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Table 20.  Percentage distribution of public schools reporting selected percentages of students with a parent or guardian who attended an open house or back-to-school night or regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences, by selected school characteristics: School year 2005–06
  Percent of students with a parent or guardian who attended an open house or back-to-school night   Percent of students with a parent or guardian who attended regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences
School characteristic  0–25 percent   26–50 percent   51–75 percent   76–100 percent   School does not offer     0–25 percent   26–50 percent   51–75 percent   76–100 percent   School does not offer  
All public schools  5   15   29   49   3     7   15   24   53   2  
                                           
Level1                                           
Primary  1 ! 7   26   64   1 !   1 ! 7   20   71    
Middle  4   22   37   36   1 !   10   22   30   33   5  
High school  15   33   30   14   8     19   28   30   16   7  
Combined  13   26   26   26   9 !   16   24   28   31    
                                           
Enrollment size                                           
Less than 300  7   12   29   46   7     8   10   22   59    
300–499  3   13   28   55   1     3   15   22   59   1 !
500–999  3   14   30   51   1 !   6   14   25   52   2  
1,000 or more  8   31   29   30   2     16   23   29   24   7  
                                           
Urbanicity                                           
City  5   17   33   44       7   16   26   49   2  
Urban fringe  3   12   26   58   1     6   11   21   60   3  
Town  4 ! 17   31   42   5 !   7 ! 15   25   52   2 !
Rural  6   16   28   44   6     7   17   25   48   2  
                                           
Crime level where
    students live2
                                         
High  9 ! 27   28   35       13   16   26   45    
Moderate  6   19   33   40   2 !   8   16   32   41   2  
Low  3   12   28   54   3     5   14   21   58   3  
Mixed  9   15   29   45       10   16   26   46   2  
                                           
Percent minority
    enrollment3
                                         
Less than 5 percent  4   14   24   51   7     4   16   19   58   2 !
5 to 20 percent  3   13   23   58   3     5   11   21   60   3  
20 to 50 percent  5   13   31   49   2 !   7   13   23   55   2  
50 percent or more  6   19   33   41   1 !   9   17   29   44   2  
                                           
Percent of students
    eligible for free
    or reduced-price
    lunch
                                         
0–20 percent  2   8   22   64   3     4   9   16   67   4  
21–50 percent  5   16   26   50   4     6   15   23   53   3  
More than 50 percent  6   18   34   40   2 !   9   17   29   44   1 !
                                           
Percent of students
    below 15th per-
    centile on stan-
    dardized tests
                                         
0–5 percent  3   11   25   59   3     4   12   20   62   2  
6–15 percent  5   15   31   47   2     6   14   26   51   3  
More than 15 percent  7   22   31   37   3 !   11   18   27   42   2  
                                           
Percent of students
    likely to attend
    college
                                         
0–35 percent  7   22   33   37   2 !   11   18   27   44   1 !
36–60 percent  6   15   33   44   2     6   18   26   48   2  
More than 60 percent  3   11   23   59   4     5   10   20   62   3  
                                           
Percent of students
    who consider
    academic achieve-
    ment important
                                         
0–25 percent  14   27   27   29       21   16   37   25    
26–50 percent  7   19   37   32   4     8   20   26   43   2  
51–75 percent  4   17   31   46   3     6   18   24   50   2  
More than 75 percent  3   10   24   60   2 !   4   10   21   63   3  
                                           
Percent male enrollment                                           
0–44 percent  8 ! 15   32   44       9   18   19   53   1 !
45–55 percent  4   16   29   48   3     7   14   24   52   2  
More than 55 percent  5 ! 12   25   53   5 !   5 ! 14   24   55   2 !
                                           
Student-to-FTE ratio4                                          
Less than 12 students  4   15   29   47   4     7   15   24   52   2  
12–16 students  4   16   27   52   2     6   15   25   51   2  
More than 16 students  7   14   31   46   1 !   8   10   21   58   3  
                                           
Number of class-
    room changes5
                                         
0–3 changes  2 ! 9   27   59       2 ! 8   19   70   1 !
4–6 changes  5   15   28   50   2     7   14   24   53   2  
More than 6 changes  6   20   32   37   5     9   21   29   37   4  
                                           
Regular use of law
    enforcement6
                                         
Regular use  7   21   30   39   2     11   20   29   36   4  
No regular use  3   11   28   55   3     4   11   20   64   1  
                                           
Number of serious
    discipline pro-
    blems7
                                         
No problems  4   12   26   55   3     5   12   21   59   2  
1 problem  4   20   32   42   2 !   6   17   30   43   3  
2 problems  9 ! 19   40   30   2 !   12   19   25   42   2  
3 or more problems  10   29   33   23   5 !   16   23   32   27   3  
                                           
Transfers as a per-
    centage of enroll-
    ment8
                                         
0 to 6 percent  3 ! 13   25   53   6     6   13   22   56   3  
6 to 11 percent  4   12   28   55   1     5   12   20   61   2 !
11 to 21 percent  4   14   31   48   3 !   6   13   24   55   2  
21 percent or more  7   19   29   43   2     9   18   28   43   2  
                                           
Prevalence of school-
    wide disruptions9
                                         
No disruptions  4   15   29   49   3     6   14   24   54   2  
Any disruptions  9   20   29   41   1 !   14   20   26   38   2  
                                           
Percent of students
    absent on a
    daily basis
                                         
0–2 percent  1 ! 8   23   62   5 !     7 ! 23   69   1 !
3–5 percent  3   11   28   55   2     5   13   21   58   3  
6–10 percent  6   24   32   36   2     10   20   27   41   2  
More than 10 percent  14   18   32   32       13   12   32   42   1 !
                                           
Prevalence of
    violent incidents10 
                                         
No violent incidents  2 ! 4   23   66   5 !     8   15   76    
Any violent incidents  5   18   31   44   2     8   16   27   46   3  
! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is from 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimate’s value.
‡ Reporting standards not met. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value.
1 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 include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools.
2 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."
3 Responding schools that did not have race/ethnicity on the sampling frame (2 percent of schools) are excluded from the base.
4 Student-to-FTE 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.
5 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
6 Respondents were asked, "During the 2005–2006 school year, did you have any sworn law enforcement officers, security guards, or security personnel present at your school at least once a week?"
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 Violent incidents include rape or attempted 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: 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 (NCES), 2005–06 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2006.