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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

Buckhorn High School

4123 WINCHESTER RD, NEW MARKET, ALA., 35761 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
1,180
70
17% 9
District 19.6K 1,184 9% 6
State 611K 39,097 9% 6
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

50%
29%

26%
State Avg: 50% District Avg: 29%

Take at Least One AP Course

12%
26%

30%
State Avg: 12% District Avg: 26%

AP Pass Rate

42%
38%

54%
State Avg: 42% District Avg: 38%

Take Advanced Math

15%
20%

30%
State Avg: 15% District Avg: 20%

Take Chemistry

14%
14%

16%
State Avg: 14% District Avg: 14%

Take Physics

3%
3%

2%
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 3%

Participate in sports

31%
0.0%

42%
State Avg: 31% District Avg: 0.0%

Are

1%
6%

6% Am Indian
State Avg: 1% District Avg: 6%
1%
2%

1% Asian
State Avg: 1% District Avg: 2%
34%
19%

21% Black
State Avg: 34% District Avg: 19%
4%
2%

2% Hispanic
State Avg: 4% District Avg: 2%
59%
72%

70% White
State Avg: 59% District Avg: 72%

Buckhorn High School, part of the Madison County district, is located in New Market, Alabama. The school reports an enrollment number of 1,180 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 70 teachers on staff.

Buckhorn High School is below both the state and district averages for the percentage of its students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, 50 percent of students in Alabama qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, whereas 26 percent of students at Buckhorn High School are eligible. At the district level, 29 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.

Buckhorn High School offers nine AP courses, and 30 percent of students participate in those classes.

The school's pass rate for AP exams is 54 percent. This is higher than the district average of 38 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.

Buckhorn High School enrolls 30 percent of students in advanced math classes, and 16 percent of students take chemistry. The enrollment rate for physics at the school is 2 percent.

Southside High School, in Selma, Ala., is a higher-poverty school than Buckhorn High School, with 94 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school hasn't reported or may not offer AP classes.

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