Key Facts: Theme and Variation in Missouri Charter and Magnet Schools
by Amy Shelton
Last week we published a first-of-its-kind analysis of variation in Missouri charter and magnet schools. Charter schools are privately-managed, publicly-funded (tuition free) schools of choice that typically must accept all students who apply and administer a lottery if applications exceed available seats. Magnet schools are district-run schools of choice and may have selective admissions requirements, such as test scores or auditions. In this blog, we highlight three key areas of difference between Missouri charter and magnet schools in terms of their curriculum, pedagogy, and student body focus.
1. Curriculum: Most charter schools (63%) have a general curriculum, while most magnet schools (77%) have a specialized curriculum.
Curriculum is the classroom content. A general school curriculum includes the core subjects of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Curricularly-specialized schools focus on particular subjects or pre-professional fields or programs. For example, a STEM-specialized curriculum would feature more classes on science and technology, while an arts-based curriculum integrates art into the core curriculum or treats the arts as a core subject. Of schools that have a special curricular focus, STEM is the most common specialization for both charter schools (15%) and magnet schools (20%).
2. Pedagogy: Approximately half of charter schools but only 1 in 10 magnet schools take a “high expectations” pedagogical approach.
Pedagogy is the approach to teaching. Traditional pedagogical approaches are primarily teacher-directed. This includes conventional teaching methods and the high expectations (formerly “no excuses”) approach, which is known for its rigorous academic and behavioral expectations. Pedagogically-progressive approaches are more student-centered, such as inquiry-based or project-based learning. Only 28% of charter schools and 34% of magnet schools are pedagogically-progressive.
3. Nineteen percent of Missouri charter schools but no magnet schools are diverse-by-design.
Diverse-by-design schools focus on creating a racially and/or socioeconomically diverse student body, often through strategic marketing or locational decisions. In Missouri, all diverse-by-design charter schools also offer a specialized curriculum and/or a progressive teaching approach. Magnet schools in Kansas City and St. Louis were initially created in the 1980’s as part of court-ordered desegregation plans and were intended to help racially integrate the state’s two largest metro regions. However, magnet schools no longer have policies ensuring racial integration.
We classify each charter and magnet school in Missouri according to its unique combination of general versus specialized curriculum; traditional versus progressive pedagogy; and diverse-by-design versus all/other student body focus. This gives us eight different types of schools, summarized in the below table. The graph below shows the frequencies of each type among charter and magnet schools that were open in 2021-22.
While half of charter schools have both a general curriculum and traditional pedagogy, only 6% of magnet schools fall into the General-Traditional category. Magnet schools in St. Louis are more likely than magnet schools in Kansas City to be pedagogically-progressive.
To see a list of each charter and magnet school in Kansas City and Saint Louis, along with the 2021-22 type, primary foci, and racial demographics of each school, see our online Appendix.