No-Excuses Charter School Alumni in College: The Perceived Influence of High School Experiences on College Preparation, Experience, and Success

• In Event: College Access and System-Level Practices

Abstract

Utilizing observations, document review, and semi-structured interviews with photo elicitation, this particularistic case study is one of the first qualitative explorations of how no-excuses charter school alumni, deemed “successful” by college matriculation and persistence metrics, experience college and make meaning of their high school’s influence on their college preparation, experience, and success. Preliminary findings indicate that students benefited from college application support, individual relationships with staff, and the school’s mission of college and career preparation. However, alumni had varied experiences with how this mission manifested itself in the implementation of rigid behavior systems and academic preparation methods that emphasized conformity at the expense of individual exploration and the development of skills that could have benefited them in college and beyond.

Author

• Kathy Chau Rohn, University of Connecticut