New Study Finds Huge Benefits for KIPP Charter School
Posted by SBuck | Education | February 19, 2010
A new study by respected economists finds large academic benefits from a KIPP school, especially for minority children:
by Joshua D. Angrist, Susan M. Dynarski, Thomas J. Kane, Parag A. Pathak, Christopher R. Walters
Charter schools affiliated with the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) are emblematic of the No Excuses approach to public education. These schools feature a long school day, an extended school year, selective teacher hiring, strict behavior norms and a focus on traditional reading and math skills. We use applicant lotteries to evaluate the impact of KIPP Academy Lynn, a KIPP charter school that is mostly Hispanic and has a high concentration of limited English proficiency (LEP) and special-need students, groups that charter critics have argued are typically under-served. The results show overall gains of 0.35 standard deviations in math and 0.12 standard deviations in reading for each year spent at KIPP Lynn. LEP students, special education students, and those with low baseline scores benefit more from time spent at KIPP than do other students, with reading gains coming almost entirely from the LEP group.
.35 standard deviations in math improvement per year is HUGE. That’s enough to eliminate the achievement gap in just 2 or 3 years of schooling.
That is really an impressive gain. And these economists produce good work. Spread the good news.
Great idea! I think I’ll do a blog post about the study.
I think you missed a major takeaway from this study. Often people argue that KIPP schools are only good because they select the most motivated parents. This study demonstrates that this KIPP school adds value that cannot simply be explained away using selection.
The research I’ve read on this does support the fact KIPP gets results. But, and this is a big “but,” the stress and toll on teachers is extraordinarily high. SRI’s study of the San Francisco Bay Area KIPP schools points out the super human effort needed by teachers, the fact they’re on-call until 9 pm at night for homework help, remain at school until 5-6 p.m., work on weekends, have little or no family life, do not have a workable substitute system, find it almost impossible to take a day off…..
Well, you get the picture.
And, SRI emphasizes that we mustn’t assume these results and methods will transfer to urban schools.
SRI says teacher burnout and student dropout issues should be carefully looked into since there are signs pointing to these becoming problem areas down the road.
I agree that some aspects of the KIPP model do not lend themselves to scalability. But, I don’t think scalability and replication should be the goal of all reform efforts.
Jake, I think you mis-characterize the KIPP staffing model a bit. KIPP has consciously chosen to hire young, motivated, highly educated teachers with the expectation that many, if not most, of them will move on in 2 or 3 years. Much of the teacher turnover we see at KIPP schools was expected and indeed is part of the plan. This staffing model is likely part of what makes KIPP work.
I’m not sure what you mean by making a characterization. The study was very pro-KIPP, but the concerns I listed came directly from these reports.
This staffing model is of limited use in the urban school system — as cited by the report. One wonders if the system can be sustained or will it eventually breakdown in some kind of pyramid scheme fashion. Will there be a continual supply of teachers to work in this intense environment?
Again, it works. But, is it more gimmick than solution? If one expects such teacher burnout, then the rewards seem more pyrrhic than strategic.
55+ hours a week, lots and lots of drill and repetition, very serious discipline, very NCLB/test focused….sounds like boot camp for children doesn’t it.
I think Susan Engel expresses my philosophy best (and it was how I was educated 50 years ago):
She wrote a timely op-ed in the New York Times (1 Feb 2010) about changes in measuring the success or failure of how we educate our children. At twelve years of age, children, should be able to “read a chapter book, write a story and a compelling essay; know how to add, subtract, divide and multiply numbers… use evidence to support an opinion…and engage in an exchange of ideas.” But schools don’t teach that way; they teach to the test, which is to say, they encourage children to memorize, rather than to put experiences together in new ways.
Simply put, KIPP excels at teaching to the test. True reform should not go in this direction.
I think that most people, inlcuding KIPP supporters, don’t think that the model can be taken to scale. There just aren’t enough teachers in the workforce who would be willing to take on such a daunting task. That said, the fact that it works in limited amounts is a good reason to target KIPP-like programs in the places that need them most.
Check out:
Jeffrey R. Henig, Ph.D.,
Teachers College, Columbia University
The Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice
He comprehensively reviews 7 reports on KIPP. He raises many, many questions that need to be resolved. Contact him and see how this new research stacks up against the others.
This is definitely a look before you leap time. I’m afraid you’ve painted yourself into a corner by agreeing that the program cannot be brought up to scale and then recommending similar programs be used in places “that need them the most.” Considering how large that number is and the “daunting” limits to the resources to handle it, plus the fact that student attrition is very high (possibly distorting test results), then….
Well, you get the picture. I think someone accurately described KIPP when they said it was more an educational cult than a teaching revolution.
Finally, I must reall call into question this need for longer school hours, more drills, and high teacher turnover. My wife who speaks four languages and has a masters degree and is a successful career woman was raised in a very small German town. She went to school no more than 30 hours per week (5 hrs per day) — all the way thru the final grade of the gymnasium (their high school). And this was typical. All German children had the same time at school.
I had to manage with the staggering load of 35 hours per week and five of those were PE. Many more from my generation had similar experiences.
So, if it takes twice as much time now to achieve the same results, why do you think this is so great??
Whew! That’s a lot to address, Jake. First of all, let me just note that this blog has a number of contributors with varying viewpoints about everything, including KIPP. But, since I responded most recently, I’ll try to engage a few of your concerns. Keep in mind, though, that I can’t speak for SBuck, who is the original poster on this topic.
I know Jeff Henig, and I have read the report you are referring to. I think most of his concerns are valid. I don’t know his opinion of this recent study, but I suspect he would cede that the achievement gains are real, and he would continue to caution, as I myself do, that this probably isn’t something that could truly be brought to scale.
But, I don’t understand why a lack of scalability would cause you to dismiss targeted programs that work. Having flexible systems that cater to individual needs is usually seen as a virtue in every aspect of life. If, to borrow terminology from the medical field, we can accurately diagnose the particular needs of some students, shouldn’t we provide them with individualized treatment?
Which brings me to my next point: You can’t really generalize your (or your wife’s) education experiences to the broader public and think that what worked for you should work for everyone. I don’t know your life story, but while I am sure you have had your share of adversity, the population of students targeted by KIPP schools are seriously disadvantaged. It’s just not fair to expect them to achieve the same results as you did with your 35 hours per week. I’m not making excuses for them, but I know teachers at some KIPP schools, and I have heard their stories from the trenches. Do you realize how bad the conditions are in some of our nation’s communities and schools? We can’t simply give every student the same treatment and expect them to perform at the same level.
Consider the event that Obama used to make the case for longer school days back in September of this year: An honors student was beaten to death while walking home from school in Chicago. And the event wasn’t an outlier. Teen homicides in Chicago have surpassed double-digits for three years running. Why wouldn’t we want targeted education policies to address those types of conditions?
Here’s a clip from Mike Feinberg, the founder of KIPP, from 60 minutes. Perhaps he will be more convincing than I am.
http://www.kipp.org/index.cfm?furl=/press-center/multimedia-archive/kipp-videos/kipp-video-display/&video_id=22
I think that a main reason why KIPP schools use longer days, weeks, and years has been overlooked in the conversation. Remember, KIPP began as Middle Schools and had to inherit the ills of the K-5 or K-6 system that fed them students. Most of their students are several grade levels behind where they are supposed to be, so it is only logical to think that more time would need to be spent to not only bring kids up to speed, but then advance them to the next grade.
Its a Herculean task to teach multiple grades’ worth of information in a single grade, however, the fact that KIPP students are catching up after one and two years in the program is incredible.