"Work Hard. Be Nice."? Being around the KIPP enthusiasm is like being love-bombed, and so I'm still recovering from some time spent yesterday morning at a relatively new KIPP school in Brooklyn. Below are some notes and observations from the visit. Anyone else been to one?
Housed on the 4th floor of a regular school, the school was alone in being in session on Veterans Day.
Located in Crown Heights, the school originally had a front door that faced some local projects, but now uses an entrance around the corner. The old address is still used.
The sound of drums and videos of capoeira Brazilian dance/martial arts are everywhere.
The young-looking principal has his hair braided, wears a suit, and is both enthusiastic and deeply articulate about the school.
I didn't see any teachers who looked to be over 40, but there are some here considering it for themselves.
The teachers really do give out their cell phone numbers to kids. They also bring their iPods and leave them out, apparently without risk.
The KIPP days are long in terms of hours, but teachers aren't teaching the whole time and kids aren't in core classes.
The principal talks honestly about how many parents feel that they've been lied to before by principals and teachers, and how accountability has to go both ways.
This KIPP school isn't unionized, but some are.
Class behavior seems better than most, and the management techniques don't seem as awful to me as they do to some others.
Kids sometimes leave the handles on their rolling backpacks up even when they're walking around, towering over their heads.
The school claims not to lose scads of kids during summer orientation or during the school year, however the 7th grade class sizes are smaller than the 35 kids per class in 5th.
The schools remind me of Jesuit Cristo Rey schools that I've written about.
The motto, "Work Hard. Be Nice." reminds me somehow of Google's motto, "Don't Be Evil." (Or "Don't worry, be happy" from the 1990s).
There are lots of bitter/funny TFA blogs, but no bitter/funny KIPP blogs (that I know of).
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Tue Nov 13, 2007 at 9:42 AM
"Work Hard. Be Nice."?
I know a former KIPP teacher who left for CPS. He's now teaching in a startup CPS high school and getting his type 75 at night. He says that's less stress than working at KIPP.
Yet when I wonder how long the KIPP schools will last burning out faculty that way, I remember that Catholic schools have been surviving for 30 years on more or less the same strategy (hire young, work them hard, know they'll leave when they have some experience and want some more money).
Yet when I wonder how long the KIPP schools will last burning out faculty that way, I remember that Catholic schools have been surviving for 30 years on more or less the same strategy (hire young, work them hard, know they'll leave when they have some experience and want some more money).
Tue Nov 13, 2007 at 1:48 PM
"Work Hard. Be Nice."?
I've observed at two KIPP schools one outside of Boston and Ascend here in Chicago. Found both to have very enthusiastic/very young staffs. Also found it true that while it was a long day, it was not as if teachers were teaching for 8 straight hours or that kids were stuck in math and reading classes for 8 hours. Spoke with one student who was not allowed to wear the KIPP uniform or participate in class discussions because of some previous unacceptable behavior. This student had to sit by himself off to the side or the back of classrooms and couldn't participate in physical education classes. At the end of the week, I was told he would have to publicly apologize to the school for his misbehavior and ask the community to allow him back into the normal flow. I'm sure some here will find that to be a bit harsh, but I really like the public apology part and having to ask to rejoin the community. I think it fosters personal responsibility and really drives home for students how their actions effect everyone around them. Going to college was also a key theme at both schools even though they were middle schools, all classes seemed to be named after different well-known college (something that I see more and more in many schools).
As long as young, idealistic teachers remain a relatively unlimited resource I think KIPP schools will continue to do the work that they do, although I think they would be much more effective, at least in affecting long-term systemic change, if they were able to adjust their model in a way that encouraged the longevity of their teachers' KIPP careers. But in essence, that is the $100,000 question for all schools.
As long as young, idealistic teachers remain a relatively unlimited resource I think KIPP schools will continue to do the work that they do, although I think they would be much more effective, at least in affecting long-term systemic change, if they were able to adjust their model in a way that encouraged the longevity of their teachers' KIPP careers. But in essence, that is the $100,000 question for all schools.
Tue Nov 13, 2007 at 2:13 PM
"Work Hard. Be Nice."?
I'm with you all the way about teacher's career longevity, Charlie. And I agree that public apologies and an official way to rejoin the community are very important for helping students see the effects of their actions on everyone around them.
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