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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 or removals for less than the remainder of the school year, were allowable disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2005–06

Suspension or removal for less than the remainder of the school year
Removal or transfer Out-of-school suspension or removal In-school suspension
School characteristic of the school year Transfer to specialized school1 Transfer to another regular school   Removal with school-provided tutoring/at-home instruction for at least the remainder of the school year   No curriculum/ services provided Curriculum/ services provided   No curriculum/ services provided   Curriculum/ services provided
All public schools  69 79 32   73   87 84   16   76
                         
Enrollment size                         
Less than 300  72 60 28   66   76 83   22   79
300–499  72 76 26   75   82 79   22   81
500–999  71 79 25   82   90 88   13   75
1,000 or more  67 88 40   70   91 84   13   74
                         
Urbanicity                         
City  57 80 54   60   83 87   13   71
Urban fringe  65 83 33   76   91 87   13   73
Town  71 84 21   77   89 81   18   82
Rural  80 73 22   76   84 80   21   81
                         
Crime level where
students live2 
                       
High  60 82 62   55   84 84   18   73
Moderate  63 88 38   67   83 80   15   75
Low  72 76 28   76   87 84   16   76
Mixed  71 78 32   74   91 89   15   79
                         
Percent minority
enrollment3 
                       
Less than 5 percent  81 75 22   85   91 80   24   77
5 to less than 20 percent  69 73 27   78   88 88   14   72
20 to less than 50 percent  66 83 33   68   87 83   12   78
50 percent or more  62 85 49   59   81 84   15   77
                         
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 
                       
0–20 percent  66 79 33   77   87 86   15   74
21–50 percent  74 79 29   73   88 84   16   76
More than 50 percent  67 80 36   67   84 81   17   80
                         
Percent of students
below 15th percentile on
standardized tests 
                       
0–5 percent  64 71 32   70   84 87   12   74
6–15 percent  71 82 32   75   88 84   15   76
More than 15 percent  75 84 33   71   89 80   22   79
                         
Percent of students likely
to attend college 
                       
0–35 percent  73 77 32   79   90 81   24   77
36–60 percent  74 82 34   74   85 82   16   77
More than 60 percent  66 78 31   70   87 86   13   75
                         
Percent of students who
consider academic
achievement important 
                       
0–25 percent  78 79 31   77   88 82   28   84
26–50 percent  76 76 30   78   89 77   15   78
51–75 percent  73 82 35   72   89 82   16   72
More than 75 percent  62 78 32   70   84 89   14   77
                         
Percent male enrollment                         
0–44 percent  54 91 40   71   89 81   13 ! 80
45–55 percent  71 80 32   74   86 84   16   76
More than 55 percent  66 65 35   58   93 89   19   80
                         
Student-to-FTE ratio4                         
Less than 12 students  68 72 26   77   82 84   18   79
12–16 students  72 85 29   73   90 85   15   79
More than 16 students  68 84 51   65   90 82   13   65
                         
Number of classroom
changes5 
                       
0–3 changes  77 72 54   74   95 86   17 ! 63
4–6 changes  71 78 33   72   91 83   16   76
More than 6 changes  67 81 29   73   81 85   16   78
                         
Regular use of law
enforcement6 
                       
Regular use  67 84 37   72   89 84   14   77
No regular use  78 65 20   73   80 84   21   74
                         
Number of serious
discipline problems7 
                       
No problems  67 77 31   72   84 84   15   76
1 problem  72 79 28   69   93 78   18   77
2 problems  65 84 37   73   88 88   14   72
3 or more problems  81 86 39   79   92 90   21   80
                         
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment8 
                       
Less than 6 percent  65 70 31   77   83 87   19   71
6 to less than 11 percent  70 79 30   76   89 83   12   75
11 to less than 21 percent  73 82 27   75   90 84   14   78
21 percent or more  69 83 39   66   85 82   18   79
                         
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions9 
                       
No disruptions  69 77 32   72   87 84   16   77
Any disruptions  75 89 37   75   86 83   13   70
                         
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 
                       
0–2 percent  61 60 34 ! 71   74 91   20 ! 78
3–5 percent  71 80 29   69   83 82   15   76
6–10 percent  70 80 30   78   91 84   16   78
More than 10 percent  66 77 54   63   87 89   16   68
                         
Prevalence of
violent incidents10 
                       
No violent incidents  60 56 31 ! 60   60 78     77
Any violent incidents  70 80 32   73   88 84   16   76
! 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 Specialized school was defined for respondents as "a school that is specifically for students who were referred for disciplinary reasons, although 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 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. 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 or attempted 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. High schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 9 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 12.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2005–06 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2006.