How well do KIPP students perform on standardized tests?
Many students begin KIPP in the fifth grade at least one grade level–and in many cases two or more–behind their peers in reading and math. According to data gathered in 2008, after four years at KIPP, 100 percent of KIPP eighth grade classes outperformed their district averages in mathematics and 94 percent outperformed district averages in reading/English language arts, based on state tests.
On average, students enter KIPP as fith-graders performing well below grade level in reading and math, but make great academic strides while at KIPP. By the time these students graduate eighth grade at KIPP, they routinely match or outperform their peers on state standardized tests. In June 2010, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. released the first report from its five-year study of KIPP middle schools, the most comprehensive and rigorous examination of KIPP schools to date. Researchers concluded that the vast majority of KIPP schools made significant and substantial gains in mathematics and reading. The report also found that KIPP does not achieve these gains by attracting high-performing students; in fact, KIPP schools most often enroll students whose average fourth-grade achievement is lower than the average achievement of students in neighboring district schools.
