Table 6. Number and percentage of public schools reporting distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, and incidents of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003

Crime and Safety Surveys

Publications & Products|SSOCS & SCS Table Library|Staff

Back

Download Excel

(43 KB)

Download SE Excel

(47 KB)

Table 6. Number and percentage of public schools reporting distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, and incidents of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04

School characteristic	Distribution of illegal drugs				Possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs				Vandalism¹
School characteristic	Num- ber of schools	Per- cent of schools	Num- ber of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students	Num- ber of schools	Per- cent of schools	Num- ber of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students	Num- ber of schools	Per- cent of schools	Num- ber of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students
All public schools	10,392	13	32,641	0.7	23,597	29	131,267	2.8	41,359	51	178,514	3.8

Level²
Primary	712	1	1,040	#	3,058	6	5,801	0.3	20,556	42	60,609	2.7
Middle	3,860	27	8,128	0.8	8,076	56	30,154	3.1	9,428	65	55,199	5.6
High school	4,807	44	20,747	1.8	9,168	85	83,472	7.2	8,067	74	50,556	4.3
Combined	1,013	16	2,726	1.0	3,294	52	11,840	4.5	3,308	52	12,149	4.6

Enrollment size
Less than 300	673	4	1,495	0.4	3,054	16	6,630	1.7	7,148	38	16,692	4.3
300–499	1,485	6	2,429	0.2	4,495	19	13,332	1.4	11,273	48	30,758	3.1
500–999	4,008	14	8,847	0.5	8,998	31	36,798	1.9	15,754	54	71,523	3.7
1,000 or more	4,227	47	19,870	1.5	7,049	79	74,507	5.5	7,185	80	59,541	4.4

Urbanicity
City	2,799	14	12,230	0.9	5,771	29	39,465	2.9	11,352	57	62,050	4.6
Urban fringe	3,729	14	11,317	0.6	7,452	28	49,804	2.7	14,831	56	65,466	3.6
Town	1,364	14	3,187	0.6	3,460	36	15,212	3.1	4,798	50	16,987	3.4
Rural	2,500	10	5,906	0.6	6,914	29	26,785	2.8	10,378	43	34,011	3.5

Crime level where students live³
High	885	15	3,641	1.0	1,796	31	12,092	3.4	3,495	60	27,193	7.6
Moderate	2,601	17	9,284	0.9	5,316	34	32,778	3.3	9,219	60	47,411	4.7
Low	5,419	11	13,735	0.5	12,924	27	63,679	2.5	22,943	47	80,323	3.1
Mixed	1,486	14	5,982	0.8	3,561	33	22,718	3.2	5,702	53	23,588	3.3

Percent minority enrollment⁴
Less than 5 percent	1,888	11	3,633	0.5	4,868	29	19,395	2.7	7,710	45	25,332	3.6
5 to 20 percent	2,904	15	7,518	0.7	5,704	29	33,478	3.0	10,510	53	35,878	3.2
20 to 50 percent	2,306	13	7,390	0.7	5,322	30	30,413	2.7	9,037	51	37,854	3.4
50 percent or more	3,002	12	12,776	0.8	7,018	29	45,325	2.8	13,348	55	76,638	4.8

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	2,664	14	7,790	0.6	5,961	32	39,322	3.0	10,447	55	39,448	3.0
21–50 percent	4,286	15	12,032	0.7	9,535	33	51,227	3.2	14,626	51	58,892	3.6
More than 50 percent	3,442	10	12,820	0.7	8,101	25	40,717	2.3	16,286	49	80,173	4.6

Percent of students below 15^th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	2,339	10	7,227	0.6	5,643	24	29,194	2.3	11,279	48	38,755	3.0
6–15 percent	4,409	13	12,343	0.6	9,670	29	55,335	2.8	17,567	52	72,550	3.6
More than 15 percent	3,643	16	13,071	0.9	8,284	35	46,738	3.3	12,513	54	67,208	4.8

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	3,189	12	11,151	0.8	6,970	27	36,468	2.7	12,923	50	66,339	4.9
36–60 percent	3,189	14	9,188	0.7	7,311	33	36,845	2.8	11,785	52	44,884	3.4
More than 60 percent	4,014	12	12,303	0.6	9,316	29	57,955	2.9	16,652	52	67,290	3.3

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	1,194	15	3,098	0.8	2,685	33	12,479	3.1	4,562	55	24,698	6.2
26–50 percent	2,519	14	9,616	1.0	5,328	31	30,953	3.3	8,301	48	40,306	4.3
51–75 percent	3,294	14	10,130	0.7	7,148	31	39,817	2.9	13,273	57	56,473	4.0
More than 75 percent	3,385	11	9,797	0.5	8,436	27	48,018	2.5	15,223	48	57,038	2.9

