ABSTRACT
Over the past three decades, since the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk, the federal government, states, and localities have sought to improve K-12 public schools. Some children lack the character traits requisite for success in school and later at work. Inculcating the expectations of traditional middle-class culture, character development centers on self-control, perseverance, motivation, and resilience to adversity. KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program), a network of 125 charter schools in twenty states and the District of Columbia in the 2012-2013 school year, was founded as a middle school in Houston, Texas, in 1994, by two Teach for Academic alums. A matched comparison of students in non-KIPP public schools who closely resembled students in forty-one KIPP middle schools showed the academic gains achieved by KIPP students. The high commitment required by students and their parents characterizes the KIPP schools.
