Table 6. Number and percentage of public middle schools reporting at least one incident of the distribution, possession, or use of illegal drugs or alcohol at school, or of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2005

School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS)

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Table 6. Number and percentage of public middle schools reporting at least one incident of the distribution, possession, or use of illegal drugs or alcohol at school, or of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2005–06

	Distribution, possession, or use of illegal drugs								Distribution, possession, or use of alcohol							Vandalism¹
School characteristic	Num- ber of schools		Per- cent of schools		Num- ber of incidents		Rate per 1,000 students		Num- ber of schools		Per- cent of schools	Num- ber of incidents		Rate per 1,000 students		Num- ber of schools	Per- cent of schools	Num- ber of incidents		Rate per 1,000 students
All public schools	7,590		49		26,750		3		3,300		21	6,650		1		10,460	67	57,510		6

Enrollment size
Less than 300	830		29		3,430	!	4	!	250	!	9	‡		1	!	1,600	56	6,480		8
300–499	1,030		33		2,450		2		510		16	790		1		1,850	59	7,540		6
500–999	4,160		58		13,380		3		1,770		25	3,510		1		5,050	70	27,750		5
1,000 or more	1,560		65		7,500		3		770		32	1,680		1		1,960	82	15,750		5

Urbanicity
City	2,230		62		9,730		3		890		25	1,910		1		2,730	76	19,930		7
Urban fringe	2,740		48		9,610		2		1,330		23	2,780		1		4,020	70	21,660		5
Town	850		43		2,340		2		370		19	630		1		1,140	58	4,470		4
Rural	1,770		42		5,070		3		710		17	1,330		1		2,570	61	11,450		6

Crime level where students live²
High	670		57		2,570		3		240		21	460	!	1		880	74	6,900		9
Moderate	1,830		61		8,520		4		840		28	1,870		1		2,260	75	15,050		7
Low	3,630		42		10,130		2		1,540		18	3,070		1		5,440	62	24,880		5
Mixed	1,450		55		5,530		3		660		25	1,250		1		1,880	71	10,680		6

Percent minority enrollment³
Less than 5 percent	890		33		2,500		2		420		15	840		1		1,690	62	6,470		5
5 to less than 20 percent	1,730		43		5,070		2		690		17	1,440		1		2,630	65	13,760		5
20 to less than 50 percent	2,030		55		6,840		3		950		25	1,770		1		2,570	69	13,010		5
50 percent or more	2,710		58		11,540		3		1,160		25	2,480		1		3,280	71	23,090		7

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	1,320		35		3,320		1		640		17	1,170		#		2,360	62	10,530		4
21–50 percent	3,020		53		11,070		3		1,440		25	3,010		1		4,000	70	20,900		5
More than 50 percent	3,250		53		12,360		3		1,210		20	2,460		1		4,100	67	26,070		7

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	1,630		35		4,300		1		820		18	1,480		#		2,880	62	13,640		5
6–15 percent	3,330		51		12,020		3		1,310		20	2,700		1		4,460	69	23,000		6
More than 15 percent	2,640		60		10,430		3		1,170		27	2,460		1		3,120	71	20,870		7

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	2,280		53		8,780		3		1,050		24	2,200		1		2,950	68	20,250		8
36–60 percent	3,000		60		11,040		3		1,090		22	2,100		1		3,480	69	19,410		6
More than 60 percent	2,310		37		6,930		2		1,160		19	2,350		1		4,030	65	17,860		4

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important																		16,440
0–25 percent	880		62		3,890	!	4		310		22	820	!	1	!	970	68	20,200		6
26–50 percent	2,090		54		7,130		3		920		24	1,620		1		2,730	71	15,550		7
51–75 percent	2,340		50		8,280		3		1,040		22	2,060		1		3,090	66			7
More than 75 percent	2,270		41		7,450		2		1,030		18	2,140		1		3,670	66			4

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	370		39		‡		5	!	190		21	‡		1	!	540	58	3,300		6
45–55 percent	6,760		50		22,340		2		2,920		22	5,650		1		9,060	68	49,560		6
More than 55 percent	470		38		2,010		3		180		15	320	!	1	!	860	70	4,660		7

Student-to-FTE ratio⁴
Less than 12 students	3,370		45		9,930		2		1,190		16	2,180		1		4,770	64	21,140		5
12–16 students	3,060		52		12,210		3		1,550		26	3,390		1		4,130	70	24,670		6
More than 16 students	1,160		53		4,610		2		560		25	1,080		1		1,560	71	11,700		6

Number of classroom changes⁵
0–3 changes	130	!	22	!	410	!	1	!	‡		‡	‡		‡		380	61	3,020	!	10	!
4–6 changes	2,970		51		10,900		3		1,370		23	2,950		1		4,000	69	23,040		6
More than 6 changes	4,490		49		15,450		3		1,890		21	3,620		1		6,090	67	31,440		5

Regular use of law enforcement⁶
Regular use	5,670		57		21,850		3		2,440		25	5,120		1		6,990	71	39,830		5
No regular use	1,920		34		4,900		2		850		15	1,520		1		3,470	62	17,680		6

Number of serious discipline problems⁷
No problems	2,870		40		10,110		2		1,070		15	2,290		1		4,020	57	18,790		4
1 problem	1,940		48		5,740		2		870		22	1,510		1		2,760	69	15,380		6
2 problems	1,070		57		4,460		3		520		28	1,160		1		1,580	83	9,480		7
3 or more problems	1,710		67		6,440		3		840		33	1,680		1		2,100	83	13,870		7

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁸
Less than 6 percent	1,070		36		4,290	!	2		600		20	1,250		1		1,950	65	8,780		4
6 to less than 11 percent	1,270		43		3,380		2		460		16	1,110		1		1,840	62	8,930		5
11 to less than 21 percent	2,440		49		7,550		2		1,060		21	1,890		1		3,320	67	20,240		6
21 percent or more	2,820		61		11,540		4		1,170		25	2,390		1		3,350	72	19,550		6

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁹
No disruptions	6,690		47		23,900		3		2,890		20	5,800		1		9,320	66	51,370		6
Any disruptions	900		63		2,850		3		410		29	850		1		1,140	80	6,140		6

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	260		30		750		1		190		21	280		1		550	63	2,000		4
3–5 percent	4,080		47		12,930		2		1,590		19	3,190		1		5,580	65	28,410		5
6–10 percent	2,760		52		9,880		3		1,330		25	2,500		1		3,830	72	23,480		7
More than 10 percent	480		64		3,190	!	5	!	190	!	25	‡		1	!	500	66	3,630		6
# Rounds to zero.
! 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 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. This 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 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.
NOTE: "At school" was defined for respondents to include activities happening 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. Data regarding illegal drugs and alcohol are categorized slightly differently in 2006 than they were in previous collections in the SSOCS series; therefore, direct comparisons between the years should not be made. Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school. 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 (NCES), 2005–06 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2006.

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