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Table 20.  Percentage distribution of public primary schools reporting selected percentages of parents or guardians that attended an open house or back-to-school night or regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


  Percent of students with a parent or guardian   Percent of students with a parent or guardian
School characteristic 0–25 percent of students 26–50 percent of students 51–75 percent of students 76–100 percent of students School does not offer   0–25 percent of students 26–50 percent of students 51–75 percent of students 76–100 percent of students School does not offer
All public schools 2 10 29 57 2   2 11 20 66 2
                       
Enrollment size                       
Less than 300  3 10 24 59 4   1 8 15 75 2
300–499  1 8 30 59 1   2 13 19 64 2
500–999  2 12 31 54 #   3 10 24 61 1
1,000 or more  3 11 42 44 #   3 18 16 63 #
                       
Urbanicity                       
City  2 12 43 41 1   5 11 27 57 #
Urban fringe  2 8 22 68 #   2 9 19 69 2
Town  2 12 30 57 #   2 15 13 69 1
Rural  2 12 24 58 4   # 11 17 69 3
                       
Crime level where students live1                       
High  2 33 33 27 5   6 30 29 32 3
Moderate  5 13 48 33 #   5 12 33 49 2
Low  1 7 21 69 2   1 7 14 76 2
Mixed  2 10 35 52 #   3 14 22 61 #
                       
Percent minority enrollment2                       
Less than 5 percent  2 6 23 65 4   1 12 11 74 3
5 to 20 percent  # 5 15 79 #   # 6 13 80 1
20 to 50 percent  3 6 29 59 3   1 7 22 68 3
50 percent or more  3 18 41 37 1   6 14 28 51 #
                       
Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch                       
0–20 percent  1 # 11 85 3   # 2 11 85 2
21–50 percent  2 7 24 65 1   1 8 16 75 #
More than 50 percent  3 18 42 36 1   4 18 27 49 2
                       
Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests                       
0–5 percent  2 4 20 72 2   1 7 12 79 1
6–15 percent  2 9 28 60 1   1 9 20 68 2
More than 15 percent  3 21 41 33 2   6 18 29 46 1
                       
Percent of students likely to attend college                       
0–35 percent  3 20 34 40 2   5 17 24 53 2
36–60 percent  2 11 35 52 1   2 10 21 65 2
More than 60 percent  2 2 21 75 1   # 6 15 77 1
                       
Percent of students who consider academic achievement important                       
0–25 percent  8 22 33 31 5   6 23 21 45 4
26–50 percent  2 17 39 40 2   4 13 27 53 2
51–75 percent  2 8 33 55 2   2 12 19 65 2
More than 75 percent  1 6 21 71 1   1 6 16 76 #
                       
Percent male enrollment                       
0–44 percent  5 13 23 58 #   # 15 25 60 #
45–55 percent  2 10 31 57 1   2 10 19 67 1
More than 55 percent  2 14 23 56 5   3 13 22 59 3
                       
Student-to-teacher ratio3                       
Less than 12 students  3 13 27 55 2   2 14 21 60 3
12–16 students  2 9 31 57 1   3 9 21 67 #
More than 16 students  # 6 30 62 2   2 8 14 75 1
                       
Number of classroom changes4                       
0–3 changes  2 7 35 56 1   2 9 22 64 2
4–6 changes  3 13 25 58 2   2 12 17 67 1
More than 6 changes  2 11 28 56 3   3 10 23 63 1
                       
Regular use of law enforcement5                       
Regular use  2 11 31 54 3   3 14 19 62 2
No regular use  2 10 28 58 1   2 9 20 67 1
                       
Number of serious discipline problems6                       
No problems  2 8 26 63 2   1 10 19 69 1
1 problem  1 10 42 46 1   4 10 23 60 2
2 problems  7 18 32 40 3   5 14 22 57 2
3 or more problems  3 31 27 35 5   9 20 19 47 5
                       
Transfers as a percentage of enrollment7                       
0 to 6 percent  1 7 18 70 3   3 7 11 79 1
6 to 11 percent  1 11 21 66 1   # 12 17 71 #
11 to 21 percent  2 7 31 60 #   2 8 20 67 2
21 percent or more  4 15 39 40 2   4 15 26 53 2
                       
Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions8                       
No disruptions  2 11 29 57 2   2 11 20 66 1
Any disruptions  # 8 44 43 5   12 18 23 43 5
                       
Percent of students absent on a daily basis                       
0–2 percent  2 5 13 73 7   1 4 10 80 4
3–5 percent  1 9 28 60 1   # 10 21 67 1
6–10 percent  5 17 38 39 2   8 17 21 52 2
More than 10 percent  # 4 36 60 #   4 # 14 79 3
                       
Prevalence of violent incidents9                       
No violent incidents  1 7 23 66 3   1 8 16 73 2
Any violent incidents  2 12 31 54 1   3 12 21 63 1
# Rounds to zero.
1 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."
2 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
3 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.
4 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
5 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?"
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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: Detail may not sum to 100 percent because of rounding. Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.