Table 18. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for use of a weapon other than a firearm, by selected school characteristics: 1999

Crime and Safety Surveys

Publications & Products|SSOCS & SCS Table Library|Staff

Back

Download Excel

(61 KB)

Download SE Excel

(65 KB)

Table 18. Number and percentage distribution of disciplinary actions taken for use of a weapon other than a firearm, by selected school characteristics: 1999–2000

School characteristic	Total offenses		Removals		Transfers to specialized schools ¹		Out-of-school suspensions		Other		No disciplinary action
School characteristic	Number	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
All public schools	11,971	1,894	16	1,867	16	4,220	35	3,833	32	158	1

Level
Elementary	5,340	‡	‡	‡	‡	1,550	29	2,817	53	#	#
Middle	2,732	316	12	705	26	1,064	39	628	23	‡	‡
Secondary	3,616	784	22	949	26	1,448	40	298	8	138	4
Combined	283	#	#	‡	‡	159	56	‡	‡	#	#

Enrollment size
Less than 300	1,391	100	7	111	8	499	36	680	49	#	#
300–499	2,212	831	38	‡	‡	535	24	694	31	‡	‡
500–999	5,295	400	8	692	13	2,024	38	2,143	40	‡	‡
1,000 or more	3,072	563	18	1,020	33	1,161	38	316	10	‡	‡

Urbanicity
City	4,451	1,126	25	1,087	24	1,350	30	855	19	‡	‡
Urban fringe	4,655	457	10	544	12	1,654	36	2,001	43	#	#
Town	1,209	208	17	‡	‡	409	34	523	43	‡	‡
Rural	1,656	103	6	204	12	806	49	454	27	‡	‡

Crime level where students live ²
High	1,068	176	17	712	67	180	17	#	#	#	#
Moderate	3,565	301	8	503	14	1,560	44	1,163	33	‡	‡
Low	5,114	1,087	21	446	9	1,897	37	1,577	31	‡	‡
Mixed	2,151	330	15	205	10	583	27	1,019	47	‡	‡

Percent minority enrollment²
0–5 percent	2,185	73	3	72	3	594	27	1,358	62	‡	‡
6–20 percent	2,825	868	31	124	4	939	33	873	31	‡	‡
21–50 percent	2,557	368	14	528	21	1,375	54	249	10	‡	‡
More than 50 percent	4,405	585	13	1,142	26	1,311	30	1,353	31	‡	‡

Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	2,526	346	14	301	12	794	31	997	39	‡	‡
21–50 percent	4,266	1,108	26	410	10	1,185	28	1,507	35	‡	‡
More than 50 percent	5,178	440	9	1,155	22	2,240	43	1,329	26	‡	‡

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	2,169	886	41	172	8	812	37	243	11	‡	‡
6–15 percent	5,018	488	10	451	9	1,595	32	2,383	47	‡	‡
More than 15 percent	4,784	520	11	1,244	26	1,813	38	1,206	25	#	#

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	3,643	426	12	1,028	28	1,748	48	441	12	#	#
36–60 percent	6,209	1,098	18	458	7	1,469	24	3,026	49	158	3
More than 60 percent	2,119	370	17	381	18	1,002	47	366	17	#	#

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	787	104	13	401	51	86	11	195	25	#	#
26–50 percent	3,229	962	30	341	11	1,398	43	440	14	‡	‡
51–75 percent	3,917	409	10	596	15	1,113	28	1,786	46	‡	‡
More than 75 percent	4,038	419	10	529	13	1,623	40	1,411	35	‡	‡

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	808	235	29	165	20	321	40	‡	‡	#	#
45–55 percent	10,623	1,650	16	1,556	15	3,626	34	3,633	34	158	1
More than 55 percent	540	‡	‡	146	27	273	50	‡	‡	#	#

Student/teacher ratio²,³
Less than 12	3,348	246	7	427	13	1,309	39	1,310	39	‡	‡
12–16	4,069	477	12	367	9	1,569	39	1,554	38	‡	‡
More than 16	4,182	1,132	27	1,020	24	1,261	30	769	18	#	#

Number of classroom changes²
0–3 changes	2,455	807	33	‡	‡	252	10	1,386	56	#	#
4–6 changes	5,138	477	9	1,003	20	2,570	50	1,075	21	‡	‡
More than 6 changes	3,579	478	13	794	22	1,130	32	1,069	30	‡	‡

