A Controversial Consensus On KIPP Charter Schools
A recent Mathematica report on the performance of KIPP charter schools expands and elaborates on their prioranalyses of these schools’ (estimated) effects on average test scores and other outcomes (also here). These findings are important and interesting, and were covered extensively elsewhere.
As is usually the case with KIPP, the results stirred the full spectrum of reactions. To over-generalize a bit, critics sometimes seem unwilling to acknowledge that KIPP’s results are real no matter how well-documented they might be, whereas some proponents are quick to use KIPP to proclaim a triumph for the charter movement, one that can justify the expansion of charter sectors nationwide.
Despite all this controversy, there may be more opportunity for agreement here than meets the eye. So, let’s try to lay out a few reasonable conclusions and see if we might find some of that common ground.
When KIPP works, it works very well, but it’s not a sure bet. Regardless of what you think of KIPP’s approach, the evidence thus far suggests that students who attend these schools tend to improve more quickly on tests compared with similar regular public school students. They show meaningfully large relative gains in all
As is usually the case with KIPP, the results stirred the full spectrum of reactions. To over-generalize a bit, critics sometimes seem unwilling to acknowledge that KIPP’s results are real no matter how well-documented they might be, whereas some proponents are quick to use KIPP to proclaim a triumph for the charter movement, one that can justify the expansion of charter sectors nationwide.
Despite all this controversy, there may be more opportunity for agreement here than meets the eye. So, let’s try to lay out a few reasonable conclusions and see if we might find some of that common ground.
When KIPP works, it works very well, but it’s not a sure bet. Regardless of what you think of KIPP’s approach, the evidence thus far suggests that students who attend these schools tend to improve more quickly on tests compared with similar regular public school students. They show meaningfully large relative gains in all