|
Chapter 4: Collecting Data
Facilities
Code. This variable is intended for school-specific codes that
capture precise information on the location where the incident occurred.
For example, a school might record class number, hall number, or school
bus number. This information will be most useful if schools plot incident
locations, but the data may not be necessary for all schools. The codes
for this variable are to be user-defined.9
Cost. If the
incident resulted in a quantifiable monetary loss for any entity involved,
identify and record the value of that loss. Cost may be reported by specific
dollar amount or range. For example, if vandalism of a school facility
results in having repairs made, the value of those repairs should be reported.
In addition, the value of personnel resources used for repairs (e.g.,
time spent painting over graffiti) or consumed by the incident (e.g.,
time involved in evacuating during a false fire alarm) should be recorded
here. Also record the value of stolen items here.10
Reporter. This
variable is used to identify the individual who reported the incident.
The codes given below permit very specific coding of the individual reporting
the incident. Again, individual schools and districts may find that capturing
such detailed information is not useful. If that is the case, use code
100 to record that a student reported the incident, rather than codes
110 or 120 to describe exactly what type of student reported the incident.
Thus, to be comparable, two locales need not both use the specific codes
since all "100s" represent students.
100 |
Student |
The incident was reported by an
individual who was enrolled in an instructional program in a school
at the time the incident occurred. |
|
110 |
Regular Student enrolled in the school
where the incident occurred |
The incident was reported by a regularly
enrolled student in the school where the incident was reported at
the time the incident occurred. |
|
120 |
Student enrolled in another school |
The incident was reported by a student
who, at the time the incident occurred, was enrolled in a school other
than the one where the incident was reported. |
|
130 |
Suspended or expelled student |
The incident was reported by a student
who was suspended or expelled from regular classes in the school at
the time the incident occurred. |
|
197 |
Other student |
The type of reporter cannot be captured
by one of the above codes, but the incident was reported by a student. |
200 |
Professional Staff |
The incident was reported by a member
of the professional staff at the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
210 |
Teacher |
The incident was reported by a teacher
in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
220 |
Substitute |
The incident was reported by a substitute
teacher in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
230 |
Media specialist/
Librarian |
The incident was reported by a media
specialist or librarian in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
240 |
Counselor |
The incident was reported by a school
counselor (e.g., guidance counselor) in the school at the time the
incident occurred. |
|
250 |
Social worker/School psychologist |
The incident was reported by a social
worker or school psychologist in the school at the time the incident
occurred. |
|
260 |
Medical staff |
The incident was reported by a member
of the medical staff in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
297 |
Other professional staff |
The type of reporter cannot be captured
by one of the above codes, but the incident was reported by a professional
staff member. |
300 |
Administrator |
The incident was reported by an
administrator in the school (or school district) at the time the incident
occurred. |
|
310 |
Principal/Head of school |
The incident was reported by the principal
or head of the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
320 |
Assistant principal/ Vice principal |
The incident was reported by an assistant
principal or vice-principal in the school at the time the incident
occurred. |
|
330 |
Dean |
The incident was reported by a dean
in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
340 |
District level administrator |
The incident was reported by a district
level administrator in the school district at the time the incident
occurred. |
|
350 |
School board member |
The incident was reported by a school
board member in the school district at the time the incident occurred. |
|
397 |
Other administrator |
The type of reporter cannot be captured
by one of the above codes, but the incident was reported by an administrator. |
400 |
Other School Staff |
The incident was reported by another
school staff member (e.g., school support personnel, maintenance personnel)
in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
410 |
Bus driver/ Transportation staff |
The incident was reported by a bus
driver or member of the transportation staff in the school at the
time the incident occurred. |
|
420 |
Clerical staff |
The incident was reported by a member
of the clerical staff in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
430 |
Custodial staff |
The incident was reported by a member
of the custodial staff in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
440 |
Food service staff |
The incident was reported by a member
of the food service staff in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
450 |
Paraprofessional, aide, assistant |
The incident was reported by a paraprofessional,
aide, or assistant in the school at the time the incident occurred. |
|
460 |
Security personnel |
The incident was reported by a security
officer (for law enforcement officers see code 500) in the school
at the time the incident occurred. |
|
497 |
Other staff |
