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.
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Valley High School
GREYHOUND LANE, SMITHERS, W.VA., 25186 | Grades 6-12
| Students | Total Teachers | Inexp. Teachers | AP Courses | |
| This School |
565
|
39
|
8% | 4 |
| District | 6,760 | 465 | 7% | 6 |
| State | 241K | 15,894 | 9% | 7 |
Valley High School, part of the Fayette County Schools district, is located in Smithers, West Virginia. The school reports an enrollment number of 565 students in grades six through 12, and it has 39 teachers on staff.
Valley High School is on par with the state average but below district average for the percentage of its students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. On average, 49 percent of students in West Virginia are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs and 49 percent of Valley High School students are eligible. At the district level, 55 percent of students 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.
Valley High School has enrolls 7 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.
Mount View High School, in Welch, W. Va., is a higher-poverty school than Valley High School, with 74 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The school enrolls 1 percent of students in its gifted and talented program.
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
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