Self-Contained Urban Boredom Apparatus
In November I visited the KIPP High School in New York City and summarized some of what I saw in a blog post. I’ve decided to write more about what I saw there in a series of shorter blog posts. In this one, I will describe what I saw in their special education classes.
KIPP High in NYC has very small class sizes. Some of the classes seemed to have around twelve students in them. An administrator told me, when I asked about this, that the numbers were a little low that day since they had higher than average absences that day. This was on Veteran’s day when the public schools were closed. I can imagine that at a KIPP fundraiser they brag about how they are open more days and this helps everyone learn more, so it is ironic that many students did not come in on this bonus day. I think the attendance rate that day was in the high 80s so the small classes would still be pretty small if they had full attendance.
Sometimes we hear that KIPP schools don’t have many special education students. One explanation is that when special education students win the lottery they are discouraged from going there since the school is unable to provide for the modifications they require. KIPP High School NYC, however, has a sizable percent,
KIPP High in NYC has very small class sizes. Some of the classes seemed to have around twelve students in them. An administrator told me, when I asked about this, that the numbers were a little low that day since they had higher than average absences that day. This was on Veteran’s day when the public schools were closed. I can imagine that at a KIPP fundraiser they brag about how they are open more days and this helps everyone learn more, so it is ironic that many students did not come in on this bonus day. I think the attendance rate that day was in the high 80s so the small classes would still be pretty small if they had full attendance.
Sometimes we hear that KIPP schools don’t have many special education students. One explanation is that when special education students win the lottery they are discouraged from going there since the school is unable to provide for the modifications they require. KIPP High School NYC, however, has a sizable percent,