The type of reporter cannot be captured
by one of the above codes, but the incident was reported by a school
staff member. |
500 |
Law Enforcement Officer |
The incident was reported by a law
enforcement officer at the time the incident occurred. |
|
510 |
Municipal law enforcement officer assigned
to the school |
The incident was reported by a municipal
law enforcement officer (e.g., town, city, county police officer,
school resource officer, or sheriff) assigned to the school. |
|
520 |
Municipal law enforcement officer not
assigned to the school |
The incident was reported by a municipal
law enforcement officer (e.g., town, city, county police officer,
school resource officer, or sheriff) not assigned to the school. |
|
530 |
School district police officer assigned
to the school |
The incident was reported by a school
district police officer (i.e., directly employed by the school district)
assigned to the school for some or all of the school day at the time
the incident occurred. |
|
540 |
School district police officer not
assigned to the school |
The incident was reported by a school
district police officer (i.e., directly employed by the school district)
not assigned to the school for some or all of the school day at the
time the incident occurred. |
|
597 |
Other law enforcement officer |
The type of reporter cannot be captured
by one of the above codes, but the incident was reported by a law
enforcement officer. |
600 |
Nonschool Personnel |
The incident was reported by an
individual who did not attend or work for the school (e.g., parent,
community member). |
|
610 |
Parent/guardian |
The incident was reported by a parent
or guardian of a student. |
|
620 |
Representative of visiting school |
The incident was reported by a representative
of a visiting school (e.g., teacher, coach). |
|
630 |
Other adult |
The incident was reported by another
adult in the community. |
|
640 |
Nonstudent youth |
The incident was reported by a nonstudent
youth (e.g., dropout). |
|
697 |
Other nonschool personnel |
The type of reporter cannot be captured
by one of the above codes, but the incident was reported by nonschool
personnel. |
999 |
Unknown |
Use this code for incidents that
were anonymously reported. |
Reporter ID. This variable allows users
to record pre-existing school or district staff and student identifiers,
when the individual who reported the incident is a student or staff member.
This allows descriptive information about the individual to be linked to
the incident via the student or staff database.11
Weapon Type. This variable is used to identify
the type of weapon used during an incident. The Federal Gun-Free Schools
Act requires states to report the number of students expelled for bringing
firearms to school12
by type of firearm. The following codes permit detailed coding of the type
of weapon used in the incident. back
to top
10 |
Firearm |
Select from specific codes below.
A firearm is any weapon which will, is designed to, or may readily
be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive;
the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm
silencer; or any machine gun. |
|
11 |
Handgun |
The weapon involved was a handgun or
pistol. |
|
12 |
Shotgun/rifle |
The weapon involved was a shotgun or
rifle. |
|
13 |
Other type of firearm (e.g., bombs,
grenades, or starter pistols) |
The weapon involved was another
type of firearm not named above, including zip guns, starter guns,
and flare guns. As defined by the Gun-Free Schools Act, other firearms
include:
- Any weapon (including a starter gun) which
will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a
projectile by the action of any explosive;
- The frame or receiver of any weapon described
above;
- Any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; and
- Any destructive device, which includes:
- Any explosive, incendiary (e.g., bomb,
grenade), or poison gas;
- Any weapon which will, or which may be
readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of
an explosive or other propellant, and which has any barrel
with a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter; and
- Any combination of parts either designed
or intended for use in converting any device into any destructive
device described in the two immediately preceding examples,
and from which a destructive device may be readily assembled.
|
20 |
Knife |
The weapon involved was a knife. |
|
21 |
Knife with blade length less than
2.5 inches |
The weapon involved was a knife with
a blade less than 2.5 inches in length.13 |
|
22 |
Knife with blade length at least
2.5 inches, but less than 3 inches |
The weapon involved was a knife with
a blade at least 2.5 inches in length, but less than 3
inches in length. |
|
23 |
Knife with blade length greater
than or equal to 3 inches |
The weapon involved was a knife with
a blade 3 inches or greater in length.14 |
|
29 |
Other knife |
The weapon involved was another type
of knife. |
30 |
Other Sharp Objects |
The weapon involved was another
type of sharp object, (e.g., razor blade, ice pick, dirk, Chinese
star, other pointed instrument [used as a weapon]). |
40 |
Other Object |
The weapon involved was another known
object (e.g., chain, nunchakus, brass knuckle, billy club, electrical
weapon or device [stun gun], BB or pellet gun). |
50 |
Substance Used as Weapon |
The weapon involved was a substance
(e.g., mace, tear gas) that was used as a weapon. |
97 |
Other |
The incident involved a weapon other
than those described above. |
98 |
No Weapon |
No weapon was used in the incident. |
99 |
Unknown Weapon |
A weapon was used in the incident,
but the type is unknown. |
Injury. Record whether or not any participants
were physically injured, and if so, identify whether the injury was major
or minor.
