KIPP PROGRAM THEORY AND PREVENTION

Kipp program theory and prevention

Kipp program theory and prevention

One of the best things about KIPP, a network of 52 independent public schools in 16 states and the District, is that it tries very hard to make the statistics it has available to everyone. Focusing on results is one of the organization's basic principles. Anyone can order a free copy of the new report card by going to www.kipp.org. And on page 57 you will find numbers that help explain why KIPP is firing its middle school in Buffalo, N.Y., the sixth time a KIPP school has left the network. The KIPP people put this more gently. (Cope, 1976, 33-41) In an April 20 letter to the New York Charter School Association, KIPP chief executive officer Richard Barth said the KIPP Foundation "will end its partnership" with the KIPP Sankofa Charter School in Buffalo "and remove 'KIPP' from the school's name." KIPP spokesman Steve Mancini wished the school well in its plans to continue without the KIPP label. "It is not meeting KIPP standards," he said, "but we think it is providing a viable option for that community." (Cope, 1976, 33-41)

What does that mean? Let's start with the KIPP standards, as described by KIPP, not awestruck reporters. Most KIPP schools are grade 5 to 8 middle schools, although a few elementary and high schools have opened. Here is KIPP's view of KIPP on page 1 of the report card:

"KIPP schools are free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools where under-served students develop the knowledge, skills, and character traits needed to succeed in top quality high schools, colleges, and the competitive world beyond. . . . Over 90 percent of KIPP students are African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more than 80 percent of KIPP students are eligible for the federal free and reduced-price meals program. KIPP students are in school learning for 60 percent more time than average public school students, typically from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, every other Saturday, and for three weeks during the summer. Rigorous college-preparatory instruction is balanced with extracurricular activities, experiential field lessons, and character development. In spite of the long hours, average daily attendance at KIPP schools is 97 percent." (Cope, 1976, 33-41)

Impatient reporters tend to skip that part so we can get to the test scores, such as last year's jump in math for fifth graders at the KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy in San Diego, led by Kelly Wright, from the 29th to the 84th percentile, or the jump in reading scores at KIPP Indianapolis College Preparatory, led by Omotayo Ola-Niyi, from the 20th to the 44th percentile. Almost all the schools in the book showed strong improvement in neighborhoods in which students usually have few gains on national percentile scales from year to year. Then we get to page 57. It says last year's fifth-graders in Buffalo, led by Uchenna Cissoko, made small gains, but the sixth grade news was bad. Those students finished the year with math scores that ...