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.
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Washington Lee High
1301 N STAFFORD ST, ARLINGTON, VA., 22201 | Grades 9-12
| Students | Total Teachers | Inexp. Teachers | AP Courses | |
| This School |
2,050
|
142
|
4% | 24 |
| District | 20.3K | 1,794 | 6% | 27 |
| State | 1.13M | 81,901 | 9% | 14 |
Washington-Lee High, in Arlington, Virginia, is part of the Arlington County Public Schools district. The school reports enrolling 2,050 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 142 teachers on staff.
Washington-Lee High is below both the state and district averages for the percentage of its students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, 32 percent of students in Virginia qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, whereas 30 percent of students at Washington-Lee High are eligible. At the district level, 32 percent 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.
Washington-Lee High offers 24 AP courses, and 34 percent of students participate in those classes.
The school's pass rate for AP exams of 55 percent is below the district average of 60 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.
Washington-Lee High's enrollment rates in chemistry, physics and advanced math subject areas are 20 percent, 18 percent and 26 percent, respectively. Gifted and talented at the school has an enrollment rate of 27 percent.
Armstrong High School, in Richmond, Va., is a higher-poverty school than Washington-Lee High, with 65 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school offers nine AP courses, and 4 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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