Magnet Schools > Our Services
Successful & Sustainable School Communities
Engaging with a variety of federal, state, and local organizations, we are committed to working together to co-create policies, systems, and strategies that improve school quality and strengthen magnet school options to more equitably meet the needs of all students.
To support your efforts to ensure magnet schools are successful and sustainable, we work with you to:
- Conduct evaluations to inform program impacts and improvement
- Design and develop research-informed schools, programs, and services
- Leverage promising practices to create engaging programming that meets the needs of all students and promotes parent and family engagement
We also conduct mixed method, impact and implementation evaluations for various magnet school grants, including Albuquerque Public Schools, Baltimore County Public Schools and Clark County School District, and Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.
Magnet School Program Evaluation
WestEd has worked with the MSAP grant community of grantees since 2011; first as the compliance monitoring contract for the U.S. Department of Education and currently as the external evaluator on four MSAP grant awards, including Albuquerque Public Schools, Baltimore County Public Schools and Clark County School District, and Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.
Drawing on this experience, we can support customized assistance for your schools and programs in the following ways:
- Applying promising practices to help you avoid pitfalls and promote success for students, schools, and communities
- Designing an evaluation approach to meet requirements for evidence of promise studies; including formative loops to drive continuous improvement
- Developing an Evaluation Plan that incorporates required application content and applies lessons learned from previous successes to increase competitiveness
- Informing the development of grant objectives and performance measures that are aligned with a customized evaluation approach and will deliver desired results
School Design, Development, and Improvement
Designing and developing a magnet program can take a significant amount of time, effort, and district/school resources.
Your partners will need to be involved in fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what the magnet school will be, who it will serve, what it will do, and why it will do it. Effective magnet school design, development and improvement are pivotal to ensure optimum use of resources to achieve magnet objectives, the actions needed to make progress, and how the school will know if it is successful in achieving student outcomes.
How Can We Help?
Eligibility and Readiness
- District eligibility to apply for an MSAP grant
- Support with understanding and locating your district’s desegregation plan
- Needs Assessment to determine readiness for a magnet school program
Designing and Developing Successful Magnet School Programs
- STEM and CTE Magnet Design
Resource Planning
- Designing for sustainability – Sustaining the Magnet Program beyond the Grant
Continuous Improvement
- Adopting a Continuous Improvement Model
Family and School Partnership
Engaged family and school community partnerships are mutually beneficial, offer a system of support and shared ownership, and are vital to the success of magnet programs.
Partnerships with families are essential for a rich educational experience for students. Highly effective magnet schools deliver pertinent information to families and encourage continuous collaboration and partnership. As evidenced by their recommendations, input and participation in shared decision-making, family and parent groups are essential members of any high-quality magnet programs. Students in magnet programs benefit from themed curriculum and focused and rigorous academic instruction. To build a strong relationship with parents, a district needs to ensure a process for parents to provide input on school decisions and for them to raise concerns.
How can we help?
Educational support from professionals in the field enhances students’ real-world problem-solving skills and creates a connection to the community’s economic needs.