The Globe has a story today about the KIPP middle school closest to Rhode Island. In Rhode Island, not a single district-operated open-enrollment urban middle school has even 50% of its students proficient in math or reading. Yet in Lynn, Massachusetts, KIPP Academy, now in its fourth year as one of over 65 KIPP charter schools operating nationally, is proving that demographics need not determine one’s destiny. Children enter the school in fifth grade, most well below proficiency as measured by their 4th grade MCAS. Yet the students make 2.7 grade levels of growth in their first year, and by 6th grade, they outperform not only the district, and not only the statewide average, but these kids (of whom 80% are of color and 85% are on free and reduced lunch) actually outperform the tony suburban towns of Swampscott and Marblehead. This is the equivalent to a school in Central Falls, Providence or Woonsocket outperforming a school in Barrington, and it is something we hope to someday see in Rhode Island! Click here for the full article in the Globe.
KIPP Academy in Lynn, MA Outperforms Marblehead
Published by August 21st, 2008 in Charter Schools, KIPP, Middle Schools, No Excuses and Urban Schools.3 Responses to “KIPP Academy in Lynn, MA Outperforms Marblehead”
- 1 Pingback on May 12th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Kudos to KIPP Lynn. RI needs to copy their mantra of “Work Hard. Be Nice.” and implement school-level decision-making, ridiculously high expectations, and extended days, weeks, and school year.
Point of clarification: Providence’s Nathanael Greene MS exceeded 50% for NECAP proficiency in Reading (61%) and was at 50% for Math. Greene does have the “honors” program at the middle level which skews their numbers, but they have worked hard to achieve some successes and should be celebrated.
Excellent point — I corrected the post to refer only to open-enrollment middle schools. Schools such as Greene and Classical High School are not open-enrollment schools in that they have magnet programs or exam-based entry requirements that can skew the data. Greene is definitely the best district middle school in Providence and is to be commended for its successes! It is also attracting a broader group of Providence residents to participate in Public Education, which is a great thing. Vartan and MLK are doing this at the Elementary level, too.