The implementation of the elementary magnet school program in Montgomery County (Maryland) from 1983 through 1985 and the racial balance changes experienced in these schools are discussed. Ten elementary schools in Area 1 and four of seven elementary schools in Area 2 operate magnet programs; these 14 schools comprise the study sample. The objectives of the study were to determine: (1) the extent to which magnet programs have been implemented in the schools as planned; (2) whether these programs stimulated increased participation in the programs through voluntary pupil transfers; (3) whether the resulting pupil transfers improved the racial balance of the schools in the magnet school cluster. School visits were conducted to examine program implementation in 1985. Montgomery County Public School's "Statistical Abstracts" provided data on racial balance in the schools. A distinction is made between school minority composition and racial balance--the difference between the school's and the county's overall minority composition. Magnet programs included gifted and talented programs, and areas of concentration in the arts, mathematics and science, computer literacy, and foreign languages. Magnet programs were generally implemented as planned and did generate transfer requests. The racial balance of Area 2 schools improved to within Board of Education guidelines, although the magnet schools cannot be said to be the sole reason. In Area 1, the racial balance stabilized, but remained above the overall minority composition. The current program does have an impact on the racial balance of magnet clusters. Strategies are discussed for increasing the pace of improvement. Overall demographic trends in the county are described. Findings on racial balance and magnet programs are tabulated and analyzed for each area, and the various alternatives are described. (SLD)