When one of the top education writers in the country takes the time to read and review your book, you pay attention. Here’s Jay Mathews from today’s Washington Post.
Jay makes some good points -- there are some aspects to a KIPP education that are especially boy friendly. He should know. Jay wrote the book on Kipp, Work Hard. Be Nice.
It’s also good that he raises the issue of older (beyond traditional college age) women returning to college at greater rates than older men. I looked into that; it’s definitely true, but at the gender-skewed colleges I visited older students represented only a handful. I looked at the national data as well and concluded that the “older” factor was not the major player in the gender gaps.
Finally, I asked myself this question: do women need those degrees more than men? Doubtful, as proven by the Great Recession, where nearly 80% of the layoffs have been men.
Thanks again to Jay for writing an insightful review.