Pertinent Reform Questions

Do the proposed reforms (curricula, materials, strategies, reorganization ideas, etc.) do any or all of the following:

• Build on the cultural and linguistic strengths of students?
• Teach students to develop positive human relations?
• Incorporate meaningful cooperative learning strategies into daily routines?
• Develop students’ critical-thinking skills?
• Provide coaching and encouragement for students?
• Structure in opportunities for meaningful dialogue and exchange among participants (teachers, administrators, parents, students, etc.)?
• Address key local issues identified as priorities by participants?
• Create structures of democratic empowerment for all school stakeholders?

There definitely are schools that are dysfunctional. Lack of funds contributes to the problem, but money alone will not fix these schools. These schools need substantial reform. The administration, the faculty, and the students are participating in a culture of failure. In such cases, the schools may need reconstitution, as provided for by NCLB and most state laws.

In New Orleans, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, and elsewhere, reconstitution has been achieved by establishing charter schools and bringing in an outside management company to radically alter the school culture. In other places, school districts have worked with charters such as the KIPP schools or with intervention systems such as WestEd, the Accelerated Schools Project, and the Comer School Development Program.

KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is one of several school restructuring programs that have emerged in the last two decades. KIPP schools are organized for academic achievement. They insist on a contract between the home and the school. They do not have unions for their teachers. There are currently 57 KIPP public schools in 16 states and the District of Columbia, enrolling more than 14,000 students. Across the KIPP network, 55 of the existing 57 schools are charter schools. The majority of KIPP schools, 48 of 57, are middle schools designed to serve fifth- through eighth-grade students.

KIPP schools are free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools where low-income students develop the knowledge, skills, and character traits needed to succeed in top-quality high schools and colleges. KIPP schools provide a structured, academic-centered learning environment and more time spent in classes. All of the students and the parents sign a contract to complete their work and their homework. If students and parents do not agree to participate in this structured college-prep environment, they are not accepted in a KIPP school. By creating an on-task academic environment for all students, KIPP has been successful in getting a significant number of its students to graduate and to enter college. You can find out more about KIPP schools at www.KIPP.org.

If your school or district is working with an intervention system, you need to carefully read “Don’t Face School Reform Alone; Organize” in the following section.