Reducing, Eliminating and Preventing Minority Isolation in American Schools: TheImpact of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP)

摘要

Magnet schools offer a distinctive educational program and thus provide anincentive for students to enroll in schools outside of their immediate neighborhood. As a voluntary strategy for desegregating schools, magnets have become very popular: the number of magnet programs offered in elementary and secondary schools more than doubled between 1983 and 1992, and enrollment in magnetic schools more than tripled. The Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) was initiated in 1984 to provide federal support for magnet schools that are part of an approved voluntary or court-ordered desegregation plan. Through MSAP, funds are provided to support the elimination, reduction, or prevention of minority isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial portions of minority group students.