Work Hard. Be Nice.

I always love to read about schools where kids do well. This is one such story.

It's the story of the KIPP program that began in Houston in 1995, started by two committed Teach for America teachers.

Here's a brutal fact: If poor children are going to learn at the same rate as affluent children, they need more school days. Ugh. That hits me where it hurts. This is a brutal fact teachers can't bear. One of the perks of being a teacher is summers off. Summers kill poor children's achievement. Eek.

So, give me another way we can improve student achievement without taking away our summers? Yep, KIPP has another answer: longer school days. Another brutal fact that we teachers can't bear. Please, give me something else?

Well, KIPP teachers help kids with their homework...in the evenings! Eek. This is getting worse and worse.

KIPP offers answers to improving student achievement among poor children, but the answers are not easy.