Why is KIPP doing so badly now?
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Anonymous
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I read this Matty Iglesias piece and raises some really tough questions for KIPP schools in DC, many of which were doing pretty well and then fell off a cliff during and after Covid. A change in leadership was part of it, but is something else going on there? I know this forum does not skew toward KIPP kids at all, but wondering if other parents/educators have insights as it is quite striking.
https://dclocal.substack.com/p/the-stunning-collapse-of-kipp-dc "Before the pandemic, KIPP DC was a middle-of-the-pack charter network. Its 11 campuses tested about 2,900 students, making it by far the largest charter operator in the District. Its proficiency rates — 37 percent in ELA, 40 percent in math — were roughly in line with the charter sector average and not far from DCPS. Some individual campuses, like Promise Academy (57 percent ELA, 78 percent math) and KEY Academy (46 percent ELA), were doing well. It was a functioning, if unremarkable, school network. That network no longer exists, at least not in any recognizable form. KIPP DC’s ELA proficiency has fallen to 18.4 percent. Its math proficiency has fallen to 14.5 percent. Every single one of the ten campuses that can be compared across time declined. The worst-hit campus, Heights Academy, went from 44 percent ELA proficiency to 10 percent, and from 66 percent math proficiency to 11 percent. This isn’t a dip. It’s a collapse — and three years into post-COVID testing, there is essentially no sign of recovery." |
Anonymous
| For some reason, Matt has decided to use AI to analyze data and write these articles on education. I'm very skeptical that whatever AI tool he used even pulled the data correctly, much less accurately captured trends. |
Anonymous
He doesn't have a detailed enough understanding of the DC landscape to be writing about it. For example, one huge factor with Chisholm is becoming a dual language school, but that's not mentioned. As for KIPP, I think their low performance is being lost in the shuffle because the PCSB has bigger fires to put out, serious egg on its face after Eagle, and had a lot of turnover on the PCSB. |
Anonymous
| Now do Rocketship |
Anonymous
| Now do Two Rivers. |
Anonymous
| Perhaps attendance is a factor. OSSE says 42% of KIPP students are chronically absent. For many people, the COVID closures really broke the habit of school attendance. And you can’t learn if you’re not in school. |
Anonymous
Is Chisholm actually seeing a demographic shift after the change to immersion? I’ve been curious about that but have no information. |
Anonymous
I don't know. It's an example of the kind of thing an actual journalist might look into. Or we can all just read lazy commentary on AI generated charts... |
Anonymous
That's not unique to KIPP at all. |
Anonymous
But maybe they were better before? I thought KIPP’s claim to fame was that they were hard core about things like behavior, attendance, and uniforms and would kick kids out for noncompliance. |
Anonymous
I do think attendance could be part of it. I’m too far out now, but they were very on top of attendance when my child attended pre-COVID. We moved out of DC at the tail end of COVID for other reasons, but had a good experience at the Shaw campus from pk3-5th. 6th was a struggle (height of COVID), and then moved. When my child started there it was also more of a year round model, and I think they’ve changed their calendar to be closer to the DCPS calendar. This gave the additional school days to get kids up to grade level. |
Anonymous
| I think without the ability to expel, KIPP struggles, and the city has been a lot stricter on that in recent years. Again, something a real journalist would be aware of. |
Anonymous
Yes. I think the AI tool doesn't understand the school's name change and that's why the article misses the demographic changes. Between SY19-20 and SY24-25 Chisholm went from - At risk: 38% to 28% - Black: 67% to 55% - White: 16% to 23% - Latino: 11% to 16% |
Anonymous
| No comments on the article so you don’t get the pleasure of Freddie taking a victory lap |
Anonymous
Where does he mention Chisholm? And actually Chisholm became only dual language much more recently than 2019 -- I think most of the gentrification the later commentator correctly notes is the general gentrification of the neighborhood and DCPS Hill ESes and less dual-language specific, though I do think that will accelerate the trend by attracting UMC families and driving many Potomac Gardens families to Payne. But also... I think everything he's saying about KIPP is correct. Even if he's using AI tools, I don't see any obvious issues/can't imagine the overall trend isn't correct. |