KIPP schools gain momentum, take on Edison Schools Inc.
From Wednesday, October 23, 2002
A Washington Post story on how KIPP charter schools are achieving substantial gains in test scores according to a study released earlier this week.
The fall-to-spring gains at the KIPP DC/KEY Academy were more than twice the increases that students typically achieve from one spring to the next on the exam, the study says. About 80 percent of the school's students qualify for federally subsidized lunches....
KIPP, which stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, has an approach that emphasizes long school days, strict discipline and material rewards -- students can earn points for purchases from a student store and a year-end trip.
Education analysts said the test results and an announcement expected today of $8 million challenge grant to expand KIPP's network of schools raise the profile of a program challenging Edison Schools Inc. as the best known national model for educating low-income children.
Edison, a for-profit company, has been hurt by a drop in its stock price and resistance from teacher unions and officials in some cities, while KIPP has grown rapidly with grants from Doris and Don Fisher, founders of the Gap clothing stores. KIPP opened 10 schools this past summer and plans to open at least another 19 in 2003.
KIPP began in Houston in 1994, started by two teachers who were then in their twenties, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin. The passing rate on Texas state tests for the first group of KIPP fifth-graders jumped from 50 percent to 98 percent in one year.