ProPublica analyzed federal education data from the 2009-2010 school year to examine whether states provide high-poverty schools equal access to advanced courses and special programs that researchers say will help them later in life. This is the first nationwide picture of exactly which courses are being taken at which schools and districts across the country. More than three-quarters of all public school children are represented. Read our story and our methodology.
From http://projects.propublica.org/schools. © Copyright 2011 Pro Publica Inc.
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Rolling Meadows High School
2901 W CENTRAL RD, ROLLING MEADOWS, ILL., 60008 | Grades 9-12
| Students | Total Teachers | Inexp. Teachers | AP Courses | |
| This School |
1,810
|
105
|
15% | 19 |
| District | 12K | 678 | 19% | 16 |
| State | 1.36M | 84,195 | 14% | 11 |
Rolling Meadows High School, part of the Township High School District 214, is located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The school reports enrolling 1,810 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 105 teachers on staff.
Rolling Meadows High School is below the state average but above the district average in terms of the percentage of its students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. On average, 44 percent of students in Illinois are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs, whereas 16 percent of Rolling Meadows High School students are eligible. At the district level, 13 percent of students are eligible.
ProPublica's analysis found that all too often, states and schools provide poor students fewer educational programs like Advanced Placement, gifted and talented programs, and advanced math and science classes. Studies have linked participation in these programs with better outcomes later in life. Our analysis uses free and reduced-price lunch to estimate poverty at schools. We based our findings on the most comprehensive data set of access to advanced classes and special programs in U.S. public schools — known as the Civil Rights Data Set— released by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
Rolling Meadows High School offers 19 AP courses, and 22 percent of students participate in those classes.
For AP tests, the school's pass rate is below the district average, with 75 percent of students passing some or all AP tests. Compare this to the district rate of 80 percent.
A school's AP pass rate is determined by the number of students who both sat for AP exams and passed some or all of those exams.
Rolling Meadows High School's enrollment rates in chemistry, physics and advanced math subject areas are 24 percent, 10 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Gifted and talented at the school has an enrollment rate of 10 percent.
Chicago Vocational Career Acad High School, in Chicago, Ill., is a higher-poverty school than Rolling Meadows High School, with 100 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school offers two AP courses, and 3 percent of students are enrolled in those courses.
These data points were reported by schools and districts to the Office for Civil Rights. For more information about the data, see our full methodology.
— Generated by Narrative Science
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