Becoming an Excellent KIPP Teacher

We believe that excellent teaching at KIPP means…

  • A commitment to long-term transformative outcomes for kids. We know the ultimate measure of our success is the lives our kids are able to lead.
  • Teaching is not an individual endeavor. We teach as part of a team. Recognizing our collective effort, we encourage families to support their children’s learning as well.
  • Joy. We are lucky enough to do the hardest, most fun work imaginable. Our students and their parents should know that we absolutely love what we do. More importantly, our students should revel in the joy of learning, struggling, and growing every day.

At the center of our work is Student Growth and Achievement. Excellent teaching means students learn, grow, and achieve transformative life outcomes.

The four elements of excellent teaching are linked through our Beliefs and Character. An excellent KIPP teacher is committed to KIPP’s mission. She constantly pursues becoming a better person, just as she supports students in this pursuit. She understands that her beliefs and character affect who she is, her impact on and relationships with others, her classroom environment, how she teaches, and what she knows.

The four elements of excellent teaching are:

Self and Others

Excellent teaching requires understanding of oneself, one’s connection to others, and a growth mindset that allows the teacher to take ownership for the success of all KIPPsters.

Classroom Culture

In an excellent classroom culture, the teacher focuses on countless tangible and intangible details to create an environment where students are joyfully engaged, meaningfully
on-task, and feel ownership for their individual and collective successes in college and in life.

The Teaching Cycle

Excellent teaching means planning and executing rigorous, engaging lessons that fit into a logical scope and sequence, as well as using student data to assess mastery of objectives and movement toward big goals for student achievement and growth. Excellent teaching requires a 1/12 mindset, recognizing that even the tiniest details can dramatically impact student mastery.

Knowledge

Teaching is an art and science. As the artists and scientists, teachers are responsible for building their understanding of child development, pedagogy, and content. They are responsible for knowing what they are teaching, how it fits in a PreK-16 continuum, and to whom they are teaching it.