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Thursday, December 10, 2009

L.A. Unified's magnet test scores together at last -- latimes.com

L.A. Unified's magnet test scores together at last -- latimes.com:

"Just in time for magnet school applications, a new L.A. Times database puts the test score information of the school district's programs in one place."

The well-regarded Cleveland Humanities Magnet in Reseda is hardly a secret: On average, two students apply for every available spot. But even parent boosters don't precisely know how their magnet compares to others -- or to other schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

That's because the district does not publicly release the test scores of magnet programs. So a thorough comparison is virtually impossible, an especially frustrating obstacle for parents during this season, with the deadline for magnet applications one week away.

Yet the information is not secret, either: L.A. Unified has provided it on demand. And that data, for the first time, has now been collected and assembled into an interactive database and map by the Los Angeles Times. It is available online at www.latimes.com/magnetscores.