Forty-five magnet schools in fifteen urban school districts were studied to find if magnet schools increase community participation in public education, what factors lead to increased community participation, and if there is a relationship between community participation and magnet school effectiveness. Major findings were the following: (1) Almost half the magnets had higher parent participation than other schools in their districts and, in general, the magnets had considerable success in stimulating participation by the private sector and nonprofit organizations. Sixty percent of the magnet schools had high or above average participation from two of the three sectors. (2) Three factors were strongly related to higher community participation (district policy consensus, community role in planning, and school implementation leadership), one factor was moderately related (magnet theme), and two factors were not related (type of magnet and neighborhood composition). (3) Districts with a high degree of overall community participation (parents, private sector, and nonprofit sector) had higher ratings on educational quality. The most basic finding was that a high level of parent and community participation is not an automatic byproduct of a magnet school program but is the result of a planned and sustained outreach effort for community involvement. (CMG)