Since the KIPP Foundation began to replicate the success of the first two KIPP schools in 2001, eleven independent reports/studies on KIPP have been published by seven different research teams.

Criteria

• The report is written by a researcher or team of researchers independent from KIPP;
• The report uses original data drawn from quantitative and/or qualitative research in KIPP schools;
• The report focuses exclusively on KIPP;
• The report or article has been published.

Findings

Independent researchers who studied KIPP have reported that students make significant academic gains while at KIPP schools. Three independent reports also identify areas for development for KIPP schools.

Current Studies in Progress

In 2008, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. was awarded a contract to evaluate the impact of KIPP, with funding provided by The Atlantic Philanthropies and the Arnold Family Foundation. This five-year study will examine the impacts of KIPP middle schools on student achievement and other outcomes, how these outcomes compare with student outcomes at other schools, and whether the performance of KIPP students indicates that they are on a path toward college.  Read the press release...

List of reports

These reports are in PDF format, requiring Adobe Reader

• "San Francisco Bay Area KIPP Schools: A Study of Early Implementation and Achievement – Final Report"

  SRI International. September, 2008.

  "Bay Area KIPP students make above-average progress compared with national norms, and they outperform their host districts."  Read the report here or here.

• "Urban School Reform: Year 4 Outcomes for the Knowledge is Power Program in an Urban Middle School"

  Center for Research in Educational Policy, University of Memphis. March, 2008.

  "Overall, the achievement analyses revealed fairly positive outcomes for KIPP students relative to matched control students "   Read more...

• "The Baltimore KIPP Ujima Village Academy, 2002-2006: A Longitudinal Analysis of Student Outcomes"

  The Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University. June, 2007.

  "Even when pre-existing differences between KIPP and comparison students are controlled in statistical analyses, KIPP students generally outperformed comparison school students on achievement measures."   Read more...

• "Opening Closed Doors: Lessons from Colorado’s First Independent Charter School"

  Augenblick, Palaich & Associates. September, 2006.

  "Standardized test scores indicate that Cole College Prep produced improved student outcomes. This [study] reviews Cole College Prep student performance on both the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) and Stanford 10 (SAT-10) standardized tests."   Read more...

• "San Francisco Bay Area KIPP Schools: A Study of Early Implementation"

  SRI International. March, 2006.

  "Students attending Bay Area KIPP schools score consistently higher on standardized tests than for comparable public neighborhood schools across grades and subjects — in a few cases dramatically so."   Read more...

• "Focus on Results: An Academic Impact Analysis of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP)"

  The Educational Policy Institute (EPI). August, 2005.

  "The Knowledge Is Power Program has posted large and significant gains on a nationally norm-referenced standardized test. This performance is true across schools and throughout the nation. The fact that KIPP fifth grade cohorts showed a dramatic increase well above normal growth rates in reading, language, and mathematics is laudable and worthy of continued investigation and practice."   Read more...

• "Can an Intense Educational Experience Improve Performance on Objective Tests? Results from One Charter School"

  Musher, Musher, Graviss, and Strudler. Summer, 2005.

  "Objective testing showed that the KIPP students in this study improved remarkably in academic performance during three years of observation."   Read more...

• "KIPP DIAMOND ACADEMY Year Three (2004-2005) Evaluation Report"

  Center for Research in Educational Policy, University of Memphis. October, 2005.

  "Parents remain positive regarding KIPP:DA. Parents cited the “innovative ways of teaching” along with smaller classes where teachers pay more attention to students as positive aspects"   Read more...

• "Analysis of Year 2 (2003-2004): Student Achievement Outcomes for the Memphis KIPP Diamond Academy"

  Center for Research in Educational Policy, University of Memphis. January, 2005.

  "These results are clearly suggestive of positive KIPP DIAMOND Academy effects in year two, especially in view of the doubling of school size and special unanticipated challenges faced during the year."   Read more...

• "Year 1 Evaluation of the KIPP DIAMOND Academy: Analysis of TCAP Scores for Matched Program-Control Group Students"

  Center for Research in Educational Policy, University of Memphis. May, 2004.

  "These results show that KIPP:DIAMOND Academy students performed directionally higher than control students on all criterion-referenced tests and norm referenced subtests."   Read more...

• "Evaluating Success: KIPP Educational Program Evaluation"

  New American Schools, Educational Performance Network. October, 2002.

  "The results of this evaluation provide evidence that students’ test scores improved at impressive rates after their enrollment in the KIPP schools. Of critical importance, these gains were reflected across demographic subgroups and exceeded those achieved by these same students in the year prior to their enrollment."   Read more...