Study: 85518

Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Intervention Report - Charter Schools

Review Details

Reviewed: January 2018

At least one finding shows moderate evidence of effectiveness

At least one statistically significant positive finding

Meets WWC standards with reservations

For:

Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Intervention Report - Charter Schools

Using:

Rating:

Meets WWC standards with reservations because it uses a quasi-experimental design in which the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.

This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Please see the WWC summary of evidence for Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP).

Findings

English language arts achievement outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Statewide assessment of general literacy achivement (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	2 Years	High school: matched-student sample (new entrants); 1,748 students	0.11	-0.07	Yes	7
TerraNova Reading (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	3 Years	High school: matched-school sample (same cohort); 512 students	0.26	0.10	Yes	6
TerraNova Language (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	3 Years	High school: matched-school sample (same cohort); 512 students	0.07	-0.05	No	--
Show Supplemental Findings
Standardized Score for English/Language Arts (ELA)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	5 Years	Cumulative middle and high school matched-student sample; 4,001 students	0.38	0.09	Yes	12

General Mathematics Achievement outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Statewide mathematics assessments (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	2 Years	High school: matched-student sample (new entrants); 1,416 students	0.24	-0.04	Yes	11
TerraNova Mathematics Test	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	3 Years	High school: matched-school sample (same cohort); 512 students	0.07	-0.07	No	--
Show Supplemental Findings
Standardized Score for Mathematics	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	5 Years	Cumulative middle and high school matched-student sample; 2,930 students	0.34	0.00	Yes	13

Science Achievement outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Statewide science assessments (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	2 Years	High school: matched-student sample (new entrants); 1,299 students	0.11	-0.22	Yes	13
Show Supplemental Findings
Statewide science assessments (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	5 Years	Cumulative middle and high school matched-student sample; 3,582 students	0.42	0.00	Yes	16

Social Studies Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Statewide social studies assessments (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	2 Years	High school: matched-student sample (new entrants); 601 students	-0.13	-0.15	No	--
Show Supplemental Findings
State and local assessments of social studies achievement (z-score)	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	5 Years	Cumulative middle and high school matched-student sample; 1,495 students	0.18	-0.09	Yes	11

Student progression outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
High school graduation	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	4 Years	High school: matched-student sample (new entrants); 852 students	0.71	0.67	No	--
Show Supplemental Findings
High school graduation	Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) vs. Business as usual	8 Years	Cumulative middle and high school matched-student sample; 2,033 students	0.79	0.65	Yes	16

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Sample Characteristics

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.

8% English language learners
Female: 55%
Male: 45%
Rural, Suburban, Urban
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California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas

Race
Black		53%
Other or unknown		47%

Ethnicity
Hispanic		44%
Not Hispanic or Latino		56%

Study Details

Setting

The two analyses included in the report include students and schools in multiple states and districts in the United States where KIPP charter schools operate. The study took place in 18 high schools in the KIPP network.

Study sample

The study used two designs. The first, for the analysis of new KIPP entrants (new KIPP student analysis), is a matched-student quasi-experimental design, where the intervention group consisted of students who attended 14 KIPP high schools, and the comparison group was a sample matched based on student baseline characteristics: baseline reading and math test scores; gender, race, special education, limited English proficiency, and free or reduced-price lunch status; and whether the student repeated a grade in the baseline year. The second design, for the analysis of middle school KIPP students transitioning to high schools (continuing KIPP student analysis), the intervention group included KIPP middle school students who had the option to attend the local KIPP high school after completing grade 8. These students attended 8 KIPP high schools (including 4 that were in the new KIPP student analysis). The comparison group consisted of KIPP students in grade 8 (in the same year) from middle schools in regions with no KIPP high school open at the time. The comparison group was chosen from KIPP middle schools that most resembled the treatment middle schools on the basis of average school-level characteristics. Within that matched set of schools, a comparison sample of students was matched based on baseline reading and math test scores; gender, race, special education, limited English proficiency, and free or reduced-price lunch status; and whether the student repeated a grade in the baseline year. For the new KIPP student analysis, sample characteristics for analysis samples with non-imputed baseline data are not reported. For the continuing KIPP student analysis, 55% of students in the intervention condition were female, 49% were Black, and 38% were Hispanic. Among students in the comparison condition, 54% were female, 49% were Black, and 45% were Hispanic.

Intervention Group

For the new KIPP student analysis, students in the intervention condition entered the KIPP network for the first time in grade 9. For the continuing KIPP student analysis, students in the intervention condition attended KIPP middle schools in grade 8 and had the option to attend KIPP high schools in grade 9. The majority of the students in the intervention condition attended KIPP high schools.

Comparison Group

For the new KIPP student analysis, students in the comparison condition were from non-KIPP middle schools who remained at non-KIPP public schools in their high school years. For the continuing KIPP student analysis, students in the comparison condition attended KIPP middle schools in grade 8 and did not have the option to attend KIPP high schools in grade 9 because no local KIPP high schools were open at the time. Students in the comparison condition attended a wide variety of non-KIPP high schools.

Support for implementation

The study did not provide information about implementation support; however, authors noted that staff at KIPP schools had considerable autonomy in the implementation process to set the direction of the school (p. 22).

Additional Sources

In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.

Tuttle, Christina Clark; Gleason, Philip; Knechtel, Virginia; Nichols-Barrer, Ira; Booker, Kevin; Chojnacki, Gregory; Coen, Thomas; Goble, Lisbeth. (2015). Going to Scale: As KIPP Network Grows, Positive Impacts Are Sustained. In Focus. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

Understanding the Effect of KIPP as It Scales: Volume I, Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes. Final Report of KIPP's "Investing in Innovation Grant Evaluation"