ProPublica

Journalism in the Public Interest

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.

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Washington County High School

420 RIDDLEVILLE RD, SANDERSVILLE, GA., 31082 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
1,025
61
5% 8
District 3,250 205 3% 8
State 1.47M 103,585 8% 10
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

52%
67%

60%

Take at Least One AP Course

16%
9%

9%

AP Pass Rate

52%
63%

63%

Take Advanced Math

18%
3%

3%

Are in a Gifted/Talented Program

11%
8%

4%

Take Chemistry

17%
17%

17%

Take Physics

8%
0%

0%

Participate in sports

30%
0.0%

31%

Are

0%
0%

0% Am Indian
3%
1%

1% Asian
37%
68%

71% Black
12%
1%

1% Hispanic
45%
30%

26% White

Washington County High School, in Sandersville, Georgia, is part of the Washington County district. The school reports enrolling 1,025 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 61 teachers on staff.

Washington County 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, 52 percent of students in Georgia are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs, whereas 60 percent of Washington County High School students do. At the district level, 67 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.

Washington County High School offers eight AP courses, and 9 percent of students participate in those classes.

The school's pass rate for AP exams is the same as the district's, both at 63 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 County High School has enrolls 3 percent of students in advanced math classes, and 17 percent of students take chemistry. The enrollment rate for the school's gifted and talented program is 0 percent.

Northview High School, a lower-poverty school than Washington County High School, does not have any students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school enrolls 41 percent of its students in AP classes. It is located in Duluth, Ga.

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