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At the Top
of the Class
KIPP programs could revolutionize charter schools in poor
districts—if they can just keep their grades up.
by Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz, Newsweek, March
24, 2003
Original URL:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/885220.asp?cp1=1
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Adalberto Garza’s 13-year- old son, Adalberto Jr., was tagged a
problem learner in his Houston elementary school. He’s dyslexic
and, because his first language is Spanish, English-speaking
teachers often had difficulty understanding him. “His accent and
his way of talking made him seem as if he had a mental
handicap,” his father says. But after Adalberto Jr. enrolled at
KIPP Academy Houston, his grades shot up. At KIPP, Garza says,
the teachers “are truly interested in our children.”
Garza is not the only one who’s impressed. Many education
reformers think the Houston middle school and 14 other KIPP
schools in 11 states and the District of Columbia may have found
a better way to educate disadvantaged students. And KIPP has
also become a national model for more widespread reform of
charter-school programs. KIPP began in the mid-1990s, when
Michael Feinberg and David Levin, two alums of Teach for America
(which sends recent college graduates into urban schools), grew
frustrated by their lack of progress teaching fifth graders in
the Houston Independent School District. They persuaded the then
Superintendent Rod Paige (now the secretary of Education) to let
them try a new concept—demanding academics, much longer days and
stricter discipline. Feinberg and Levin called their class the
Knowledge Is Power Program, and their results were striking: 98
percent of their students passed the state’s standardized tests
compared with just 50 percent the year before. Feinberg went on
to open the Houston school, and Levin started a second KIPP
school in the Bronx. At both, students attend class 10 hours a
day plus alternate Saturdays as well as summers. Teachers carry
cell phones so they can be reached 24/7 if students need help
(they get a stipend for the extra hours). And students sign a
pledge to abide by the rules.
Although middle schools are notoriously difficult to run, KIPP
students were soon outscoring their peers in other schools and
winning national attention, including an appearance at the 2000
GOP convention. Results like these attracted more districts and
foundation money, including $25 million in the past few years
from the Pisces Foundation (started by the founders of the Gap
chain) to help open more KIPP schools. It’s too soon to say how
the newer schools will do in the long run, but a KIPP-commissioned
study last fall indicated that the first three spinoffs
outperformed their districts.
Education reformers say KIPP represents the second wave of
charter schools, public schools that design their own curricula.
States have had mixed results with charters. Despite high hopes,
scores at many charters are no better than regular public
schools. And while some reformers argue that charters are
primarily about choice, others say that the point was to make
demonstrably better schools—not just different ones. They
contend that there simply aren’t enough successful charters and
want to focus on creating prototypes that really work and can be
replicated.
KIPP is aiming to be among the best of these prototypes. The
plan is to double the network next year by opening 19 more
schools. All the schools will be in poor communities. The real
challenge, the founders say, will be to let the principals
decide the best way to operate in their particular locations
while still embracing the basic KIPP philosophy. Quality control
will be a big issue; KIPP’s founders, both still at their
original schools, say they will hire a team of inspectors to
monitor progress at the new schools. One problem they don’t have
is attracting students and teachers—despite the rigorous
schedule. At the KIPP DC Key Academy, which opened in 2001,
principal Susan Schaeffler already has a waiting list for
students. And last year she received 250 applicants for four
teacher openings despite a national urban teacher shortage. But
the best indicators of success are the students themselves.
During one recent class, Diamond Branch, 11, in her second year
at the school, let out an enthusiastic “Yes” when her teacher
returned a quiz. “I was excited to see my grade,” she says. “I
just want to keep those A’s and B’s rolling.”
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