The Knowledge is Power Program

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Recommended: Public education versus private education

The Knowledge is Power Program (hereafter referred to as KIPP) has been the recipient of much praise. In the recent documentary, Waiting for Superman, KIPP was lauded as one of a handful of educational programs for poor children of color that is making a difference in closing the achievement gap. Diane Ravitch wrote in her recent book, “[T]he charter schools with the most impressive record of success are the KIPP schools” (Ravitch, 2010, p.135). Washington Post Education Columnist, Jay Mathews wrote an entire book on the schools, calling them “the most promising schools in America.”(Mathews, 2009) So, why is KIPP garnering all of this attention and is it really narrowing the achievement gap?

KIPP was started in 1994 by Teach for America alumni David Levin and Michael Fienberg, who had been working in inner-city Houston schools. KIPP was created with a singular goal in mind; to get low-income students of color to college. The data would suggest that these schools have been successful in achieving that goal. During the 2008-2009 academic year, KIPP enrolled 21,831 students, 95% of whom were African-American or Latino (KIPP Foundation, 2009). Of those students who finish 8th grade at a KIPP school, 95% graduate from high school and 88% of them matriculate to college. These compare to national rates of 70% high school graduation and 40% college matriculation for low-income students (KIPP Foundation, 2009). According to a recent study of 22 KIPP schools, within three years, half of all KIPP schools in the study closed one half or more of the black-white achievement gap in math, and one third of the black-white achievement gap in reading. In these KIPP schools, student gains are equivalent to 1.2 years of additional growth i...

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...the tools to significantly close the achievement gap, but they won’t likely be responsible for a radical upward mobility of low-income students of color. So, what role can KIPP play in the larger picture? Diane Ravitch offered sage advice in a recent speech at Rice University when she challenged KIPP co-founder Mike Fienberg in saying, “Don’t compete. Collaborate with public schools. Share whatever you know that works. Work with public schools. Help them get better. We all share the same goal and that is to ensure that every child in America gets a great education” (Ravitch, 2010). Perhaps KIPP schools are best utilized as “laboratories” where methods are tested, refined and readied for export to the public school system at large and utilized by all students. This collaboration could contribute to real public school reform and be the lasting legacy of KIPP.

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