Two rapidly expanding types of schools are attracting much attention for their breakthrough efforts to serve low income minority students. The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) of mostly public elementary and middle grades serves some 12,000 students at 52 sites around the country with considerable support from various foundations. Students attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. plus every other Saturday and a month during summer for 60% more instructional hours. Many are charter schools to circumvent local policies, regulations and contracts. Leaders for the school are given a one-year training program. A recent substantive article by Paul Tough in the New York Times describes the efforts by KIPP and others to achieve despite discouraging research about low income students’ impoverished beginnings. See the San Francisco school in a video. News: Kipp received a $65 million foundation grants for expansion to a total of 42 schools in Houston.
The Cristo Rey network of private urban high schools provides a program where the school contracts with businesses to employ students who work one day a week with 4 other students filling in the other days of the week to create one complete position. The businesses pay the school $27,000 for each position which covers much of the student’s tuition cost. Additional funding comes from foundations. The Cristo Rey schools report excellent academic results, high rates of graduation, high percentages of students entering postsecondary programs and students motivated by the real-world experiences. The network received a substantial Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant to expand to 23 schools and 10,000 students around the nation. A 60 Minutes clip provides an overview.