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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

Marcus High School

5707 MORRISS RD, FLOWER MOUND, TEXAS, 75028 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
3,085
198
5% 35
District 50.2K 3,531 8% 33
State 4.01M 269,017 14% 15
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

48%
23%

3%
State Avg: 48% District Avg: 23%

Take at Least One AP Course

20%
18%

16%
State Avg: 20% District Avg: 18%

Take Advanced Math

10%
5%

6%
State Avg: 10% District Avg: 5%

Are in a Gifted/Talented Program

8%
10%

16%
State Avg: 8% District Avg: 10%

Take Chemistry

26%
27%

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

Take Physics

14%
28%

26%
State Avg: 14% District Avg: 28%

Participate in sports

32%
0.0%

25%
State Avg: 32% District Avg: 0.0%

Are

0%
1%

1% Am Indian
State Avg: 0% District Avg: 1%
4%
10%

4% Asian
State Avg: 4% District Avg: 10%
15%
9%

4% Black
State Avg: 15% District Avg: 9%
50%
24%

10% Hispanic
State Avg: 50% District Avg: 24%
29%
56%

82% White
State Avg: 29% District Avg: 56%

Marcus High School, in Flower Mound, Texas, is part of the Lewisville ISD. The school reports enrolling 3,085 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 198 teachers on staff.

Marcus High School is below both the state and district averages in terms of the percentage of its students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. On average, 48 percent of students in Texas are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs, while 3 percent of Marcus High School students are eligible. At the district level, 23 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.

Marcus High School offers 35 AP courses, and 16 percent of students participate in those classes.

Marcus High School's enrollment rates in chemistry, physics and advanced math subject areas are 26 percent, 26 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Gifted and talented at the school has an enrollment rate of 16 percent.

North Forest High School, in Houston, Texas, is a higher-poverty school than Marcus High School, with 100 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school offers 13 AP courses, and 14 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