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Table 27.  Mean number of practices for monitoring students used per public high school, and the percentage of public high schools that monitored students in specified ways, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


School characteristic   Percentage of schools that monitored students in specified ways 
Mean number of practices for monitoring students used per school1 Require students to pass through metal detectors each day Perform one or more random metal detector checks on students Use one or more random dog sniffs to check for drugs Perform one or more random sweeps for contraband not including dog sniffs2 Require drug testing for any students Provide school lockers to students Require clear book bags or ban book bags on school grounds Require students to wear badges or picture IDs Use one or more security cameras to monitor the school
All public schools  2.9 4 13 59 28 16 89 9 16 60
                     
Enrollment size                     
Less than 300  2.1 3 7 52 24 10 78 3 2 34
300–499  3.1 5 10 68 30 17 94 10 13 61
500–999  3.2 4 13 68 31 20 95 14 13 65
1,000 or more  3.0 4 16 52 27 15 88 8 24 66
                     
Urbanicity                     
City  3.2 14 29 41 36 12 82 12 30 62
Urban fringe  2.7 # 8 55 21 16 89 6 19 61
Town  3.2 1 12 76 29 21 94 15 6 65
Rural  2.9 2 8 66 30 16 93 7 8 56
                     
Crime level where students live3                     
High  3.4 26 37 32 51 15 72 11 34 58
Moderate  3.3 8 23 56 38 14 84 12 26 64
Low  2.8 # 6 63 22 17 94 8 8 59
Mixed  3.0 3 17 55 30 16 83 7 28 62
                     
Percent minority enrollment4                     
Less than 5 percent  2.8 1 5 68 25 15 94 10 2 56
5 to 20 percent  2.9 1 4 65 23 24 96 7 8 66
20 to 50 percent  2.8 # 10 59 27 13 88 7 17 60
50 percent or more  3.1 12 30 43 36 10 79 11 36 57
                     
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 		                    
0–20 percent  2.6 1 4 52 19 18 92 5 10 62
21–50 percent  3.0 1 10 68 29 18 91 11 13 60
More than 50 percent  3.3 12 32 51 39 10 83 11 30 59
                     
Percent of students below 15th
percentile on standardized tests 		                    
0–5 percent  2.9 2 11 59 29 15 92 9 12 62
6–15 percent  3.0 3 12 63 25 18 93 8 12 63
More than 15 percent  2.9 7 17 51 32 14 82 11 26 55
                     
Percent of students likely
to attend college 		                    
0–35 percent  3.2 6 19 65 34 16 80 15 21 61
36–60 percent  3.1 3 14 67 30 15 93 10 16 66
More than 60 percent  2.7 3 10 51 25 16 91 7 14 57
                     
Percent of students who consider
academic achievement important 		                    
0–25 percent  2.8 2 14 63 25 15 80 14 13 53
26–50 percent  3.1 5 18 65 30 15 85 10 18 62
51–75 percent  3.1 2 11 65 32 17 92 10 17 63
More than 75 percent  2.8 5 12 49 25 15 91 7 15 59
                     
Percent male enrollment                     
0–44 percent  3.2 11 28 47 37 16 87 15 22 56
45–55 percent  2.9 3 12 60 27 16 91 8 16 61
More than 55 percent  2.7 2 11 55 33 15 77 10 9 56
                     
Student-to-teacher ratio5                     
Less than 12 students  2.9 4 11 58 29 17 93 8 11 58
12–16 students  3.2 4 14 66 30 14 94 12 19 66
More than 16 students  2.6 3 14 48 24 16 76 6 20 55
                     
Number of classroom changes6                     
0–3 changes  2.6 3 14 47 31 7 63 11 24 58
4–6 changes  3.0 3 14 58 31 16 88 10 18 62
More than 6 changes  2.9 5 12 60 25 16 94 8 13 59
                     
Regular use of law enforcement7                     
Regular use  3.2 5 17 59 32 17 90 10 21 66
No regular use  2.4 2 4 56 19 13 89 8 4 45
                     
Number of serious
discipline problems8 		                    
No problems  2.9 3 12 60 29 15 91 9 13 62
1 problem  2.9 2 11 65 20 16 90 9 21 55
2 problems  3.0 9 17 51 35 19 82 10 19 56
3 or more problems  3.0 4 17 50 28 18 89 10 23 64
                     
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment9 		                    
0 to 6 percent  2.8 6 12 55 27 13 91 7 15 59
6 to 11 percent  3.0 1 11 64 30 20 93 10 13 58
11 to 21 percent  2.9 2 13 58 25 16 90 8 14 63
21 percent or more  3.0 6 16 58 32 14 84 11 22 60
                     
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions10 		                    
No disruptions  2.9 3 12 57 26 15 89 9 15 60
Any disruptions  3.4 7 21 66 39 18 94 11 25 62
                     
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 		                    
0–2 percent  2.4 # 6 57 32 6 91 3 3 36
3–5 percent  2.9 2 9 64 27 16 93 9 12 62
6–10 percent  3.0 1 13 60 26 17 90 10 17 64
More than 10 percent  3.1 19 32 35 40 16 74 9 30 56
                     
Prevalence of violent incidents11                     
No violent incidents  2.1 6 15 45 25 5 58 15 7 36
Any violent incidents  3.0 4 13 59 28 16 91 9 17 61
# Rounds to zero.
1 Data represents the mean number of "yes" responses to the practices listed.
2 Examples of contraband provided to respondents were drugs or weapons.
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: 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.

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