Skip Navigation
IES    
NCES
National Center for
Education Statistics
Menu
Contact
Tools
ED.gov
Newsflash
Search IES
Back Arrow  Back Download Excel Excel File (38 KB) Download SE Excel Excel File (37 KB)

Table 23.  Number and percentage of public high schools with a written plan for responding to at least one crisis situation, and the percentage of schools with specified types of crisis response plans, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


School characteristic Schools with a written plan for responding to at least one crisis situation   Percentage of schools with specified
types of crisis response plans
Num-
ber of schools		 Per-
cent of schools		   Shootings Natural disasters1 Hostages Bomb threats or incidents Chemical, biological, or radiological threats or incidents2
All public schools  10,700 99   86 95 79 96 72
                 
Enrollment size                 
Less than 300  1,518 93   73 89 66 86 50
300–499  1,576 100   86 97 75 98 71
500–999  2,754 100   86 97 81 98 78
1,000 or more  4,851 100   90 96 83 98 77
                 
Urbanicity                 
City  2,297 98   82 91 76 95 68
Urban fringe  3,521 100   88 96 81 98 79
Town  1,751 100   85 99 80 96 68
Rural  3,131 98   86 96 79 95 71
                 
Crime level where students live3                 
High  558 100   87 90 76 95 66
Moderate  2,211 100   86 97 81 96 74
Low  6,361 98   86 96 79 96 74
Mixed  1,569 98   86 95 75 94 68
                 
Percent minority enrollment4                 
Less than 5 percent  2,523 99   88 96 78 96 72
5 to 20 percent  2,770 99   84 95 78 96 75
20 to 50 percent  2,458 98   85 97 83 95 74
50 percent or more  2,758 100   85 94 77 97 69
                 
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 		                
0–20 percent  3,684 98   85 95 79 96 73
21–50 percent  4,461 99   87 97 81 96 74
More than 50 percent  2,555 100   84 93 75 95 69
                 
Percent of students below 15th
percentile on standardized tests 		                
0–5 percent  2,855 97   84 95 77 95 71
6–15 percent  4,780 99   88 95 81 98 74
More than 15 percent  3,065 100   84 96 77 95 70
                 
Percent of students likely
to attend college 		                
0–35 percent  2,068 99   87 96 74 97 70
36–60 percent  3,223 100   90 98 80 98 76
More than 60 percent  5,408 98   83 93 80 95 72
                 
Percent of students who consider
academic achievement important 		                
0–25 percent  884 100   82 96 79 98 71
26–50 percent  2,142 99   86 97 77 96 70
51–75 percent  3,445 100   86 97 80 96 75
More than 75 percent  4,229 98   86 94 79 95 72
                 
Percent male enrollment                 
0–44 percent  910 100   86 99 70 96 67
45–55 percent  8,938 99   86 95 80 96 73
More than 55 percent  851 97   86 92 73 94 74
                 
Student-to-teacher ratio5                 
Less than 12 students  4,090 98   83 93 75 95 68
12–16 students  4,064 99   87 98 83 98 78
More than 16 students  2,546 100   88 96 79 95 72
                 
Number of classroom changes6                 
0–3 changes  526 95   77 90 84 88 66
4–6 changes  5,195 99   86 96 79 96 74
More than 6 changes  4,979 99   86 96 78 97 72
                 
Regular use of law enforcement7                 
Regular use  7,709 99   88 96 82 97 76
No regular use  2,991 97   79 94 71 93 65
                 
Number of serious
discipline problems8 		                
No problems  6,670 99   84 95 78 96 72
1 problem  1,610 98   87 94 80 94 71
2 problems  1,204 100   85 94 75 98 69
3 or more problems  1,216 100   92 99 86 99 78
                 
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment9 		                
0 to 6 percent  2,502 96   84 93 71 94 64
6 to 11 percent  2,164 100   81 95 79 96 72
11 to 21 percent  3,348 99   89 97 80 98 77
21 percent or more  2,687 100   86 97 85 97 75
                 
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions10 		                
No disruptions  9,074 99   85 95 79 95 72
Any disruptions  1,626 100   88 97 81 100 75
                 
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 		                
0–2 percent  637 96   83 96 73 92 70
3–5 percent  4,004 98   87 96 81 96 73
6–10 percent  4,792 100   86 96 80 97 73
More than 10 percent  1,266 100   82 91 73 96 70
                 
Prevalence of violent incidents11                 
No violent incidents  449 100   84 92 79 88 71
Any violent incidents  10,251 99   86 96 79 96 73
1 Examples of natural disasters provided to respondents were earthquakes or tornadoes.
2 Examples of chemical, biological, or radiological threats or incidents provided to respondents were the release of mustard gas, anthrax, smallpox, or radioactive materials.
3 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."
4 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
5 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.
6 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
7 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?"
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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: Respondents were included as having a written plan for responding to at least one crisis situation if they reported that they had a written plan that described procedures for any of the following: school shootings; natural disasters; hostages; bomb threats; or chemical, biological, or radiological threats or incidents. 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 the school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.

Back Arrow  Back Download Excel Excel File (38 KB) Download SE Excel Excel File (37 KB)

IES    
NCES
National Center for
Education Statistics
Explore the Institute of Education Sciences