CPS Comprehensive Magnet School Policy (1998): neighborhood set-aside and transportation buffer¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 7 claims (6 for, 1 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A district policy introduced in fall 1997, effective 1998-99, that codified and standardized magnet school admission and transportation rules. The report states it "introduced two major changes into the magnet school system: the neighborhood set-aside and the transportation buffer." The proximity lottery reserves 30 percent of new seats (15 percent in 1998-99) for children within a 1.5-mile radius of elementary schools (2.5 miles for high schools), and transportation is provided only within a six-mile radius.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A separate proximity lottery for neighborhood children, alongside general and sibling lotteries
• Defined neighborhood radii (1.5 miles elementary, 2.5 miles high schools) and a six-mile transportation zone

Constraints¶

• The neighborhood set-aside applies only to the three traditional magnet high schools, not to Regional College Preparatory schools or IB programs
• Students enrolled before implementation were not displaced, delaying full effects for at least eight years

Target Learners¶

• Chicago Public Schools elementary and high school applicants to magnet schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Equitable access to themed and selective educational programs across ethnic groups and residential areas

Claims¶

• African-American students travel farther to attend magnet elementary schools than students of other ethnicities [+W]
• About half of CPS students do not live within the neighborhood zone of any magnet elementary school [+W]
• Only eight of the 15 regular magnet elementary schools meet the consent decree desegregation standard, after white enrollment declined through the 1990s [+W]
• Magnet elementary schools enroll larger percentages of white and Asian students and smaller percentages of Latino and African-American students than non-magnet schools [+W]
• Areas of Chicago without magnet elementary schools have lower median family income and fewer white residents than areas within magnet neighborhood zones [+W]
• African-American and Asian students are more likely than Latino and white students to live within multiple magnet neighborhood zones [+W]
• Two years after the comprehensive magnet school policy, overall enrollment patterns by student residence had not changed substantially [~W]

Related Elements¶

• Map set of Pearce and Garcia attendance zones documenting survey response, support, and respondent ethnicity

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Elaine M. Allensworth, Todd Rosenkranz. (2000). Access to Magnet Schools in Chicago. Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/access-magnet-schools-chicago