Project Summary

American Education Solutions and The Education Alliance have partnered to conduct evaluations of the quality and effectiveness of federally funded Magnet School Assistance Programs (MSAP) for over eight years. Evaluations conducted through this partnership target educational opportunities designed to benefit 45,000 minority students in multiple diverse school districts from New York to Florida.

Districts receive MSAP grants to implement magnet school programs with a focus on reducing minority group isolation and increasing student achievement. Evaluations have used a quasi-experimental design, working either with matched comparison schools or matched comparison cohorts of students depending on the needs and socio-economic makeup of the district. The Alliance has also employed teacher and student surveys and student-level assessment data to assess program efficacy and implementation. The Alliance currently maintains a magnet school longitudinal database of questionnaire and test results for over 90,000 students from 92 schools at all levels.