Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Advantages of Tier I vs. Tier II vs. Tier III

I can see your point that in most cases, it wouldn't make sense to seek out a Title I school. Interestingly, we had the option of three magnet schools, all with excellent magnet programs, but each designated a different tier. We turned down seats in the Tier I and Tier III Magnets and accepted the seats at the Tier II Magnet. Interestingly, I concluded that the Tier II school not only had the best Magnet Program (particularly for my children) but was actually a better school overall. In our case, it is likely that our Magnet is at the high end of Tier II and the scores are on the rise as well. The Tier I Magnet appears to be a bit on the decline (so perhaps the low end of Tier I) and also had the advantage of being all Magnet students (rather than Magnet within a neighborhood school) so essentially excludes almost all problem students. To me, this suggest their "scores" should be higher than the other schools instead of about the same as the Tier II Magnet. For what it is worth, my DS was very tempted by the Tier III Magnet (also Magnet within a neighborhood school) due to its unusual program (including integration of technology) and originally had that Magnet as his first choice.