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	666	12	2,898	1.1	1,521	28	8,204	3.0	2,246	41	10,327	3.8
45–55 percent	9,084	14	27,612	0.7	20,196	31	114,167	2.9	34,758	53	151,765	3.8
More than 55 percent	642	7	2,132	0.5	1,880	21	8,896	2.2	4,355	49	16,421	4.0

Student-to-teacher ratio⁵
Less than 12 students	3,365	9	8,758	0.6	9,251	26	34,861	2.3	17,193	48	62,188	4.1
12–16 students	4,385	15	15,282	0.8	9,393	31	54,259	2.8	15,328	51	67,147	3.4
More than 16 students	2,642	18	8,601	0.7	4,953	33	42,147	3.5	8,838	60	49,178	4.1

Number of classroom changes⁶
0–3 changes	388	2	834	0.1	1,313	6	5,070	0.5	9,005	43	30,323	3.0
4–6 changes	5,206	14	17,763	0.8	11,194	30	71,360	3.2	18,744	50	82,024	3.7
More than 6 changes	4,797	22	14,044	1.0	11,090	50	54,837	3.8	13,609	62	66,166	4.6

Regular use of law enforcement⁷
Regular use	8,056	22	27,973	1.0	16,332	45	106,515	3.9	21,295	59	109,083	4.0
No regular use	2,336	5	4,669	0.2	7,265	16	24,752	1.3	20,064	45	69,431	3.6

Number of serious discipline problems⁸
No problems	4,937	10	14,653	0.5	12,525	24	61,106	2.2	23,663	46	75,819	2.7
1 problem	2,114	15	6,163	0.7	4,761	33	23,713	2.7	8,539	59	36,854	4.2
2 problems	1,483	19	4,628	0.9	2,952	39	19,428	3.9	4,722	62	25,448	5.1
3 or more problems	1,857	29	7,197	1.4	3,359	52	27,020	5.3	4,435	68	40,392	7.9

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁹
0 to 6 percent	1,809	11	5,618	0.6	4,618	29	23,582	2.6	8,041	51	30,923	3.5
6 to 11 percent	2,511	14	7,284	0.8	4,757	27	22,902	2.4	8,577	49	33,594	3.5
11 to 21 percent	3,036	13	9,634	0.7	6,826	28	39,738	2.7	12,260	51	55,317	3.8
21 percent or more	3,036	13	10,105	0.7	7,396	32	45,045	3.3	12,480	54	58,678	4.3

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions¹⁰
No disruptions	8,924	12	25,452	0.6	20,620	27	107,503	2.5	37,629	50	151,773	3.6
Any disruptions	1,468	29	7,189	1.6	2,976	58	23,764	5.3	3,730	73	26,741	6.0

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	514	7	1,129	0.3	1,205	15	5,605	1.6	3,466	44	11,268	3.3
3–5 percent	4,268	10	11,284	0.5	10,545	24	49,419	2.0	21,992	49	77,020	3.1
6–10 percent	4,597	19	16,137	1.0	9,817	42	63,137	4.0	13,488	57	77,960	5.0
More than 10 percent	1,013	23	4,091	1.4	2,030	47	13,106	4.4	2,414	55	12,266	4.1
# Rounds to zero.
¹ Vandalism was defined for respondents as "the willful damage or destruction of school property including bombing, arson, graffiti, and other acts that cause property damage. Includes damage caused by computer hacking."
² Primary schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not higher than grade 3 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 8. Middle schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 4 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 9. High schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 9 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 12.
³ Respondents were asked, "How would you describe the crime level in the area(s) in which your students live?" Response options included "high level of crime," "moderate level of crime," "low level of crime," and "students come from areas with very different levels of crime."
⁴ These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
⁵ Student-to-teacher ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of students enrolled in the school by the total number of full-time-equivalent teachers and aides. The total number of full-time-equivalent teachers and aides is a combination of the full-time and part-time teachers and aides, including special education teachers and aides, with an adjustment to compensate for the part-time status.
⁶ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁷ Respondents were asked, "During the 2003–2004 school year, did you have any sworn law enforcement officers, security guards, or security personnel present at your school on a regular basis?"
⁸ Serious discipline problems include student racial tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, student acts of disrespect for teachers, gang activities, and cult or extremist group activities. If a respondent reported that any of these problems occurred daily or weekly in their school, each was counted once in the total number of serious discipline problems.
⁹ Transfers as a percentage of enrollment combines the number of students who were transferred to a school and the number of students who were transferred from a school divided by the total number of students enrolled in the school.
¹⁰ Schoolwide disruptions include actions that disrupted school activities such as death threats, bomb threats, and chemical, biological, or radiological threats. Respondents were instructed to exclude all fire alarms, including false alarms.
NOTE: "At school" was defined for respondents to include activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Reponses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.

Back

Download Excel

(43 KB)

Download SE Excel

(47 KB)