KIPP School

KIPP Ascend Charter School in West Chicago is a middle school for students in 5th to 8th grade. A charter school is essentially the equivalent of a British Academy whereby schools retain more control in runing the school and work with a private partner in order to fund and the school.  In this case KIPP (the Knowledge is Power Programme, a nation wide organisation established by two former Teach for America teachers) are the private partner.

On June 1st, I met Amy Pouba (left), the Principal for 5th and 6th grade and the Chicago KIPP School and she explained how the KIPP model works in practice and why is has become well known beyond the education sector as an extremely successful model (e.g. Outliers, Gladwell).  The following are some of the areas I found most interesting and potentially transferable to my school:

• Language.  From the day children start at a KIPP school, positive language is used regarding several areas but in particular about effort and working with others.  Students in the school all wore the same t-shirts with slogans such as "no excuses, no shortcuts", similar messages were on wall displays and used by all teachers in the school.  Such consistent language is key in the students' approach to successful learning.  Teacher language is support by the annual KIPP summit at which KIPP teachers network and share good practice.  The language and apporach of parents also support students which is enabled through a home commitment agreement.
• Positive psychology.  The KIPP school in Chicago embraced approaches to developing positive psychology in order to supplement students' positive approach to learning.  Amy was influenced in particular by learned optimism and Martin Seligman's The Optimistic Child.  Such approaches are not only used to support learning but social relationships, conflict management and emotional management.  In fact, all 5th grade 'Kippsters' take part in a conflict resolution programme which has reduced the number of fights in the school dramatically.
• Time.  All kippsters are expected to be in school at 7.25am every day and typically have classes until 5 each day.  There is an evident beleif that all should be able to get into college and in order to do so successfully, there are no shortcuts so students are expected to spend a longer day in school and complete homework once they get home.