KIPP: It works for some, but it's not a large-scale solution

Eduwonkette sums up the ongoing controversy about KIPP and its statistics. I've read a fair amount of the available research on KIPP and I'd say that her post is dead on -- to sum it up, KIPP works for the kids whom it attracts but it's not the solution to the problems of urban education.

Her article is short and to the point; I highly recommend that you click here and go read the post. If your attention span's too short for that, here are some bulleted points for you:

• KIPP schools likely have positive effects on their students, but they are not as large as one perceives them to be when one compares outcomes at KIPP and neighborhood schools.
• [KIPP students] are not typical lower-class students....KIPP's strategy works well for them but there is no evidence that it would be as successful for students whose parents are not motivated to choose such a school and help enforce its academic rules.
• KIPP's own patterns of attrition also demonstrate that this is an approach that doesn't work consistently across the urban population.
• We are going to have to look elsewhere for solutions that work for the majority of kids.
• There are a few important elements of the KIPP approach that public schools can successfully adopt.