NACSA’s president and CEO, Greg Richmond, issued the following statement regarding the KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement and Other Outcomes study released yesterday by Mathematica Policy Research:

“Today’s Mathematica Policy Research study on the positive results produced by KIPP charter schools is welcome news for the many children in America who don’t have the opportunity to attend a good school. Poverty, gangs, drugs and violence are enormous obstacles in the lives of many children and there are too many people who say that there’s nothing schools can do about that. They’re wrong. KIPP shows that a well-run school that has the autonomy to do things differently can change children’s lives.

When we focus on growing quality schools, give schools the autonomy they need to excel and hold them accountable for results, we expand parent choice and give more children access to the education they deserve.

Every school in America, charter schools and traditional public schools, can do the same things that KIPP does and can have the same results. We can do better at replicating great schools and great programs, particularly with the help of studies like this one. Armed with more data on a school operator’s performance, charter school authorizers can make more informed decisions and encourage replication of successful charter schools. When we focus on growing quality schools, give schools the autonomy they need to excel and hold them accountable for results, we expand parent choice and give more children access to the education they deserve.”