Jay Matthews’ new book, Work Hard. Be Nice., tells the inspiring story of two young teachers’ struggle to create a new type of public school that challenges traditional notions and strives to prepare all students – regardless of their background, income level, and ethnicity – for success in college and life.

In 1994, after teaching for two years in the Houston Independent School District, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin (former Teach for America alums) started a school for 5th graders in inner-city Houston.

Feinberg and Levin named the school KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program). They got the idea for the name from a chant they learned from their mentor Harriett Ball.

Read, Baby, Read

You gotta read, baby, read.You gotta read, baby, read.The more you read, the more you know,‘Cause knowledge is power,Power is money, andI want it.

How are these schools so different? They hire smart, enthusiastic teachers. They have extremely high expectations for their students. They spend more time on instruction through a longer school day and longer school year. The teachers work hard and expect their students to work hard and do their homework. They expect students to call their teachers at night at home if they have questions about their homework. They give their principals the ability to lead the school. They get to know the parents through home visits.

This grand experiment called KIPP has turned into a network of 82 schools spanning 19 states and the District of Columbia serving more than 20,000 students. According to KIPP’s 2008 report, more than 95% of their students are African American or Hispanic, more than 80% are poor (as determined by their eligibility for the school lunch program), and yet 85% matriculate to college (compared to 40% of low-income students matriculating to college nationwide).

While KIPP is an open-enrollment charter school, traditional public schools can adopt many of these “best practices” without having to convert to a charter school. With so much riding on the quality of our education system, I hope traditional public schools will be open to trying new things. This has been a recipe for success for KIPP.

– Brooke Terry