Summarizes the largest federal study ever conducted of dropout prevention programs, finding three promising models: alternative middle and high schools for those at risk of dropping out, programs aimed at helping older students earn a GED, and whole-school restructuring efforts aimed at dropout...

Using longitudinal, student-level data, this working paper examines the entry and exit of students in KIPP middle schools, comparing KIPP’s rates of attrition and replacement with rates in nearby district-run schools.

Nonexperimental methods, such as regression modeling or statistical matching, produce unbiased estimates if the underlying assumptions hold, but these assumptions are usually not testable. Most studies testing nonexperimental designs find that they fail to produce unbiased estimates, but these...

In 2008, Congress created the Teacher Quality Partnership Grant Program to fund alternative training programs that draw highly qualified teachers to high-need schools. Funded under this grant, teaching residency programs (TRPs) are designed to attract new teachers to the profession. The programs...

This report shows that Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) middle schools have significant and substantial positive impacts on student achievement in four core academic subjects: reading, math, science, and social studies. One of the report’s analyses confirms the positive impacts using a...

Recent federal initiatives in education, such as Race to the Top, the Teacher Incentive Fund, and the flexibility policy for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act are designed in part to ensure that disadvantaged students have equal access to effective teaching. The initiatives respond to...

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a network of charter schools designed to improve the educational opportunities available to low-income families. KIPP schools seek to boost their students’ academic achievement and ultimately prepare them to enroll and succeed in college.

This report presents the first findings from a multi-year evaluation of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), a network of charter schools for disadvantaged students. Using a matched comparison group design, results show that for the vast majority of KIPP schools in the evaluation, impacts on...