School can dumb you down.

It seems that it can also smarten you up.

See:

hcz.org/our-results

And the book Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough.

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But contrary to the myth that Guggenheim propounds about “amazing results,” even Geoffrey Canada’s schools have many students who are not proficient. On the 2010 state tests, 60 percent of the fourth-grade students in one of his charter schools were not proficient in reading, nor were 50 percent in the other. It should be noted—and Guggenheim didn’t note it—that Canada kicked out his entire first class of middle school students when they didn’t get good enough test scores to satisfy his board of trustees. This sad event was documented by Paul Tough in his laudatory account of Canada’s Har- lem Children’s Zone, Whatever It Takes (2009). Contrary to Guggenheim’s mythology, even the best-funded charters, with the finest services, can’t completely negate the effects of poverty.

One might salvage the author's point by saying that it's simply arguing that charters aren't a cure-all; that the disciplinary problems that sabotaged that middle school class are going to exist for any charter, &c.

There's very little data, which is the main problem. In terms of books about KIPP, the one I've read is Whatever It Takes, which is about Geoffrey Canada, who founded the Harlem Children's Zone. I'm not sure if this school is technically affiliated with KIPP proper, but it used the KIPP model.

It's very difficult to explain the problems with KIPP. Basically you need to take a really good look at how the kids are actually spending their days, and then compare it with what we know about child development, educational research, best practices in various fields, research data on student achievement, etc. I don't think there is any way to understand it without having a solid background in education theory, education research, cognitive development, psychology, early childhood education, history, and even things like organization behavior and management theory, etc. The problem of what makes a good school and a good classroom is insanely complicated, which is why we've been using basically the same model since WWI.

It shows what kids from the lowest socioeconomic class can achieve, given support, encouragement, and an enriched learning environment from an early age.

The kids in Promise Academy's third grade classes (scoring 100% at or above grade level in one school, and 96% at the other), had been intensive preschool since age three.

Read the book Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough for more details of one of the most hope-inspiring stories in education today.

One thing to consider in deciding how much to spend on education for poor students is the effect this will have on welfare and prison costs for the next generation.