EducationNews.org

Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University

1) Jay, I understand that you have a new book coming out--Work Hard. Be

Nice: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America. How did this come about?

For the last 27 years, since I stumbled across math teacher Jaime Escalante at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, I have made it my personal mission to find instructive examples of the schools and teachers who have done the best job raising the academic achievement of impoverished students. Sometimes I have had to do this in my spare time, since I wasn't at a place where I could write about schools for the Post.

My five years as the Post's Wall Street correspondent were particularly unhappy for me. I hated that job, but loved the work I was doing on my days off on my second book about high schools, Class Struggle. Finally in 1997 I became a full time schools reporter for the Post. When someone told me about the KIPP schools, and their wacky-funny-wiley founders Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg, I saw the possibility of a book. When I checked them out, and realized they had done more to raise the level of inner city teaching than anyone, I knew had to write it.

2) What do you know about the KIPP founders and their philosophy?

They met their first week as Teach For American corps members in 1992. They had just graduated from Ivy League schools and thought they were America's gift to inner city education. That feeling disappeared after their first day as teachers in Houston. They were terrible. Their classes were in chaos. This hurt their pride, and they resolved to at least find some way to survive during their two year commitment.

But they lucked out, and encountered two veteran teachers, Harriett Ball and Rafe Esquith, who had pioneered reaching inner city kids. By guidance from Ball and Esquith, and through trial and error, they created the first KIPP class, based on their philosophy of very energetic teaching, longer school days, Saturday classes, required summer school, two hours of homework a night, required student phone calls to them at their apartment if there was any trouble with the homework, consistent discipline---mostly forbidding miscreants to talk to other students, many field trips including a week-long trip at year's end, regular contact with parents including home visits, fun, music, sports and a principal's right to hire and fire any teacher he chose, based on how well the teacher was doing raising achievement, and emphasis on standardized test results.

This doubled their first class's passing rate on the state tests.

3) How many schools and how many students are attending a KIPP school?

There are 17,000 students in 66 KIPP schools in 19 states and DC. Most are

5-8 grade middle schools, with about 300 students each. They have begun to create some elementary and high schools.

4) What do you know about their curriculum?

There is no set curriculum. Each school leaders decides how to teach, as a team, with his or her faculty. But the emphasis is on lots of movement, games, chants, songs and real world exposure to their subjects through field trips. The emphasis on hard work and good behavior and going to college is what makes KIPP different from other schools, not its curriculum.

5) How has KIPP influenced school reform?

Many charter schools have adopted KIPP-like methods, and some regular public schools have too. Much of what KIPP does is not new, but few other schools have put it all together and been strong and consistent.The KIPP method has not spread fast because it is so at odds with the lethargy and politics that impede most urban and rural schools with lots of poor kids, but it has done more than any other group of schools.

The first 1,000 KIPP students to complete 8th grade on average went from the 32nd to the 6oth percentile in reading since they began in 5th grade, and from the 40th to the 82nd percentile in math. No other group of schools has ever had so many students achieve so much, so quickly.

6) I understand you have a pending special evening with Andrew Rotherham.

What is on the agenda? Where and When will this be held? Who will also be there?

It will be one of my first book events, 5 p.m. on Jan. 28 at Education Sector offices in DC, at 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, suite 850. CSPAN will be there. I have about 35 events scheduled around the country, but am eager to have more. If someone wants me to speak about KIPP, and sell and sign books, they should email Christina Gates at Algonquin books, christinag@algonquin.com".

7) Who publishes this book and how can I get my hands on a copy?

Algonquin Books, a division of Workman Publishing. They are great editors who really know how to market books, even one as far from pop culture as this one.

8) What question have I neglected to ask?

I think readers would want to know that this is not a dry tome about education, but the life stories of two very entertaining, pushy, drama-prone, caring young men. It includes love stories, wild bureaucratic fights, athletic squabbles, tragedies and triumphs. I detail all their mistakes, including some laws broken. I wrote it for people who never read books about education, but like a good novel. It was very easy to do given the unusual characters of my two 6-3, basketball-playing, kid-friendly, unpredictable subjects.

Published January 15, 2009