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Table 12.  Percentage of public high schools reporting that removals or transfers for at least the remainder of the school year or suspensions for less than the remainder of the school year were allowable disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


School characteristic     Suspension 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
  In-school
suspension
Removal with no
continuing
school services
Transfer to
specialized
school1
Transfer to
another regular
school
Removal with
tutoring or at-home
instruction
  No curriculum
services
provided
Curriculum
services
provided
  No curriculum
services
provided
Curriculum
services
provided
All public schools  70 82 37 74   85 79   14 72
                     
Enrollment size                     
Less than 300  71 63 35 61   72 65   19 69
300–499  76 76 23 76   80 76   10 74
500–999  74 85 27 83   90 81   14 72
1,000 or more  66 88 47 72   88 84   14 72
                     
Urbanicity                     
City  64 83 55 64   81 82   16 71
Urban fringe  65 86 39 71   85 81   13 69
Town  74 77 20 78   89 78   14 73
Rural  77 80 29 81   84 76   15 74
                     
Crime level where
students live2 
                   
High  69 86 60 65   85 75   19 69
Moderate  74 88 43 73   89 77   15 67
Low  69 81 32 76   83 80   16 75
Mixed  69 79 40 66   84 81   7 65
                     
Percent minority
enrollment3 
                   
Less than 5 percent  74 75 27 80   85 81   15 75
5 to 20 percent  69 79 29 84   86 82   12 70
20 to 50 percent  73 86 41 70   88 80   15 72
50 percent or more  64 87 50 61   81 74   15 69
                     
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 
                   
0–20 percent  70 84 39 78   86 84   14 72
21–50 percent  71 80 32 77   86 80   16 73
More than 50 percent  70 83 41 61   80 71   13 69
                     
Percent of students
below 15th percentile
on standardized tests 
                   
0–5 percent  70 80 38 73   83 81   14 68
6–15 percent  70 83 32 74   85 77   14 77
More than 15 percent  70 83 43 73   86 80   16 66
                     
Percent of students likely
to attend college 
                   
0–35 percent  76 86 36 74   88 76   17 67
36–60 percent  77 84 31 77   88 81   15 75
More than 60 percent  63 80 40 72   81 79   13 71
                     
Percent of students who
consider academic
achievement important 
                   
0–25 percent  73 92 34 73   86 66   18 75
26–50 percent  81 83 33 76   90 83   14 70
51–75 percent  68 79 37 76   84 82   17 73
More than 75 percent  65 82 39 70   83 78   12 70
                     
Percent male enrollment                     
0–44 percent  70 81 43 73   75 72   17 62
45–55 percent  70 83 37 75   87 81   15 72
More than 55 percent  67 75 27 64   74 68   11 73
                     
Student-to-teacher ratio4                     
Less than 12 students  69 73 28 71   80 75   14 74
12–16 students  72 90 35 78   89 81   14 74
More than 16 students  70 85 53 72   87 82   17 63
                     
Number of classroom
changes5 
                   
0–3 changes  77 74 42 73   86 78   12 60
4–6 changes  72 84 38 75   86 85   16 68
More than 6 changes  68 81 35 73   84 73   13 76
                     
Regular use of law
enforcement6 
                   
Regular use  69 87 40 75   86 81   14 74
No regular use  72 71 28 70   80 75   15 67
                     
Number of serious
discipline problems7 
                   
No problems  69 79 32 74   82 78   15 71
1 problem  74 87 38 72   93 77   11 71
2 problems  69 89 46 71   83 82   13 68
3 or more problems  74 88 50 77   91 83   16 79
                     
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment8 
                   
0 to 6 percent  67 78 37 73   80 76   15 70
6 to 11 percent  68 83 35 79   88 74   15 73
11 to 21 percent  71 83 37 74   85 83   14 70
21 percent or more  74 84 37 70   86 81   15 73
                     
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions9 
                   
No disruptions  70 81 35 73   84 79   14 72
Any disruptions  72 88 45 75   86 79   17 71
                     
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 
                   
0–2 percent  62 76 50 67   73 77   15 77
3–5 percent  68 81 31 75   84 79   14 77
6–10 percent  71 84 35 76   86 79   14 71
More than 10 percent  77 82 53 64   88 79   16 54
                     
Prevalence of
violent incidents10 
                   
No violent incidents  62 70 40 78   65 70   12 58
Any violent incidents  70 83 36 73   85 79   14 72
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 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.
10 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: 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, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.