This paper describes magnet schools as thematic islands of choice within a traditional district-assignment plan. These "islands of choice" are currently the most popular destination with those who exercise some choice in where they send their children to school. During the 1991-92 school year, 3,200 magnet schools were in operation, hosting some 1.2 million students. Started in the early 1970s, magnet schools have shown to be effective in reducing racial isolation and in providing high-quality educational programs. There are different types of magnet programs and different instructional results. A study of teacher self-reports found that whole-school magnets featured higher levels of internal and external community when compared with program-within-school magnets. A comparison of graduates of comprehensive urban high schools with magnet-school graduates showed that the latter demonstrated equal or better social development and educational/occupational aspirations, and they frequently outperformed their conventional high-school peers in math, reading, science, and social studies. Even with these positive reports, there are some problems with magnet schools. One study showed that when student ability is considered in the evaluation design, magnet students perform at lower levels than do their non-magnet counterparts. Access to magnet schools can also be difficult for Latino and African-American students. (Contains 23 references.) (RJM)