All students are meeting high standards. The norms, beliefs, structures, and skills which will ensure that all students achieve high standards are widely shared and are embedded in the school culture. Marshall's achievements rivaled those of San Francisco's famous Lowell, another academic high school within the same school district. But these two schools are very different.
Research shows that economic poverty correlates strongly with poor academic achievement.
For decades, all across the nation, the achievement of poor students and students of color has lagged behind that of advantaged students. The Education Trust Inc., a non-profit educational research organization, reports that for every 100 Latino kindergartners, only 31 will complete some college, compared to 62 whites. Among the most serious reasons for that, says the Education Trust's Kati Haycock, is that low-income students consistently receive less challenging coursework and are taught by less qualified teachers. The Visitacion Valley and Hunter's Point neighborhoods served by Thurgood Marshall underscore Haycock's point. Prior to the opening of Thurgood Marshall, no high school served students from neighborhoods.