My perception is that there are many more students who deserve to be in challenging programs than the number of spots available. It's really hard to design an exam that truly selects those who are "most deserving" for high-ranking high schools. These are not necessarily specialized schools that only certain types of kids can benefit from. Exams also raise anxiety levels, sometimes to absurdity, and reward those who can afford excessive prepping. This is much harder than selecting basketball players and orchestra members, where skill sets are narrow and well defined.
Also, magnet schools offer opportunities in a variety of ways. Locally we have early colleges, IB schools, and schools that offer a lot of flexibility in course selections. Who deserves to go to such schools is really hard to measure by exams.
I'm sure many, many magnet schools require entrance exams. I'm just glad that our local schools take a different approach, which, in my personal opinion, works well without making middle school into prep schools for selective high schools.
Last edited by playandlearn; 05/29/16 07:42 PM.
