ProPublica

Journalism in the Public Interest

Cancel

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

Smithfield Selma High

700 BOOKER DAIRY RD, SMITHFIELD, N.C., 27577 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
1,460
102
13% 12
District 31.4K 2,060 14% 10
State 1.36M 88,261 10% 8
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Take at Least One AP Course

14%
9%

8%
State Avg: 14% District Avg: 9%

AP Pass Rate

51%
56%

65%
State Avg: 51% District Avg: 56%

Take Advanced Math

20%
20%

16%
State Avg: 20% District Avg: 20%

Are in a Gifted/Talented Program

12%
13%

15%
State Avg: 12% District Avg: 13%

Take Chemistry

13%
12%

11%
State Avg: 13% District Avg: 12%

Take Physics

3%
2%

1%
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 2%

Participate in sports

39%
0.0%

30%
State Avg: 39% District Avg: 0.0%

Are

2%
0%

0% Am Indian
State Avg: 2% District Avg: 0%
3%
1%

0% Asian
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 1%
28%
17%

35% Black
State Avg: 28% District Avg: 17%
11%
20%

26% Hispanic
State Avg: 11% District Avg: 20%
55%
62%

38% White
State Avg: 55% District Avg: 62%

Smithfield-Selma High, part of the Johnston County Schools district, is located in Smithfield, North Carolina. The school reports an enrollment number of 1,460 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 102 teachers on staff.

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.

Smithfield-Selma High offers 12 AP courses, and 8 percent of students participate in those classes.

For AP tests, the school's pass rate is above the district average, with 65 percent of students passing some or all AP tests. Compare this to the district rate of 56 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.

Smithfield-Selma High has an enrollment rate of 16 percent for math classes, and 11 percent of students take chemistry. The enrollment rate for physics at the school is 1 percent, and the gifted and talented program has a participation rate of 15 percent.

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