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Table 6.  Number and percentage of public middle schools reporting distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, and incidents of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


  Distribution of illegal drugs   Possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs   Vandalism1
School characteristic Number of schools Percent of schools Number of incidents Rate per 1,000 students   Number of schools Percent of schools  Number of incidents Rate per 1,000 students   Number of schools Percent of schools  Number of incidents Rate per 1,000 students
All public schools  3,860 27 8,128 0.8   8,076 56 30,154 3.1   9,428 65 55,199 5.6
                             
Enrollment size                             
Less than 300  116 5 116 0.2   541 25 753 1.4   1,158 54 2,787 5.1
300–499  615 20 953 0.7   1,532 49 4,056 3.0   1,686 54 6,836 5.1
500–999  2,164 31 4,431 0.9   4,305 61 15,055 2.9   4,898 69 30,378 5.9
1,000 or more  964 44 2,628 0.9   1,698 78 10,290 3.7   1,687 78 15,198 5.4
                             
Urbanicity                             
City  1,205 36 3,258 1.2   2,394 71 11,214 4.1   2,530 75 20,466 7.5
Urban fringe  1,429 27 2,678 0.7   2,967 55 11,095 2.7   3,602 67 20,512 5.0
Town  481 21 877 0.8   1,132 50 3,324 2.9   1,282 57 5,497 4.8
Rural  745 22 1,315 0.7   1,583 46 4,520 2.5   2,014 58 8,725 4.8
                             
Crime level where students live2                            
High  342 32 854 1.0   788 74 4,580 5.3   721 68 8,425 9.7
Moderate  998 31 2,485 1.1   1,987 62 9,339 4.1   2,266 70 17,357 7.6
Low  1,837 23 3,302 0.7   3,918 49 12,053 2.4   4,879 61 21,049 4.2
Mixed  682 32 1,487 0.9   1,383 64 4,182 2.6   1,562 72 8,369 5.2
                             
Percent minority enrollment3                            
Less than 5 percent  496 18 768 0.6   1,071 39 2,678 1.9   1,494 54 5,735 4.1
5 to 20 percent  1,042 28 1,817 0.7   1,988 54 6,303 2.6   2,416 66 11,148 4.6
20 to 50 percent  951 29 2,351 1.0   1,938 58 6,511 2.7   2,297 69 11,358 4.8
50 percent or more  1,268 29 2,928 0.9   2,915 66 14,267 4.2   3,098 70 26,457 7.8
                             
Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch                             
0–20 percent  760 22 1,394 0.5   1,666 49 5,287 2.1   2,175 64 9,630 3.7
21–50 percent  1,437 26 2,934 0.9   2,970 54 10,332 3.0   3,515 64 17,265 5.0
More than 50 percent  1,663 29 3,799 1.0   3,440 61 14,534 3.8   3,737 66 28,305 7.5
                             
Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests                             
0–5 percent  542 16 872 0.4   1,403 42 4,033 1.8   2,149 65 9,052 4.1
6–15 percent  1,810 28 3,726 0.9   3,520 55 13,543 3.2   4,276 67 23,092 5.4
More than 15 percent  1,508 32 3,529 1.1   3,153 66 12,577 3.8   3,003 63 23,056 7.0
                             
Percent of students likely to attend college                             
0–35 percent  1,572 34 3,876 1.3   2,986 64 13,348 4.3   2,987 64 24,377 7.9
36–60 percent  1,222 28 2,426 0.8   2,591 59 8,278 2.8   2,921 66 15,056 5.0
More than 60 percent  1,066 20 1,825 0.5   2,500 46 8,528 2.3   3,520 65 15,766 4.2
                             
