Table 17. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for possession of a firearm/explosive device in public middle schools, by selected school characteristics: 1999

School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS)

Publications & Products|SSOCS & SCS Table Library|Staff

Back

Download Excel

(77 KB)

Download SE Excel

(100 KB)

Table 17. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for possession of a firearm/explosive device in public middle schools, by selected school characteristics: 1999–2000

School characteristic	Total offenses		Removals		Transfers to specialized schools¹		Out-of-school suspensions		Other		No disciplinary action
School characteristic	Number	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All public middle schools	2,265	327	12	395	15	1,290	49	550	21	‡	‡

Enrollment size
Less than 300	155	‡	‡	#	#	#	#	‡	‡	‡	‡
300–499	521	60	12	‡	‡	162	31	239	46	‡	‡
500–999	1,566	224	14	255	16	894	57	192	12	#	#
1,000 or more	384	#	#	101	26	233	61	50	13	#	#

Urbanicity
City	1,099	137	12	295	27	611	56	‡	‡	‡	‡
Urban fringe	960	81	8	77	8	612	64	190	20	#	#
Town	141	51	36	#	#	67	47	‡	‡	#	#
Rural	425	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#	301	71	‡	‡

Crime level where students live²
High	196	64	33	‡	‡	76	39	‡	‡	#	#
Moderate	838	133	16	104	12	561	67	‡	‡	#	#
Low	885	112	13	53	6	285	32	372	42	‡	‡
Mixed	706	‡	‡	202	29	368	52	119	17	#	#

Percent minority enrollment²
0–5 percent	284	84	29	#	#	109	38	‡	‡	#	#
6–20 percent	500	‡	‡	60	12	159	32	202	40	‡	‡
21–50 percent	703	56	8	66	9	399	57	182	26	#	#
More than 50 percent	1,107	156	14	269	24	623	56	59	5	#	#

Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	334	‡	‡	‡	‡	151	45	150	45	#	#
21–50 percent	1,597	184	12	153	10	850	53	347	22	‡	‡
More than 50 percent	695	126	18	227	33	289	42	53	8	#	#

Percent of students below 15^th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	636	57	9	‡	‡	210	33	312	49	‡	‡
6–15 percent	556	98	18	77	14	282	51	57	10	‡	‡
More than 15 percent	1,434	173	12	281	20	799	56	181	13	#	#

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	792	‡	‡	253	32	356	45	145	18	#	#
36–60 percent	1,274	190	15	‡	‡	788	62	210	17	‡	‡
More than 60 percent	559	99	18	76	14	146	26	195	35	‡	‡

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	209	‡	‡	#	#	‡	‡	106	51	#	#
26–50 percent	769	83	11	179	23	490	64	‡	‡	#	#
51–75 percent	1,265	146	12	139	11	622	49	315	25	‡	‡
More than 75 percent	382	60	16	76	20	113	30	113	29	‡	‡

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	368	‡	‡	#	#	263	71	‡	‡	#	#
45–55 percent	2,091	299	14	309	15	966	46	454	22	‡	‡
More than 55 percent	167	#	#	86	52	‡	‡	‡	‡	#	#

Student/teacher ratio²,³
Less than 12	690	66	10	115	17	166	24	281	41	‡	‡
12–16	986	121	12	118	12	549	56	198	20	#	#
More than 16	808	126	16	116	14	517	64	49	6	#	#

Number of classroom changes²
0–3 changes	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†
4–6 changes	1,069	184	17	205	19	562	53	118	11	#	#
More than 6 changes	1,394	143	10	167	12	689	49	332	24	‡	‡

Use of paid law enforcement⁴
Regular use	2,277	327	14	395	17	1,122	49	413	18	‡	‡
No regular use	348	#	#	#	#	168	48	138	40	‡	‡

Number of serious discipline problems⁵
No problems	515	‡	‡	94	18	84	16	320	62	#	#
1 problem	378	107	28	‡	‡	154	41	54	14	#	#
2 problems	871	113	13	85	10	532	61	77	9	‡	‡
3 or more problems	862	90	10	153	18	519	60	100	12	#	#

Transfers as percentage of enrollment²,⁶
0 to 6 percent	487	88	18	122	25	113	23	164	34	#	#
6 to 11 percent	723	110	15	73	10	469	65	52	7	‡	‡
11 to 21 percent	434	59	14	122	28	168	39	‡	‡	‡	‡
21 percent or more	848	56	7	‡	‡	473	56	276	33	#	#

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions²,⁷
No disruptions	1,916	237	12	313	16	914	48	388	20	‡	‡
Any disruptions	527	76	14	82	16	336	64	‡	‡	#	#

Percent of students absent without excuses
None	279	‡	‡	#	#	103	37	122	44	‡	‡
1–2 percent	731	73	10	60	8	304	42	251	34	‡	‡
3–5 percent	949	154	16	192	20	539	57	65	7	#	#
6–10 percent	383	‡	‡	81	21	123	32	113	29	#	#
More than 10 percent	283	#	#	‡	‡	221	78	#	#	#	#

Prevalence of violent incidents²,⁸
No violent incidents	#	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†	#	†
Any violent incidents	2,625	327	12	395	15	1,290	49	550	21	‡	‡
# Rounds to zero.
† Not applicable
‡ Reporting standards not met.
¹ Specialized school was defined for respondents as, "a school that is specifically for students who were referred for disciplinary reasons. The school may also have students who were referred for other reasons. The school may be at the same location as your school."
² Some schools are omitted from these categories because of missing data on their school characteristics. For this reason, the detailed results do not sum to the totals. See appendix J of 2000 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) Detailed Data Documentation (NCES 2004-307) for further information.
³ Student/teacher ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of students enrolled in the school by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. The total number of full-time equivalent teachers is a combination of the full-time and part-time teachers, including special education teachers, with an adjustment to compensate for the part-time status.
⁴ Schools were included as regularly using paid law enforcement if they reported the use of paid law enforcement during any of the following times: at any time during school hours, while students were arriving or leaving, at selected school activities (e.g., athletic and social events, open houses, science fairs), or at any other time that the respondent specified.
⁵ Serious discipline problems is a count of discipline problems reported by principals. These discipline problems include student racial tensions, student bullying, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, and student acts of disrespect for teachers. If a principal 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. Undesirable gang activities and undesirable cult or extremist group activities were also counted once as a problem if the principal reported that these events occurred at all in their school.
⁶ 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.
⁷ Schoolwide disruptions include actions that disrupted school activities such as bomb threats or anthrax threats. Respondents were instructed to exclude all fire alarms, including false alarms.
⁸ 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 totals because of rounding. "At school/at your school" was defined for respondents as including activities happening in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that are holding school-sponsored events or activities. Respondents were instructed to, unless the survey specified otherwise, only respond for those times that were during normal school hours or when school activities/events were in session. "Firearm/explosive device" was defined for respondents as, "any weapon that is designed to (or may readily be converted to) expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. This includes guns, bombs, grenades, mines, rockets, missiles, pipe bombs, or similar devices designed to explode and capable of causing bodily harm or property damage." A gang was defined for respondents as, "an ongoing loosely organized association of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, that has a common name, signs, symbols or colors, whose members engage, either individually or collectively, in violent or other forms of illegal behavior." 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.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2000.

Back

Download Excel

(77 KB)

Download SE Excel

(100 KB)