An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS)
Considerable amounts of research have discussed “No Excuses” charter schools preparing traditionally disadvantaged students for higher education. Yet, <i>no</i> scholarly work has identified or investigated U.S. academically intensive charter schools (AICS) that were founded to enable st...
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/933 |
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| author | Robert Maranto Jamison White Sean Woytek |
| author_facet | Robert Maranto Jamison White Sean Woytek |
| author_sort | Robert Maranto |
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| description | Considerable amounts of research have discussed “No Excuses” charter schools preparing traditionally disadvantaged students for higher education. Yet, <i>no</i> scholarly work has identified or investigated U.S. academically intensive charter schools (AICS) that were founded to enable students to excel academically as much as their abilities and efforts allow. Here, we offer an exploratory study of AICS, defining them, describing the lived experience of an AICS principal, presenting the first national data comparing AICS campus and student characteristics to those of other charter schools, and assessing whether, nationally, AICS succeed on their own terms, with relatively high academic achievements. The data indicate that AICS resemble other charter schools in terms of measurable campus and student characteristics. Standardized, NAEP-adjusted Z-scores reveal that AICS consistently outperform other charter and district schools in literacy and mathematics across demographic groups, with differences expanding after the COVID-19 pandemic. We end with limitations and suggestions for future research. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-27f8b1c97c3d4f5da5260acd0159edb3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-27f8b1c97c3d4f5da5260acd0159edb32025-08-20T03:58:26ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-07-0115793310.3390/educsci15070933An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS)Robert Maranto0Jamison White1Sean Woytek2Department of Education Reform, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USANational Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Washington, DC 20005, USABASIS San Antonio Shavano, San Antonio, TX 78230, USAConsiderable amounts of research have discussed “No Excuses” charter schools preparing traditionally disadvantaged students for higher education. Yet, <i>no</i> scholarly work has identified or investigated U.S. academically intensive charter schools (AICS) that were founded to enable students to excel academically as much as their abilities and efforts allow. Here, we offer an exploratory study of AICS, defining them, describing the lived experience of an AICS principal, presenting the first national data comparing AICS campus and student characteristics to those of other charter schools, and assessing whether, nationally, AICS succeed on their own terms, with relatively high academic achievements. The data indicate that AICS resemble other charter schools in terms of measurable campus and student characteristics. Standardized, NAEP-adjusted Z-scores reveal that AICS consistently outperform other charter and district schools in literacy and mathematics across demographic groups, with differences expanding after the COVID-19 pandemic. We end with limitations and suggestions for future research.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/933charter schoolsschool choiceadvanced placementgifted educationschool cultureacademic achievement |
| spellingShingle | Robert Maranto Jamison White Sean Woytek An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS) Education Sciences charter schools school choice advanced placement gifted education school culture academic achievement |
| title | An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS) |
| title_full | An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS) |
| title_fullStr | An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS) |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS) |
| title_short | An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Academically Intensive Charter Schools (AICS) |
| title_sort | exploratory analysis of u s academically intensive charter schools aics |
| topic | charter schools school choice advanced placement gifted education school culture academic achievement |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/933 |
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