What Makes KIPP Work?
A Study of Student Characteristics,
Attrition, and School Finance
Gary Miron, Jessica L. Urschel, and Nicholas Saxton
College of Education and Human Development
Western Michigan University
March 2011
Paper Jointly Released by the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education,
Teachers College, Columbia University and the Study Group on Educational Management
Organizations at Western Michigan University www.wmich.edu/leadership/emo
(contact: gary.miron@wmich.edu)
Key Findings
Student Characteristics: A Cross-Sectional Look at KIPP Schools Relative to Local Districts
• During 2008-09, KIPP enrolled a significantly higher proportion of African American
students (55%) than did the respective local school districts (32%). However, KIPP schools
served a substantially lower proportion of Hispanic students (39%) compared with local
districts (50%). KIPP also enrolled substantially fewer white students (2%) compared with
local districts (11%).
• KIPP schools enrolled a higher percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price
lunch (77%) than did the local school districts (71%).
• KIPP schools enrolled a lower percentage of students with disabilities (5.9%) than did their
local school districts (12.1%).
• KIPP enrolled a lower percentage of students classified as English Language Learners
(11.5%) than did their local school districts (19.2%).
Distribution of Students Across Grades in 2008
• Although a few of the KIPP schools now serve students at the primary and upper secondary
levels, the overwhelming majority of KIPP’s enrollment is still at the middle school level.
• KIPP schools have experienced a sharp increase in enrollment and in the number of schools,
with enrollment tripling between 2005-06 and 2008-09.
Student Attrition
• KIPP schools have substantially higher levels of attrition than do their local school districts.
Our analysis revealed that on, average, approximately 15% of the students disappear from the
KIPP grade cohorts each year.
• Between grades 6 and 8, the size of the KIPP grade cohorts drop by 30%. The actual attrition
rate is likely to be higher since some of the KIPP schools do fill in some of the vacated
places after grade 6.
• When these figures are further broken out by race and gender, we can see that a full 40% of
the African American male students leave KIPP schools between grades 6 and 8. Overall a
higher proportion of African American students than other ethnic groups leave the KIPP
schools, and girls are much more likely remain in the KIPP schools across all ethnic groups.
• Attrition rates for students qualifying for students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch
are approximately equal for KIPP schools and their host districts.
Analysis of KIPP Revenues and Expenditures
Revenues
Using the federal dataset on school finance (2007-08), we were able to obtain detailed revenue
from 25 KIPP schools and their local districts.
• During the 2007-08 school year, KIPP received more per pupil in combined revenue
($12,731 per student) than any other comparison group: the national average for all schools
($11,937), the national charter average ($9,579), or the average for KIPP schools’ local
school districts ($11,960).
• KIPP received more in per-pupil revenue from federal sources ($1,779) than did any other
comparison group: the national average ($922), the national charter district average ($949),
or KIPP schools’ host districts ($1,332).
• None of the 12 KIPP districts reported any private revenues in the NCES finance survey;
however, a separate analysis of these districts’ 990 tax forms for 2007-08 revealed large
sums of private contributions. Per-pupil contributions for the 11 KIPP districts that we could
include in this analysis equaled an average of $5,760, much more than the $1,000 to $1,500
additional per-pupil revenue KIPP estimates is necessary for their program. Two KIPP
districts or groups received more than $10,000 per pupil in private revenues.
• Combining public and private sources of revenue, KIPP received, on average, $18,491 per
pupil in 2007-08. This is $6,500 more per pupil than what the local school districts received
in revenues.
Expenditures
• As a whole, KIPP districts spend more per pupil in total current expenditures ($10,558) than
do other charter school districts ($8,492), slightly more than their host districts ($10,101) and
more than the national average for all schools ($10,121).
• KIPP spends more on instruction ($5,662) than the average for charter schools ($4,617) but
less than the national average ($6,196) or KIPP host districts ($5,972).
• KIPP’s per-pupil spending on student support services ($460) is comparable to that of charter
schools nationally ($464), but much less than the national average ($1,003) and even less
than KIPP’s host districts ($1,179).
• KIPP’s per-pupil spending on administration ($972) is more than the national average ($746)
or KIPP host districts ($687), but lower than the average for charter schools ($1,336).
• KIPP spends more on operations per pupil in dollars and as a percentage of total current
expenditures than any other comparison group. KIPP’s additional spending in this area is
focused in transportation, food services, and other support services.
• When spending on salaries is examined on a district-by-district basis, 11 of 12 KIPP districts
spend less per pupil on salaries. The same pattern emerges when examining employee
benefits. Eleven of the 12 KIPP districts spend less on employee benefits than do their host
districts. KIPP also spends less per pupil on special education teachers’ salaries than does
any other comparison group. The finding likely reflects the fact that KIPP enrolls fewer
students with disabilities, particularly students with moderate or severe disabilities.
• As noted above, KIPP receives an estimated $6,500 more per pupil in revenues from public
or privates sources of revenues. Our evidence on expenditures, show that KIPP reports
spending $457 more per pupil than local school districts. From publicly available sources of
information, however, we cannot determine
whether or how KIPP spends its private sources
of revenues.
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