10 |
Minor injury |
At least one participant received a
minor physical injury as a result of the incident. A minor injury
is one that does not require professional medical attention such as
a scrape on the body, knee or elbow; and/or minor bruising. Medical
attention from the school nurse qualifies the injury as minor unless
further medical attention is required. |
20 |
Major injury |
At least one participant received a
major physical injury as a result of the incident. A major injury
is one that requires professional medical attention which may include,
but is not limited to, a bullet wound, a stab or puncture wound, fractured
or broken bones, concussions, cuts requiring stitches, and any other
injury with profuse or excessive bleeding. |
96 |
No injury |
No one was physically injured during
the course of the incident. |
Reported
to Law Enforcement. The incident should be coded as reported to
law enforcement if the school resource officer or any other law enforcement
official was notified about the incident, regardless of whether official
action was taken.
1 = Yes
2 = No
Related Elements.
Related elements capture supplemental information about incidents. Use
these codes when the primary offense is more serious in nature than alcohol
or drug, etc. offenses, but includes one of the elements described below.
This information will be useful in expanding the understanding of the
scope of these specific types of problems. These elements should be used
to describe whether an incident was related to alcohol, drugs, or gang
activity, hate-motivated, or weapon-related. For example, if a student
committed vandalism while under the influence of alcohol, alcohol was
not the primary offense, but the incident was alcohol-related. When it
is unknown whether an incident was related to any of these elements, code
the incident as not related. For the purpose of determining the scope
of "alcohol" problems, for example, being uncertain whether or not the
incident was alcohol-related or knowing that it was not alcohol-related
are effectively the same thing.
Alcohol-Related. The
incident is alcohol-related if those involved in the incident were under
the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident or if there is evidence
that they had been drinking, based on testing or investigation of a police
officer at the scene, or if the incident is somehow related to possession,
use, or sale of alcohol. Do not report "Yes" here if the main offense
during the incident was possession, use, or sale of alcohol. In that case,
report this as an alcohol offense (code 1000).
1 = Yes
2 = No
Drug-Related. The incident is
drug-related if those involved in the incident were under the influence
of drugs at the time of the incident, based on testing or investigation
done by police as a result of the incident, or if the incident is somehow
related to possession, use, or sale of drugs.15
Do not report "Yes" here if the main offense during the incident was possession,
use, or sale of drugs. In that case, report this as a drug offense (code
1600).
1 = Yes
2 = No
Gang-Related. The incident is gang-related
if it is gang-motivated or if gang membership caused the incident or contributed
to actions that occurred during the incident. For example, an incident
of vandalism or robbery might be part of an initiation into a gang, or
a fight might be caused by gang rivalry. Report an incident as gang-related
only if certain that gang membership contributed to the incident. A gang
is an organized group characterized by turf concerns, symbols, special
dress, and/or colors that engages in delinquent or illegal activity.
1 = Yes
2 = No
Hate-Related. The incident is hate-related
if it is motivated by hate due to some characteristics or perceived characteristics
of the victim including race, gender, religion, color, sexual orientation,
ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, political beliefs, marital status,
age, social and family background, linguistic preference, or disability.
Any act, or attempted act, is hate-related if it is designed to cause
physical injury, emotional suffering, or property damage through intimidation,
harassment, racial/ethnic slurs and bigoted epithets, vandalism, force,
or the threat of force, motivated all or in part by hostility to some
real or perceived characteristic of the victim. It may be helpful to distinguish
between hate motivated incidents that are related to the victim's race,
for example, and hate motivated incidents that are related to the victim's
religion with additional user-defined codes if a school, district, or
state has a special concern about one or more of these characteristics.
1 = Yes
2 = No
Weapon-Related. This includes incidents
where any of those involved in the incident possessed or used a weapon
during the incident or the incident was somehow related to possession,
use, or sale of weapons. Do not report "Yes" here if the main offense
during the incident is possession, use, or sale of weapons. In that case
code this as weapons possession (code 3700).
1 = Yes
2 = No
Also code the type of weapon used under "Weapon Type" (see variable
1090).
|