Founder connections
- Bill GatesPositive review
“The book gives a great sense of how hard it was to get KIPP going and how intense the focus on good teaching is.”
Gates reviewed the book on January 21, 2010. He praises its account of the difficulty of starting KIPP, while asking how its costs and methods can scale.Source
Summary
Jay Mathews follows Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin as they move from struggling first-year teachers to the founders of the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP. The book describes how they learned from experienced educators, built a fifth-grade program and expanded it into a network of schools. It examines the work behind that growth, including lively lessons, longer school days, close contact with students and a shared culture.
Why read it Our view
Read for the work needed to turn the founders’ skill into a practice other people can use. Feinberg and Levin learn from experienced teachers and build routines around that work. Their story can help you examine which parts of your own organization depend on a few people and which can be taught. Gates’s review also raises a useful test: as an organization grows, how will you measure results and understand its costs?