So simple and yet so powerful. On Wednesday when I was visiting schools last week, I came across a couple of first graders kicking rocks on each others' shoes on the playground. I just told them, "Be nice." It had an immediate effect! Everyone knows what that means. A little while later, I came across some middle schoolers pushing in a lunch line. Again, "Be nice!" And it worked. I know it was the first day, but give the "Be nice" routine a shot and let me know if it works. Can't wait to try, "Work hard."
Work Hard. Be Nice. It was the T-shirt that launched our Core Value idea. The statement is the motto of a network of charter schools called, KIPP. KIPP stands for Knowledge is Power Program. You can read about the KIPP movement in the book, Work Hard. Be Nice, by Jay Mathews. The first KIPP school (spanning grades 5-8) was started in the late 90’s in Houston. KIPP schools are located in some of the poorest urban areas of America. They are predominately populated with low-income children of color who understand that public education is their best hope for escaping poverty. In a little over 10 years, the KIPP movement has swept the nation seeing 125 schools start up in 26 states. They routinely outperform—and I mean OUTPERFORM (in the 95th percentile of every state they are in)—their local districts and state averages.
I had the privilege of speaking at the national KIPP conference this past summer, and do you know what I found out? They aren’t any smarter than we are, but they do have a few things going for them. They are enthusiastic. Working in a KIPP school is much more than a job for these people. It is a mission. It was like stumbling into a World Changer convention, which is great because enthusiasm is a choice. We can all be enthusiastic about our work, and we will be enthusiastic if we choose to care.
They also have time—a lot of time. They start school in August and work most Saturdays. The school day starts at 7:30 and ends at 5:00. In the end, the students get about 1800 hours of instruction a year compared to the state of Oregon’s 900 hour requirement. It really is a no brainer. When you get two years of time while everyone else get one, you will not only catch up, but also pass everyone else. Are they the darling child of foundations and corporations? Yes. Do they get more funding than we do? Yes. Can we learn from them? Yes.
If an answer to our achievement problem is as simple as more time, how can we make progress on that one? Can we make that happen some how? How can we find or way or make one with limited funding? And how can we make every minute of the limited time we have right now matter even more? These are great questions worth dreaming, thinking, and acting on.
