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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

Washougal High School

1201 39TH ST, WASHOUGAL, WASH., 98671 | Grades 9-12

Districts with 3,000 or more students
Students Total Teachers Inexp. Teachers AP Courses
This School
900
44
5% 7
District 2,990 150 4% 4
State 833K 42,424 7% 8
 
State Average
 
District Average

Percentage of relevant students who...

Get Free/Reduced Price Lunch

38%
36%

34%
State Avg: 38% District Avg: 36%

Take at Least One AP Course

18%
13%

13%
State Avg: 18% District Avg: 13%

AP Pass Rate

49%
0%

0%
State Avg: 49% District Avg: 0%

Take Advanced Math

15%
0%

0%
State Avg: 15% District Avg: 0%

Are in a Gifted/Talented Program

8%
10%

12%
State Avg: 8% District Avg: 10%

Take Chemistry

14%
20%

21%
State Avg: 14% District Avg: 20%

Take Physics

7%
12%

12%
State Avg: 7% District Avg: 12%

Are

2%
1%

2% Am Indian
State Avg: 2% District Avg: 1%
10%
3%

3% Asian
State Avg: 10% District Avg: 3%
7%
1%

1% Black
State Avg: 7% District Avg: 1%
16%
4%

4% Hispanic
State Avg: 16% District Avg: 4%
64%
90%

89% White
State Avg: 64% District Avg: 90%

Washougal High School, in Washougal, Washington, is part of the Washougal School District. The school reports enrolling 900 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 44 teachers on staff.

Washougal High School is below both the state and district averages for the percentage of its students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, 38 percent of students in Washington qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, whereas 34 percent of students at Washougal High School are eligible. At the district level, 36 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.

Washougal High School offers seven AP courses, and 13 percent of students participate in those classes.

Washougal High School has an enrollment rate of 12 percent for physics classes, and 21 percent of students take physics. The enrollment rate for the school's gifted and talented program is 12 percent.

Toppenish High School, in Toppenish, Wash., is a higher-poverty school than Washougal High School, with 84 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school offers four AP courses, and 10 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