Knox County Magnet Schools Evaluation
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Final Summative Evaluation Report

Prepared by:

The Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
The University of Tennessee
August 2006
Report 06-04a

Contributors to This Study
Data collection, analysis, and report preparation have been conducted by the following team members:

Dr. Russell French, Director Emeritus                                        Evaluation
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation                                     Project Director
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

Dr. Gary Skolits, Director                                                               Team Member
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

Dr. Judy Boser, Senior Research Associate                              Team Member
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

Dr. John Ray, Senior Research Associate                                   Team Member
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

Dr. Deborah Alexander, Research Associate                            Team Member
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

John Campbell, Doctoral Student                                                Team Member
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

Carol Price, Doctoral Student                                                        Team Member
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

Larry Washington, Doctoral Student                                           Team Member
Institute for Assessment and Evaluation
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
University of Tennessee

Introduction

In the fall of 2005, the Knox County Schools administration asked the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Assessment and Evaluation (IAE) to undertake an evaluation of the school system’s five magnet schools:  Beaumont Magnet Honors Academy, Green Magnet Math and Science Academy, Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy, Vine Middle Performing Arts and Sciences Magnet School, and Austin-East Performing Arts and Sciences Magnet High School.  After an initial meeting with key central office administrators, IAE staff developed a proposal for the project and an evaluation process designed to answer nine research questions.  The proposal and evaluation design were approved by the Knox County Board of Education, and data collection began shortly before the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  This document contains the final report of the evaluation team.