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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

Star Spencer High School

3001 NORTH SPENCER ROAD, SPENCER, OKLA., 73084 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
530
38
5% 2
District 36.9K 2,263 18% 4
State 337K 21,483 14% 12
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

53%
87%

90%
State Avg: 53% District Avg: 87%

Take at Least One AP Course

18%
10%

8%
State Avg: 18% District Avg: 10%

AP Pass Rate

53%
23%

0%
State Avg: 53% District Avg: 23%

Take Advanced Math

10%
7%

4%
State Avg: 10% District Avg: 7%

Are in a Gifted/Talented Program

14%
8%

7%
State Avg: 14% District Avg: 8%

Take Chemistry

12%
15%

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

Take Physics

3%
2%

0%
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 2%

Participate in sports

34%
0.0%

52%
State Avg: 34% District Avg: 0.0%

Are

11%
5%

2% Am Indian
State Avg: 11% District Avg: 5%
3%
2%

1% Asian
State Avg: 3% District Avg: 2%
17%
30%

88% Black
State Avg: 17% District Avg: 30%
15%
42%

2% Hispanic
State Avg: 15% District Avg: 42%
54%
20%

7% White
State Avg: 54% District Avg: 20%

Star Spencer High School, part of the Oklahoma City district, is located in Spencer, Oklahoma. The school reports an enrollment number of 530 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 38 teachers on staff.

Star Spencer High School is above both the state and district averages for the percentage of students eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch. On average, 53 percent of students in Oklahoma qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, while 90 percent of students at Star Spencer High School do. At the district level, 87 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.

Star Spencer High School offers two AP courses, and 8 percent of students participate in those classes.

Star Spencer High School has enrolls 4 percent of students in advanced math classes, and 15 percent of students take chemistry. The enrollment rate for the school's gifted and talented program is 0 percent.

Deer Creek High School, in Edmond, Oklahoma, is a lower-poverty school than Star Spencer High School, with 7 percent of its students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school offers 13 AP courses, and 17 percent of students are enrolled in those classs.

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