Use of paid law enforcement ⁴
Regular use	7,763	1,153	15	1,700	22	2,660	34	2,093	27	158	2
No regular use	4,208	741	18	167	4	1,560	37	1,740	41	#	#

Number of serious discipline problems ⁵
No problems	3,806	933	25	192	5	1,610	42	982	26	‡	‡
1 problem	3,171	264	8	298	9	785	25	1,788	56	‡	‡
2 problems	1,063	181	17	236	22	371	35	256	24	‡	‡
3 or more problems	3,931	516	13	1,141	29	1,453	37	807	21	‡	‡

Transfers as percentage of enrollment²,⁶
0 to 6 percent	2,010	233	12	524	26	579	29	673	33	#	#
6 to 11 percent	2,772	242	9	177	6	1,299	47	1,033	37	‡	‡
11 to 21 percent	2,013	221	11	391	19	1,076	53	289	14	‡	‡
21 percent or more	4,842	1,187	25	737	15	1,202	25	1,702	35	‡	‡

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions²,⁷
No disruptions	8,075	718	9	1,013	13	3,132	39	3,179	39	‡	‡
Any disruptions	2,487	466	19	570	23	817	33	598	24	‡	‡

Percent of students absent without excuses
None	946	‡	‡	103	11	119	13	605	64	‡	‡
1–2 percent	4,078	324	8	382	9	1,096	27	2,276	56	#	#
3–5 percent	3,251	914	28	395	12	1,514	47	378	12	‡	‡
6–10 percent	2,041	251	12	483	24	907	44	401	20	#	#
More than 10 percent	1,655	394	24	504	30	584	35	‡	‡	#	#

Prevalence of violent incidents²,⁸
No violent incidents	1,260	#	#	‡	‡	471	37	732	58	#	#
Any violent incidents	10,687	1,882	18	1,811	17	3,736	35	3,100	29	158	1
# Rounds to zero.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
¹ Specialized school was defined for respondents as, "a school that is specifically for students who were referred for disciplinary reasons. The school may also have students who were referred for other reasons. The school may be at the same location as your school."
² Some schools are omitted from these categories because of missing data on their school characteristics. For this reason, the detailed results do not sum to the totals. See appendix J of 2000 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) Detailed Data Documentation (NCES 2004-307) for further information.
³ Student/teacher ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of students enrolled in the school by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. The total number of full-time equivalent teachers is a combination of the full-time and part-time teachers, including special education teachers, with an adjustment to compensate for the part-time status.
⁴ Schools were included as regularly using paid law enforcement if they reported the use of paid law enforcement during any of the following times: at any time during school hours, while students were arriving or leaving, at selected school activities (e.g., athletic and social events, open houses, science fairs), or at any other time that the respondent specified.
⁵ Serious discipline problems is a count of discipline problems reported by principals. These discipline problems include student racial tensions, student bullying, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, and student acts of disrespect for teachers. If a principal 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. Undesirable gang activities and undesirable cult or extremist group activities were also counted once as a problem if the principal reported that these events occurred at all in their school.
⁶ 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.
⁷ Schoolwide disruptions include actions that disrupted school activities such as bomb threats or anthrax threats. Respondents were instructed to exclude all fire alarms, including false alarms.
⁸ 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: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. "At school/at your school" was defined for respondents as including activities happening in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that are holding school-sponsored events or activities. Respondents were instructed to, unless the survey specified otherwise, only respond for those times that were during normal school hours or when school activities/events were in session. "Weapon" was defined for respondents as, "any instrument or object used with the intent to threaten, injure, or kill. Includes look-alikes if they are used to threaten others." "Firearm/explosive device" was defined for respondents as, "any weapon that is designed to (or may readily be converted to) expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. This includes guns, bombs, grenades, mines, rockets, missiles, pipe bombs, or similar devices designed to explode and capable of causing bodily harm or property damage." A gang was defined for respondents as, "an ongoing loosely organized association of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, that has a common name, signs, symbols or colors, whose members engage, either individually or collectively, in violent or other forms of illegal behavior." Elementary schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not higher than grade 3 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 8. Middle schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 4 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 9. Secondary 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. Combined schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2000.

Back

Download Excel

(61 KB)

Download SE Excel

(65 KB)