US Charter Schools
It is not only schools that benefit from a
character approach. Kids Company was
founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh in
1996 to support highly vulnerable inner
city children. It now reaches 17,000 young
people across London, many of whom are
highly deprived and damaged. Vulnerable
children who come to Kids Company have
been exposed to parental neglect, relentless
violence and abuse, and some are forced to
work as drugs couriers and prostitutes.
Compelling evidence from US schools also
points to the importance of character.
The story of the branch of ‘Charter Schools’
called ‘KIPP’ (i.e. ‘Knowledge is Power
Program’) is now well known. KIPP schools
had been enormously successful in the
1990s, not the least with black and Hispanic
children from low income families in New
York and elsewhere, at winning admissions
and indeed scholarships to top colleges.
But this tale of exams success lost its sheen
when it was realised that only a fifth of those
who graduated completed their four year
college degree. David Levin, the
co-founder of KIPP, was alarmed. He
discovered that the research of Angela
Duckworth, a psychologist showed that self
control could be a more reliable predictor
of student success than their IQ and exam
scores.
Kids Company provides a caring family
environment which allows the children and
young people to rebuild their lives. Staff work
tirelessly to build trust in those who come
to them, and to develop self-esteem and
character virtues. Over time, the young begin
to regain self-control and to communicate
openly. They receive praise for their improved
language, dress, punctuality and quality of
work.
Self-esteem is built by exposing the young to
experiences and giving them the opportunity
to find out what their unique gifts to the
community might be. It plants the seed in
the young that they are worth being cared
for, and that they have to learn in time how
to care for themselves. Resilience is a core
character quality for Kids Company and the
staff measure it using Goodman’s Strengths
and Difficulties questionnaire. The young
are monitored closely by the adult staff,
including their ability to function within laws
and customs.
Kids Company achieves remarkable results.
Its data shows that for 668 young people
aged between 14 and 23, 97% return to
education, employment or training. 199
were offered work experience by external
organisations, a 197 reduced their substance
abuse, and 80% of those who filled out the
Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire
showed an improvement in their emotional
wellbeing.
ethos magazine
Kids Company
Enter the appropriately named Paul Tough,
whose book ‘How Children Succeed’ has
now been published in the UK. Tough argues
that research by economists, psychologists,
neuroscientists and educators have all shown
that the skills that a student requires see
them successfully through university and
beyond has less to do with IQ and more to do
with personality traits. Tough’s conclusions
that children who grow up in dysfunctional
environments find it harder to concentrate,
and this can be shown by malfunctions in
the brain including the pre frontal cortex, are
echoed by research by Kids Company.
Tough points to the need for highly-talented
teachers and programmes to address the
damage. But Kids Company shows that
loving affirmation and mentoring can heal
damaged brains and personalities.
Riverdale School
Dominic Randolph, head of the private
school Riverdale in New York, was another
to be fascinated by the failure of the KIPP
students after they had gone to College.
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