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Table 30.  Percentage of public high schools reporting that their efforts to reduce or prevent crime at school were limited in a major or minor way due to specified school-level factors, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


School characteristic Lack of or inadequate teacher training in classroom management Lack of or inadequate alternative placements for disruptive students Likelihood of complaints from parents Lack of teacher support for school policies Lack of parental support for school policies Teachers' fear of student retaliation Fear of litigation Inconsistent application of school policies
All public schools  45 59 28 30 47 28 32 52
                 
Enrollment size                 
Less than 300  26 43 17 19 36 11 21 28
300–499  40 57 24 19 38 23 27 45
500–999  47 62 27 33 52 32 33 56
1,000 or more  52 63 32 36 51 33 36 61
                 
Urbanicity                 
City  57 65 33 41 49 34 37 64
Urban fringe  45 57 27 29 44 28 33 53
Town  41 60 30 26 50 31 32 51
Rural  39 56 23 26 48 22 27 44
                 
Crime level where students live1                 
High  80 81 41 64 72 51 52 78
Moderate  53 67 36 43 59 39 41 62
Low  38 53 23 22 41 22 27 45
Mixed  53 63 30 37 50 32 31 60
                 
Percent minority enrollment2                 
Less than 5 percent  36 61 25 20 42 26 28 42
5 to 20 percent  42 54 23 27 41 25 28 52
20 to 50 percent  46 59 27 32 52 27 34 53
50 percent or more  57 61 34 41 54 33 36 62
                 
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 		                
0–20 percent  38 55 25 26 40 25 29 49
21–50 percent  48 63 26 31 49 29 33 54
More than 50 percent  51 58 34 37 54 31 35 56
                 
Percent of students below 15th
percentile on standardized tests 		                
0–5 percent  37 55 26 26 44 25 32 42
6–15 percent  45 58 24 29 44 26 27 53
More than 15 percent  55 65 34 38 57 34 40 62
                 
Percent of students likely
to attend college 		                
0–35 percent  53 58 31 42 58 36 40 53
36–60 percent  48 60 26 27 51 26 27 55
More than 60 percent  41 59 27 28 42 26 32 51
                 
Percent of students who consider
academic achievement important 		                
0–25 percent  54 58 23 48 61 36 42 53
26–50 percent  51 56 25 33 52 30 33 55
51–75 percent  51 62 29 31 52 31 32 58
More than 75 percent  37 58 28 25 38 24 29 47
                 
Percent male enrollment                 
0–44 percent  38 48 27 37 41 22 36 48
45–55 percent  46 62 28 31 49 29 32 54
More than 55 percent  43 40 20 23 36 23 28 44
                 
Student-to-teacher ratio3                 
Less than 12 students  41 58 25 26 45 25 29 46
12–16 students  45 59 28 31 48 30 34 53
More than 16 students  53 61 31 37 49 31 33 62
                 
Number of classroom changes4                 
0–3 changes  42 55 26 32 48 21 37 51
4–6 changes  50 61 29 33 50 30 34 58
More than 6 changes  41 58 26 28 45 27 29 47
                 
Regular use of law enforcement5                 
Regular use  51 62 30 36 51 33 35 59
No regular use  31 51 22 17 39 16 24 37
                 
Number of serious
discipline problems6 		                
No problems  38 52 23 22 40 21 28 43
1 problem  51 64 32 38 58 33 34 65
2 problems  54 78 31 44 60 36 34 64
3 or more problems  71 71 42 55 64 52 49 79
                 
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment7 		                
0 to 6 percent  41 56 31 28 43 24 28 48
6 to 11 percent  47 60 28 28 43 28 37 54
11 to 21 percent  44 62 28 29 49 26 30 52
21 percent or more  50 58 23 37 53 35 34 56
                 
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions8 		                
No disruptions  43 59 26 28 45 27 30 51
Any disruptions  57 60 37 42 59 37 44 59
                 
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 		                
0–2 percent  32 41 37 20 46 21 30 51
3–5 percent  42 58 24 27 42 24 28 48
6–10 percent  49 62 27 34 51 31 35 55
More than 10 percent  50 60 38 34 50 35 34 58
                 
Prevalence of violent incidents9                 
No violent incidents  14 35 15 19 31 19 17 20
Any violent incidents  47 60 28 31 48 28 33 54
1 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."
2 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
3 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.
4 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
5 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?"
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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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