Published: September 2009
The Knowledge is Power Program (top-rated) is a network of charter schools across the U.S. focusing on improving academic outcomes for disadvantaged youth. All students in a school's vicinity are eligible for admission, and tuition is free. KIPP takes the position that disadvantaged students are behind from the day they enter, and need schools that are focused on going above and beyond a “normal” education. Our analysis implies that KIPP is having a real effect on academic outcomes, showing significant gains throughout KIPP's national network of schools. See our full review for more.
Teach For America (recommended) recruits, trains and places recent college graduates in low-income public schools across the country; the aim is both to provide quality teachers in the short term and to recruit talented people into the education sector in the long term. A reasonably large body of evidence indicates that students assigned to TFA teachers' classrooms (in some cases randomly) perform slightly better than similar students assigned to traditional students' classrooms. The effect is small, but statistically significant. Ignoring the potential benefits (and costs) of recruiting more people into the education sector, we feel that TFA can be classified as a proven, effective, scalable program that is contributing to better academic outcomes. See our full review for more.