When it comes to college readiness, a clear academic disparity exists between Latino students and their White and Asian peers. Not only are Latinos less likely to go to college, but also, once in college, their completion rate is much lower than any other group. Most research thus far has focused primarily on how the college environment can support students to stay in college; yet, in order to address the current academic disparity facing Latino students, we must look at what support structures exist in high school to prepare students not only for college access but also for college persistence. Only when a student has the skills to persist in college is he or she truly "college-ready." College preparation research and effective schooling research point to specific skills that impact college success and can take place at the high school level. However, in an era of accountability and high stakes testing, many schools focus on meeting No Child Left Behind (NCLB) compliance standards because of its mandate--instead of concentrating on building these skills for which there is no government mandate. As with college readiness, a disparity of success exists for Latino students when it comes to standardized testing. Yet, these tests do not measure the college persistence skills recommended by research. As a consequence, by focusing often exclusively on standards knowledge, schools fail to address Latino students' college skill gaps. In California (and Los Angeles, specifically) charter schools have outperformed noncharters when it comes to Latino student achievement on state tests. Charters have also explicitly aimed to prepare these same students for college. This study will focus on the systemic ways one charter management organization (district) has attempted to close the Latino college gap and assess what organizational structures exist to support NCLB mandates and college readiness. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.