Ed Policy - KIPP schools

On pages 135-137 of Death and Life of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch criticizes certain aspects of KIPP schools. Based on this and the other assigned readings (particularly Mathews), would say her argument is valid? 

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a network of charter schools, often known as being 'no-excuses' with long hours and strict discipline. According to the KIPP website, they now have 162 schools “dedicated to preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and life”. KIPP focuses on character strengths as well as academics. KIPP says that their students are performing better than they would have otherwise.

Diane Ravitch and other critics wonder if the performance claims are accurate, and sustainable / scalable. Perhaps there's creaming happening, where only most motivated and school ready students choose the charter schools leaving the rest for the regular public schools? Or what about attrition – maybe the low performing students are counseled out of staying at KIPP schools, so then the overall academic performance looks higher? Even if the gains are true, can the intensity of KIPP schools continue, and scale into other regular schools? Do the schools have high teacher attrition, and thus need to rely on newcomers? Are KIPP schools spending more money from foundations, and what happens when the money starts to dry up?

Charter schools, whether run by KIPP, other organizations, or a few teachers, are schools of choice. Families decide to enroll in them, rather than being assigned to them like a regular public school. The active choice does mean that there are probably some factors that are different about charter school students and regular students. Because of this difference, we may not be able to extrapolate results from charter schools to what might happen if their methods were implemented in regular schools, but with lottery studies, we can see whether the academic gains are attributable to the charter schools or to the unknown difference factors. In the New York City Charter Schools article, Hoxby and Murarka show that the students did benefit from being in the charter schools, and that they were not the 'cream' (wealthier), but rather were more likely to be poor. In a Mathematica study of KIPP middle schools (http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/~/media/publications/PDFs/education/KIPP_middle_schools_wp.pdf), they found that “KIPP schools generally admit students who are disadvantaged in ways similar to their peers in local public schools”. This study also found that “attrition rates for KIPP students are not systematically different from those of students in local district schools, overall or for at-risk subgroups”. Another Mathematica study (http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/~/media/publications/PDFs/education/kipp_fnlrpt.pdf) found that achievement rates were higher for students who had ever attended KIPP, even if they didn't stay in KIPP. Overall, the academic gains do seem to be attributable to being at KIPP, not because of creaming or attrition.

So if KIPP does improve test scores, can we just create many more KIPPS and/or take their strategies into regular public schools? KIPP teachers and staff work much longer hours, and the successful NYC charter schools mentioned in the Hoxby & Murarka reading also had more school hours per year. Given union contracts and the increased finances of longer school day/year, extending hours may not be possible for all schools. Also these teachers who are working more seem more likely to leave - “the study found teacher turnover in KIPP schools to occur at slightly higher rates than traditional public schools (21 percent compared to 15 percent)” (http://www.kipp.org/news/education-week-kipp-schools-boost-academic-performance-study-finds) KIPP schools also receive more money than regular public schools, possibly $6500 more per student according to one study (http://virww.ncspe.org/publications_files/OP195_3.pdf). Also KIPP and often charter schools in general don't enroll as many English Language learners or students with disabilities as the local regular public schools.

While KIPP does seem to produce results for its students, the criticisms about scaling the model are valid. Like everything we've learned in this class, there's no silver bullet. Nothing is going to work for everyone, everywhere. KIPP isn't going to save the world, but it can certainly save its students' worlds.