Percent of students who consider academic achievement important                             
0–25 percent  585 33 1,267 1.1   1,033 58 4,906 4.4   1,017 58 9,659 8.8
26–50 percent  1,056 32 2,449 1.1   2,094 64 7,772 3.6   2,090 64 13,968 6.5
51–75 percent  1,297 27 2,711 0.8   2,761 58 9,265 2.9   3,429 72 18,686 5.8
More than 75 percent  921 20 1,701 0.5   2,189 47 8,212 2.5   2,891 62 12,887 3.9
                             
Percent male enrollment                             
0–44 percent  205 24 803 1.6   504 59 1,831 3.6   515 60 3,716 7.4
45–55 percent  3,333 26 6,798 0.8   7,001 56 25,731 3.0   8,238 65 47,716 5.5
More than 55 percent  322 31 527 0.8   571 55 2,592 4.1   675 64 3,768 5.9
                             
Student-to-teacher ratio4                             
Less than 12 students  1,278 21 2,432 0.7   2,910 48 8,742 2.6   3,700 60 18,324 5.4
12–16 students  1,561 28 3,513 0.9   3,364 60 12,507 3.2   3,858 68 22,427 5.7
More than 16 students  1,021 37 2,182 0.9   1,802 66 8,905 3.6   1,871 69 14,448 5.9
                             
Number of classroom changes5                             
0–3 changes  90 15 103 0.3   210 35 658 2.0   315 52 1,382 4.2
4–6 changes  1,421 25 3,212 0.8   2,945 52 11,702 3.0   3,390 60 22,480 5.7
More than 6 changes  2,349 28 4,813 0.9   4,921 60 17,794 3.2   5,723 69 31,338 5.7
                             
Regular use of law enforcement6                            
Regular use  2,896 31 6,438 0.9   5,863 63 23,804 3.4   6,391 68 38,109 5.5
No regular use  963 19 1,690 0.6   2,214 43 6,349 2.2   3,037 59 17,091 6.0
                             
Number of serious discipline problems7                            
No problems  1,328 19 2,738 0.7   3,101 45 9,248 2.2   3,643 53 13,819 3.3
1 problem  860 29 1,433 0.7   1,840 61 5,743 2.7   2,195 73 9,567 4.6
2 problems  765 34 1,997 1.2   1,426 63 5,606 3.4   1,720 75 11,198 6.8
3 or more problems  907 38 1,959 1.0   1,709 71 9,556 5.0   1,870 78 20,616 10.8
                             
Transfers as a percentage of enrollment8                             
0 to 6 percent  688 24 1,761 0.9   1,314 46 5,066 2.5   1,774 62 8,141 4.1
6 to 11 percent  759 23 1,385 0.7   1,645 51 5,100 2.5   2,087 65 10,451 5.2
11 to 21 percent  1,195 26 2,298 0.8   2,621 57 7,730 2.6   2,966 65 19,242 6.5
21 percent or more  1,218 32 2,684 1.0   2,496 65 12,259 4.4   2,601 68 17,365 6.2
                             
Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions9                             
No disruptions  3,479 27 7,241 0.8   7,048 54 25,852 3.0   8,415 65 46,721 5.4
Any disruptions  381 25 887 0.7   1,029 68 4,302 3.6   1,013 67 8,478 7.1
                             
Percent of students absent on a daily basis                             
0–2 percent  207 18 407 0.6   466 41 1,206 1.7   710 62 2,273 3.2
3–5 percent  1,832 23 3,486 0.7   4,060 52 14,286 2.7   4,924 63 24,575 4.7
6–10 percent  1,626 33 3,933 1.1   3,157 64 13,306 3.9   3,477 71 26,869 7.8
More than 10 percent  195 30 302 0.7   393 60 1,355 3.2   317 49 1,482 3.5
1 Vandalism was defined for respondents as "the willful damage or destruction of school property including bombing, arson, graffiti, and other acts that cause property damage. Includes damage caused by computer hacking."
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 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
4 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.
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 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?"
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.
NOTE: "At school" was defined for respondents to include activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities. Detail may not sum to totals 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.

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