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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

North Kansas City High

620 E 23RD AVE, KANSAS CITY, MO., 64116 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
1,560
80
11% 20
District 18.3K 925 15% 13
State 588K 39,863 11% 6
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

34%
40%

42%
State Avg: 34% District Avg: 40%

Take at Least One AP Course

15%
30%

19%
State Avg: 15% District Avg: 30%

AP Pass Rate

58%
18%

0%
State Avg: 58% District Avg: 18%

Take Advanced Math

13%
6%

5%
State Avg: 13% District Avg: 6%

Are in a Gifted/Talented Program

6%
7%

8%
State Avg: 6% District Avg: 7%

Take Chemistry

16%
27%

26%
State Avg: 16% District Avg: 27%

Take Physics

6%
27%

28%
State Avg: 6% District Avg: 27%

Participate in sports

42%
0.0%

44%
State Avg: 42% District Avg: 0.0%

Are

0%
1%

1% Am Indian
State Avg: 0% District Avg: 1%
3%
5%

10% Asian
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 5%
22%
14%

20% Black
State Avg: 22% District Avg: 14%
5%
10%

13% Hispanic
State Avg: 5% District Avg: 10%
70%
70%

56% White
State Avg: 70% District Avg: 70%

North Kansas City High, part of the North Kansas City 74 district, is located in Kansas City, Missouri. The school reports an enrollment number of 1,560 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 80 teachers on staff.

North Kansas City High is above both the state and district averages for the percentage of students eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch. On average, 34 percent of students in Missouri qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, while 42 percent of students at North Kansas City High do. At the district level, 40 percent of students qualify.

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.

North Kansas City High offers 20 AP courses, and 19 percent of students participate in those classes.

North Kansas City High's enrollment rates in chemistry, physics and advanced math subject areas are 26 percent, 28 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Gifted and talented at the school has an enrollment rate of 8 percent.

Roosevelt High, in St Louis, Mo., is a higher-poverty school than North Kansas City High, with 83 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school offers two AP courses, and 6 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