Digest of Education Statistics: 2009
Digest of Education Statistics: 2009

NCES 2010-013
April 2010


Table 71. Percentage of teachers indicating that certain issues are serious problems in their schools and that certain problems occur daily, by level and control of school: Selected years, 1987-88 through 2007–08
  Percent of teachers indicating issue is a serious problem Percent of teachers indicating problem occurs daily, 2003-041
Control of school and issue 1987-88 total 1993-94 total 1999-2000 total 2003-04 2007-08 Total2 Elementary schools Secondary schools
Total2 Elementary schools Secondary schools Total Elementary schools Secondary schools Combined schools
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Public schools                                                            
Student tardiness 10.5 (0.18) 10.5 (0.28) 10.2 (0.22) 13.8 (0.30) 9.8 (0.39) 23.1 (0.58) 9.9   (0.33) 5.8   (0.37) 17.9   (0.65) 9.0   (1.37) (†) (†) (†)
Student absenteeism 16.4 (0.23) 14.4 (0.29) 13.9 (0.26) 13.2 (0.31) 8.3 (0.37) 23.7 (0.59) 11.7   (0.37) 6.5   (0.43) 21.4   (0.63) 14.2   (0.96) (†) (†) (†)
Teacher absenteeism 2.3 (0.09) 1.5 (0.09) 2.2 (0.10) 1.1 (0.08) 0.9 (0.12) 1.7 (0.15) 1.5   (0.15) 1.2   (0.20) 2.0   (0.20) 2.3   (0.48) (†) (†) (†)
Students cutting class 5.9 (0.16) 5.1 (0.12) 4.7 (0.12) 5.6 (0.23) 1.5 (0.17) 14.5 (0.59) 4.1   (0.20) 0.5   (0.12) 10.9   (0.52) 4.0   (0.64) (†) (†) (†)
Physical conflicts among students 5.8 (0.18) 8.2 (0.25) 4.8 (0.19) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 12.1 (0.29) 13.7 (0.43) 9.3 (0.38)
                                                           
Robbery or theft 3.7 (0.12) 4.1 (0.17) 2.4 (0.11) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 3.7 (0.17) 2.8 (0.22) 5.9 (0.24)
Vandalism of school property 6.1 (0.15) 6.7 (0.23) 3.4 (0.15) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 3.6 (0.16) 2.5 (0.21) 6.3 (0.33)
Student pregnancy 6.9 (0.17) 7.3 (0.24) 3.7 (0.12) 2.4 (0.12) 0.2 (0.06) 7.0 (0.34)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) (†) (†) (†)
Student use of alcohol 11.4 (0.18) 9.3 (0.17) 7.4 (0.14) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 3.1 (0.10) 0.3 (0.07) 9.0 (0.28)
Student drug abuse 8.0 (0.14) 5.7 (0.14) 6.0 (0.11) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 4.5 (0.14) 0.5 (0.11) 13.0 (0.35)
                                                           
Student possession of weapons 1.7 (0.06) 2.8 (0.12) 0.8 (0.06) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 0.5 (0.05) 0.1 (0.05) 1.2 (0.12)
Verbal abuse of teachers 8.1 (0.21) 11.1 (0.26) (†) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 11.8 (0.31) 9.3 (0.39) 17.1 (0.50)
Student disrespect for teachers (†) 18.5 (0.35) 17.2 (0.34) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 21.6 (0.45) 18.5 (0.61) 28.3 (0.58)
Students dropping out (†) 5.8 (0.16) 4.6 (0.11) 3.3 (0.13) 0.3 (0.07) 9.6 (0.41) 3.5   (0.19) 0.8   (0.19) 8.7   (0.41) 5.3   (0.77) (†) (†) (†)
Student apathy (†) 23.6 (0.35) 20.6 (0.30) 16.6 (0.34) 9.9 (0.41) 30.4 (0.56) 16.6   (0.45) 10.1   (0.55) 28.5   (0.67) 21.5   (1.16) (†) (†) (†)
                                                           
Lack of parental involvement (†) 27.6 (0.45) 23.7 (0.36) 21.6 (0.43) 19.3 (0.59) 26.3 (0.59) 19.5   (0.49) 16.9   (0.69) 24.0   (0.69) 23.6   (1.43) (†) (†) (†)
Poverty (†) 19.5 (0.52) 19.2 (0.43) 21.4 (0.46) 22.4 (0.65) 19.0 (0.57) 22.1   (0.59) 22.8   (0.84) 20.2   (0.68) 26.8   (1.36) (†) (†) (†)
Students come unprepared to learn (†) 28.8 (0.39) 29.5 (0.36) 26.8 (0.46) 23.7 (0.68) 33.5 (0.69) 24.3   (0.56) 20.7   (0.84) 30.5   (0.77) 28.6   (1.45) (†) (†) (†)
Racial tension (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 2.4 (0.15) 1.8 (0.19) 3.9 (0.22)
                                                           
