KIPP: Providing Public Charter Schools for Underserved Students to Enroll in and Graduate from College

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of public charter schools whose stated mission is to help underserved students enroll in and graduate from college. KIPP began exclusively as a middle school program in 1994, but began expanding into the elementary and high school levels in 2004. By 2009-2010, KIPP was educating students in grades prekindergarten through 12, and as of 2014-2015 the network included 162 elementary, middle, and high schools serving 59,495 students. Prior studies have consistently found that attending a KIPP middle school positively affects student achievement, but few have addressed longer-term outcomes and no rigorous research exists on impacts of KIPP schools at levels other than middle school. As the KIPP network continues to grow, it faces the challenge of building a pipeline of leaders to effectively serve more students and schools. In 2010, the KIPP Foundation was awarded a five-year,