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The Opportunity Gap

Is Your State Providing Equal Access to Education?

This database was last updated in January 2013 and should only be used as a historical snapshot of data from the 2009-10 school year. For more recent data on public and charter schools, check out Miseducation.

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.

Find a school

Creston High School

1720 PLAINFIELD NE, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH., 49505 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
910
40
10% 2
District 16.5K 784 6% 1
State 949K 49,657 5% 8
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

38%
88%

82%
State Avg: 38% District Avg: 88%

Take at Least One AP Course

17%
9%

14%
State Avg: 17% District Avg: 9%

AP Pass Rate

59%
0%

0%
State Avg: 59% District Avg: 0%

Take Advanced Math

14%
4%

9%
State Avg: 14% District Avg: 4%

Take Chemistry

22%
27%

27%
State Avg: 22% District Avg: 27%

Take Physics

11%
11%

7%
State Avg: 11% District Avg: 11%

Participate in sports

48%
0.0%

21%
State Avg: 48% District Avg: 0.0%

Are

0%
1%

1% Am Indian
State Avg: 0% District Avg: 1%
3%
1%

1% Asian
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 1%
22%
41%

60% Black
State Avg: 22% District Avg: 41%
5%
32%

12% Hispanic
State Avg: 5% District Avg: 32%
68%
20%

21% White
State Avg: 68% District Avg: 20%

Creston High School, part of the Grand Rapids Public Schools district, is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The school reports enrolling 910 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 40 teachers on staff.

Creston High School is above the state average but below the district average in terms of the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. On average, 38 percent of students in Michigan are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs, whereas 82 percent of Creston High School students do. At the district level, 88 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.

Creston High School offers two AP courses, and 14 percent of students participate in those classes.

Creston High School enrolls 9 percent of students in advanced math classes, and 27 percent of students take chemistry. The enrollment rate for physics at the school is 7 percent.

Northville High School, in Northville, Michigan, is a lower-poverty school than Creston High School, with 3 percent of its students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school offers 19 AP courses, and 29 percent of students are enrolled in those classs.

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