Table 26. Mean number of practices for monitoring access to campus used per school, and the percentage of public schools that monitored access to campus in specified ways, 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

(38 KB)

Table 26. Mean number of practices for monitoring access to campus used per school, and the percentage of public schools that monitored access to campus in specified ways, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04

School characteristic		Percentage of schools that monitored access to campus in specified ways
School characteristic	Mean number of practices for monitoring access to campus used per school¹	Require visitors to sign or check in	Control access to school buildings during school hours²	Control access to school grounds during school hours³	Require students to pass through metal detectors each day	Require visitors to pass through metal detectors	Perform one or more random metal detector checks on students	Close the campus for most students during lunch
All public schools	2.9	98	83	36	1	1	6	66

Level⁴
Primary	2.8	98	84	37	#	#	3	58
Middle	3.2	100	87	36	2	2	10	84
High school	3.1	98	79	38	4	3	13	73
Combined	2.8	97	73	29	2	1	6	74

Enrollment size
Less than 300	2.7	94	78	30	#	#	3	63
300–499	2.9	100	86	34	1	#	4	64
500–999	3.0	99	84	37	1	1	6	66
1,000 or more	3.3	100	83	50	3	3	14	75

Urbanicity
City	3.2	100	86	47	3	3	12	65
Urban fringe	2.9	99	89	38	#	#	3	63
Town	2.8	99	79	30	1	#	6	68
Rural	2.7	96	75	28	#	#	3	69

Crime level where students live⁵
High	3.4	100	92	56	4	6	19	65
Moderate	3.1	100	85	43	3	2	9	73
Low	2.8	97	81	32	#	#	3	64
Mixed	2.9	99	81	34	1	1	7	63

Percent minority enrollment⁶
Less than 5 percent	2.7	96	82	22	#	#	1	69
5 to 20 percent	2.8	98	85	30	1	#	2	66
20 to 50 percent	2.9	98	83	39	#	#	5	66
50 percent or more	3.1	100	82	49	3	3	12	65

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	2.8	97	89	31	#	#	2	64
21–50 percent	2.8	98	82	29	1	#	4	69
More than 50 percent	3.0	99	81	45	2	2	9	65

Percent of students below 15^th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	2.9	97	85	35	1	1	4	64
6–15 percent	2.8	99	83	33	1	1	4	65
More than 15 percent	3.0	99	81	42	2	1	9	70

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	2.9	99	79	38	1	2	7	67
36–60 percent	2.9	98	83	34	1	1	7	68
More than 60 percent	2.9	98	86	36	1	1	3	63

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	2.8	97	78	29	1	1	10	67
26–50 percent	2.9	98	80	35	1	1	6	66
51–75 percent	2.9	98	80	37	1	1	5	67
More than 75 percent	3.0	99	88	38	1	1	5	65

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	2.9	96	92	38	2	3	8	54
45–55 percent	2.9	99	83	35	1	1	5	68
More than 55 percent	2.8	96	80	41	#	1	6	59

Student-to-teacher ratio⁷
Less than 12 students	2.8	97	80	33	1	1	5	62
12–16 students	3.0	100	87	36	1	1	6	70
More than 16 students	3.0	99	81	45	1	1	5	68

Number of classroom changes⁸
0–3 changes	2.8	99	85	41	#	#	2	56
4–6 changes	2.9	98	82	35	1	1	6	66
More than 6 changes	3.0	98	82	34	2	2	7	76

Regular use of law enforcement⁹
Regular use	3.1	99	84	41	2	2	10	70
No regular use	2.8	97	82	32	#	#	2	62

Number of serious discipline problems¹⁰
No problems	2.9	98	83	37	1	1	4	63
1 problem	2.9	99	82	33	1	#	6	68
2 problems	3.1	100	84	40	2	3	8	74
3 or more problems	3.0	98	79	35	2	1	10	75

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment¹¹
0 to 6 percent	2.9	96	82	38	2	1	5	66
6 to 11 percent	2.9	99	83	32	1	1	5	69
11 to 21 percent	2.9	99	87	37	1	1	5	63
21 percent or more	2.9	99	79	37	1	1	7	67

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions¹²
No disruptions	2.9	98	83	36	1	1	5	66
Any disruptions	3.2	100	83	44	3	4	15	73

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	2.9	93	85	38	1	1	1	67
3–5 percent	2.9	99	83	35	1	#	4	64
6–10 percent	3.0	98	82	37	1	1	8	70
More than 10 percent	3.1	98	80	42	6	4	16	63

Prevalence of violent incidents¹³
No violent incidents	2.7	95	83	35	#	#	2	53
Any violent incidents	3.0	99	83	37	1	1	6	69
# Rounds to zero.
¹ Data represent the mean number of "yes" responses to the practices listed.
² Examples of controlled access to school buildings provided to respondents were locked or monitored doors.
³ Examples of controlled access to school grounds provided to respondents were locked or monitored gates.
⁴ 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. Combined schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools.
⁵ 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."
⁶ These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
⁷ 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.
⁸ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁹ 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?"
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ 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.
¹² 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.
¹³ Violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
NOTE: 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

(38 KB)