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Table 12.  Percentage of public schools reporting that removals or transfers for at least the remainder of the school year, or suspensions or removals for less than the remainder of the school year, were allowable disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2007–08

      Suspension or removal for less
than the remainder of the school year
  Removal or transfer for at least the remainder of the school year   Out-of-school suspension or removal   In-school suspension
School characteristic  Removal with
no continuing
school services
for at least the
remainder of
the school year
Transfer
to
specialized
school1
Transfer
to
another
regular
school
Removal with
school-provided
tutoring/at-home
instruction for
at least the
remainder of
the school year
  No
curri-
culum/
services
provided
Curri-
culum/
services
provided
  No
curri-
culum/
services
provided
Curri-
culum/
services
provided
All public schools  43  64 35 55   55 74   17 73
                     
Level2                     
Primary  33  56 36 48   50 70   18 70
Middle  52  81 38 63   62 84   16 84
High school  63  80 33 67   62 82   14 73
Combined  59  55 25 62   61 67   16 75
                     
Enrollment size                     
Less than 300  45  53 29 53   56 67   20 66
300–499  41  57 35 54   52 74   19 76
500–999  42  69 36 55   55 76   14 75
1,000 or more  49  86 40 57   59 82   13 74
                     
Urbanicity                     
City  35  66 45 45   50 70   13 65
Suburb  39  67 44 54   52 75   17 73
Town  51  67 29 64   60 82   21 79
Rural  50  58 20 59   59 73   18 78
                     
Crime level where students live3                     
High  33  68 50 42   50 77   14 61
Moderate  40  70 35 47   54 74   14 69
Low  46  61 32 60   56 74   20 77
Mixed  42  65 37 50   54 71   10 73
                     
Percent of combined Black/African
    American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian,
    Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific
    Islander, and American Indian/
    Alaska Native students
                   
Less than 5 percent  54  64 28 69   63 79   21 83
5 to less than 20 percent  45  61 31 64   54 76   18 76
20 to less than 50 percent  43  68 38 54   53 74   14 75
50 percent or more  36  63 38 40   52 70   16 66
                     
Percent of students eligible for
   free or reduced-price lunch
                   
0–20 percent  44  66 41 59   56 77   19 76
21–50 percent  47  63 31 61   54 74   18 78
More than 50 percent  39  64 35 47   55 72   15 68
                     
Percent of students below
   15th percentile on
   standardized tests
                   
0–5 percent  38  60 30 54   51 73   15 77
6–15 percent  46  66 35 55   54 73   16 72
More than 15 percent  46  65 42 54   61 77   20 70
                     
Percent of students likely
   to attend college
                   
0–35 percent  48  64 34 54   59 73   17 71
36–60 percent  47  70 34 58   57 76   16 77
More than 60 percent  39  60 36 54   51 73   17 73
                     
Percent of students who
   consider academic
   achievement important
                   
0–25 percent  46  59 32 46   65 74   15 72
26–50 percent  53  69 34 56   59 75   18 75
51–75 percent  45  67 34 59   56 77   16 76
More than 75 percent  38  60 36 53   51 71   17 72
                     
Percent male enrollment                     
0–44 percent  36  50 36 36   51 68   15 61
45–55 percent  44  66 35 57   55 75   17 75
More than 55 percent  42  63 32 55   58 73   20 73
                     
Student-to-FTE ratio4                     
Less than 12 students  42  60 29 54   55 73   16 74
12–16 students  44  69 38 56   54 74   18 74
More than 16 students  47  66 46 52   54 78   17 70
                     
Number of classroom changes5                     
0–3 changes  32  54 33 43   49 68   17 64
4–6 changes  44  67 38 55   56 75   17 76
More than 6 changes  52  69 32 64   58 78   16 79
                     
Regular use of law enforcement6                     
Regular use  46  72 38 58   56 78   15 74
No regular use  41  57 32 52   53 71   18 73
                     
Number of serious
   discipline problems7 
                   
No problems  39  58 31 50   50 70   15 72
1 problem  53  74 39 65   65 82   19 79
2 problems  51  81 44 72   64 87   23 79
3 or more problems  45  76 50 56   64 80   24 71
                     
Transfers as a percentage
   of enrollment8 
                   
Less than 6 percent  39  61 33 53   47 73   18 73
6 to less than 11 percent  46  65 35 58   60 79   18 77
11 to less than 21 percent  48  65 33 60   57 75   19 77
21 percent or more  38  64 38 47   55 70   13 67
                     
Prevalence of schoolwide
   disruptions9 
                   
No disruptions  43  63 34 54   54 73   17 73
Any disruptions  50  79 37 64   63 87   15 75
                     
Percent of students
   absent on a daily basis 
                   
0–2 percent  35  58 30 52   47 75   13 75
3–5 percent  43  63 36 54   56 71   19 76
6–10 percent  44  66 33 57   54 78   14 71
More than 10 percent  54  70 41 54   57 77   15 61
                     
Prevalence of violent incidents10                     
No violent incidents  32  47 27 41   42 59   19 62
Any violent incidents  47  69 37 59   59 79   16 77
1 Specialized school was defined for respondents as "a school that is specifically for students who were referred for disciplinary reasons, although the school may also have students who were referred for other reasons. The school may be at the same location as your school."
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. Combined schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools.
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 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 2007–08 school year, did you have any security guards, security personnel, or sworn law enforcement officers present at your school at least once a week?"
7 Serious discipline problems include student racial/ethnic tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, student acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal abuse, 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: Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2007–08 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2008.