standards and less-qualified teachers.

As the research cited above illustrates, test scores inevitably drop relative to surrounding schools when poverty is concentrated. Magnet schools do not automatically create success. They provide opportunities for success.

There is no research that suggests removing opportunities will benefit low-income students.

Choice and Equity

Despite its benefits – in terms of capacity, teacher recruitment and opportunities -- magnet programs provide an inherent benefit for some middle-class families that is not available to all students.

By placing the programs where they can best fill seats and encourage socio-economic balance, the schools by default are too far away from families in the outer reaches of the county to be of much value.

View WCPSS Magnet Schools 2009-2010 in a larger map

The way in which magnet schools are clustered makes sense for capacity and balance. But most of the locations limit choice for many families. (Click on the markers inside the map for details about individual schools.)

This imbalance has been a point of friction for much of the past 20 years as the county developed far faster than anyone ever envisioned. Magnet school rules developed through the years have further restricted who can reasonably expect to get a seat in the programs.

With careful planning, it is possible to offer choices to more parents without removing the pull of other magnet programs. But magnets by their nature are not about offering the same choices to everyone.

All families should have choices. All families cannot have the same choice. That would defeat the goals of a magnet program.

In effect, the trade off is already built into the system. Those who live closer to poorer parts of the county get more choices. Those who live farther away in more affluent areas get schools that are consistently above average.

The missing component for families in the suburbs is a sense of stability, something magnet parents need not worry about.

As noted above, those who sacrifice the most in terms of community are low-income families who often travel the farthest to attend a school. Research supports such an approach, but it takes stability and a rigorous curriculum for that bus ride to deliver its potential.

The ultimate goal of any assignment plan in Wake should be one that helps create high student achievement by providing balance and stability. A magnet program that complements those goals would be a key part of that plan.

In following topic reviews, the Partnership will explore the framework for such a plan, possible changes to magnet schools and what the broader plan would require of the community.

Links:

Magnet school ‘Fast facts’

WCPSS magnet school map (page 17)

Current capacity and demographics of all schools (pages 5-8)

Timeline of magnet school program

Wake Education Partnership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit created in 1983 to support public schools, in part by educating the community on current school issues. Most of its financial support comes from local business. For questions about this report, contact Tim Simmons, VP of Communication (tsimmons@wakeedpartnership.org) or Julie Crain, VP of Programs. (jcrain@wakeedpartnership.org ). This topic review can also be found at our website, www.wakeedpartnership.org, under the tab titled News Center.