Private schools                                                            
Student tardiness 3.6 (0.38) 2.6 (0.23) 2.9 (0.21) 2.9 (0.40) 2.1 (0.45) 5.0 (0.83) 2.5   (0.28) 2.1   (0.36) 3.0   (0.83) 2.6   (0.48) (†) (†) (†)
Student absenteeism 3.7 (0.39) 2.2 (0.19) 2.5 (0.22) 1.9 (0.23) 0.9 (0.17) 4.0 (0.75) 1.9   (0.24) 0.9   (0.23) 3.9   (0.99) 2.3   (0.40) (†) (†) (†)
Teacher absenteeism 0.8 (0.13) 0.8 (0.10) 0.8 (0.11) 0.3 (0.09) 0.2 (0.07) 0.5 (0.24) 0.5   (0.13) 0.3 ! (0.08) 0.2 ! (0.18) 1.0 ! (0.32) (†) (†) (†)
Students cutting class 0.9 (0.16) 0.7 (0.11) 0.8 (0.12) 0.5 (0.11) 0.2 (0.07) 0.9 (0.36) 0.5 ! (0.18) 0.1 ! (0.05) 1.1 ! (0.41) 0.7 ! (0.43) (†) (†) (†)
Physical conflicts among students 1.3 (0.19) 1.5 (0.15) 1.0 (0.18) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 2.3 (0.33) 2.6 (0.58) 1.0 (0.35)
                                                           
Robbery or theft 1.3 (0.18) 0.8 (0.10) 0.9 (0.11) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 0.4 (0.10) # (†) 1.3 (0.40)
Vandalism of school property 1.3 (0.19) 1.2 (0.11) 0.7 (0.11) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 0.5 (0.11) 0.1 (0.08) 0.8 (0.28)
Student pregnancy 0.6 (0.12) 0.4 (0.06) 0.4 (0.09) 0.1 (0.05) 0.1 (0.04) 0.3 (0.19)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) (†) (†) (†)
Student use of alcohol 3.6 (0.30) 3.1 (0.19) 3.1 (0.16) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 0.7 (0.17) # (†) 3.3 (0.86)
Student drug abuse 1.8 (0.24) 1.3 (0.15) 1.8 (0.14) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 1.1 (0.26) # (†) 5.2 (1.31)
                                                           
Student possession of weapons 0.4 (0.11) 0.3 (0.06) 0.3 (0.06) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) # (†) # (†) # (†)
Verbal abuse of teachers 2.0 (0.24) 2.3 (0.25) (†) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 2.4 (0.40) 1.2 (0.29) 4.0 (0.84)
Student disrespect for teachers (†) 3.4 (0.27) 3.8 (0.31) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 5.1 (0.37) 3.6 (0.56) 6.3 (1.05)
Students dropping out (†) 0.6 (0.09) 0.5 (0.10) 0.3 (0.09) 0.2 (0.08) 0.5 (0.26) 0.4 ! (0.20) 0.4 ! (0.13) 0.5 ! (0.22)   (†) (†) (†) (†)
Student apathy (†) 4.5 (0.28) 4.3 (0.29) 3.1 (0.39) 1.4 (0.24) 6.6 (0.95) 3.9   (0.34) 1.7   (0.29) 7.0   (1.06) 5.1   (0.75) (†) (†) (†)
                                                           
Lack of parental involvement (†) 4.0 (0.26) 3.4 (0.30) 2.5 (0.37) 1.6 (0.27) 3.6 (0.77) 2.5   (0.23) 1.8   (0.35) 2.8   (0.67) 3.1   (0.46) (†) (†) (†)
Poverty (†) 2.7 (0.23) 2.1 (0.21) 2.2 (0.26) 1.8 (0.31) 3.4 (0.78) 2.0   (0.21) 1.4   (0.29) 2.0   (0.56) 2.5   (0.43) (†) (†) (†)
Students come unprepared to learn (†) 4.1 (0.28) 4.9 (0.36) 3.5 (0.30) 2.1 (0.55) 6.8 (0.99) 3.6   (0.34) 1.9   (0.33) 6.2   (1.51) 4.5   (0.86) (†) (†) (†)
Racial tension (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 0.4 (0.08) 0.1 (0.06) 0.9 (0.36)
—Not available.            
†Not applicable.            
#Rounds to zero.                                                            
!Interpret data with caution.                                                            
‡Reporting standards not met.            
1 Only the 2003-04 survey included questions about how often problems occurred.            
2 For 2003-04, combined schools are included in the total but not shown separately.            
NOTE: Standard errors appear in parentheses.            
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public Teacher Questionnaire," selected years, 1987-88 through 2007-08; "Private Teacher Questionnaire," selected years, 1987-88 through 2007-08; and "Charter Teacher Questionnaire," 1999-2000. (This table was prepared September 2009.)