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Table 1.  Number and percentage of public schools reporting incidents of crime that occurred at school, the number of incidents, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by incident type and selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04—Continued (Return to Table 1)


School characteristic Theft3 Other incidents4
Num-
ber of
schools		 Per-
cent of
schools		 Num-
ber of
incidents		 Rate per
1,000
students		   Num-
ber of
schools		 Per-
cent of
schools		 Num-
ber of
incidents		 Rate per
1,000
students
All public schools  37,041 46 199,845 4.3   51,456 64 380,094 8.1
                   
Level5                   
Primary  14,544 30 35,519 1.6   24,751 51 78,275 3.5
Middle  9,179 63 54,113 5.5   12,015 83 104,658 10.7
High school  9,042 84 93,891 8.1   10,072 93 168,200 14.5
Combined  4,275 67 16,322 6.2   4,619 73 28,959 10.9
                   
Enrollment size                   
Less than 300  7,683 40 18,497 4.7   9,619 51 27,786 7.1
300–499  7,961 34 24,719 2.5   14,023 60 51,186 5.2
500–999  14,183 49 68,312 3.5   19,480 67 130,917 6.7
1,000 or more  7,214 81 88,317 6.6   8,334 93 170,205 12.7
                   
Urbanicity                   
City  9,346 47 54,800 4.0   13,782 69 128,892 9.5
Urban fringe  12,237 46 80,022 4.3   17,328 65 139,469 7.6
Town  4,340 45 19,887 4.0   6,536 68 39,666 8.0
Rural  11,119 46 45,136 4.6   13,810 57 72,067 7.4
                   
Crime level where
students live6 		                  
High  3,370 58 18,928 5.3   4,427 76 49,532 13.8
Moderate  7,999 52 48,446 4.8   11,122 72 101,271 10.1
Low  20,887 43 99,945 3.9   28,289 58 170,220 6.6
Mixed  4,786 45 32,526 4.6   7,618 71 59,071 8.3
                   
Percent minority
enrollment7 		                  
Less than 5 percent  7,353 43 31,495 4.4   9,963 58 51,456 7.2
5 to 20 percent  9,032 46 50,895 4.5   12,482 63 83,075 7.4
20 to 50 percent  8,019 45 49,198 4.4   11,423 65 85,244 7.7
50 percent or more  11,971 49 66,087 4.1   16,500 68 152,922 9.5
                   
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 		                  
0–20 percent  8,763 46 56,712 4.4   12,184 64 93,129 7.2
21–50 percent  13,342 47 78,782 4.9   18,678 65 134,638 8.3
More than 50 percent  14,937 45 64,351 3.7   20,594 63 152,328 8.7
                   
Percent of students
below 15th percentile on
standardized tests 		                  
0–5 percent  9,308 40 47,190 3.7   13,782 59 81,092 6.3
6–15 percent  15,558 46 86,180 4.3   21,498 64 154,124 7.7
More than 15 percent  12,176 52 66,475 4.8   16,177 69 144,878 10.4
                   
Percent of students likely
to attend college 		                  
0–35 percent  11,518 45 58,791 4.4   16,789 65 129,781 9.7
36–60 percent  10,847 48 54,200 4.1   14,870 66 101,278 7.7
More than 60 percent  14,676 45 86,854 4.3   19,797 61 149,034 7.4
                   
Percent of students who
consider academic
achievement important 		                  
0–25 percent  4,407 54 21,352 5.3   6,062 74 45,376 11.3
26–50 percent  8,347 48 46,008 4.9   10,894 63 91,321 9.7
51–75 percent  11,953 51 63,678 4.6   15,805 68 117,844 8.4
More than 75 percent  12,335 39 68,807 3.6   18,695 59 125,553 6.5
                   
Percent male enrollment                   
0–44 percent  2,265 41 12,316 4.6   2,949 54 24,562 9.1
45–55 percent  29,831 45 166,991 4.2   42,995 65 324,102 8.1
More than 55 percent  4,946 55 20,539 5.0   5,512 61 31,430 7.7
                   
Student-to-teacher ratio8                   
Less than 12 students  16,288 45 66,293 4.4   21,930 61 117,976 7.8
12–16 students  13,476 45 81,935 4.2   19,355 65 151,991 7.8
More than 16 students  7,277 49 51,617 4.3   10,172 69 110,127 9.1
                   
Number of classroom
changes9 		                  
0–3 changes  6,753 32 20,826 2.1   10,722 51 41,123 4.1
4–6 changes  16,652 45 90,501 4.1   23,590 63 189,840 8.6
More than 6 changes  13,636 62 88,517 6.1   17,145 78 149,130 10.3
                   
Regular use of law
enforcement10 		                  
Regular use  21,213 59 147,247 5.4   27,047 75 272,278 10.0
No regular use  15,828 36 52,598 2.7   24,409 55 107,816 5.6
                   
Number of serious
discipline problems11 		                  
No problems  20,636 40 84,775 3.1   29,627 57 165,924 6.0
1 problem  7,468 51 40,489 4.6   10,604 73 74,210 8.5
2 problems  4,649 61 32,294 6.5   5,563 73 55,407 11.1
3 or more problems  4,288 66 42,287 8.2   5,662 87 84,552 16.4
                   
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment12 		                  
0 to 6 percent  8,005 51 36,359 4.1   9,748 62 65,783 7.3
6 to 11 percent  7,181 41 39,840 4.2   10,357 59 69,444 7.2
11 to 21 percent  10,715 44 59,743 4.1   15,131 63 115,929 7.9
21 percent or more  11,141 48 63,903 4.7   16,220 70 128,938 9.5
                   
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions13 		                  
No disruptions  33,820 45 172,090 4.1   47,042 62 315,026 7.5
Any disruptions  3,221 63 27,755 6.2   4,414 87 65,068 14.6
                   
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 		                  
0–2 percent  2,985 38 11,898 3.5   3,813 49 19,418 5.7
3–5 percent  18,579 42 84,045 3.4   27,205 61 152,306 6.2
6–10 percent  13,152 56 89,239 5.7   17,408 74 175,153 11.2
More than 10 percent  2,325 53 14,663 4.9   3,031 70 33,216 11.1
1 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.
2 Serious violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with a weapon, threat of physical attack with a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
3 Theft or larceny (taking things worth over $10 without personal confrontation) was defined for respondents as "the unlawful taking of another person's property without personal confrontation, threat, violence, or bodily harm. Included are pocket picking, stealing purse or backpack (if left unattended or no force was used to take it from owner), theft from a building, theft from a motor vehicle or of motor vehicle parts or accessories, theft of bicycles, theft from vending machines, and all other types of thefts."
4 Other incidents include possession of a firearm or explosive device, possession of a knife or sharp object, distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, and vandalism.
5 Primary 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. 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. Combined schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools.
6 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."
7 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
8 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.
9 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
10 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?"
11 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.
12 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.
13 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.
NOTE: "At school" was defined for respondents to include activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Reponses 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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