Table 30. Percentage of public 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

School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS)

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Table 30. Percentage of public 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	37	59	28	18	42	15	27	41

Level¹
Primary	31	58	27	14	38	11	23	36
Middle	41	67	30	23	49	18	32	46
High school	45	59	28	30	47	28	32	52
Combined	50	53	29	19	38	18	39	52

Enrollment size
Less than 300	32	50	28	13	37	14	25	38
300–499	35	60	25	16	37	14	28	41
500–999	37	63	28	20	45	13	25	41
1,000 or more	48	67	33	34	51	27	35	55

Urbanicity
City	48	70	32	27	51	19	27	54
Urban fringe	31	57	25	14	38	13	25	36
Town	37	63	30	22	46	19	38	47
Rural	33	52	26	15	36	13	26	35

Crime level where students live²
High	68	76	41	39	74	30	36	67
Moderate	46	70	33	26	54	20	34	55
Low	28	53	24	13	33	11	24	33
Mixed	43	66	30	20	46	18	27	47

Percent minority enrollment³
Less than 5 percent	31	54	27	12	33	12	25	35
5 to 20 percent	29	54	24	14	36	11	23	34
20 to 50 percent	34	57	24	17	42	13	28	39
50 percent or more	49	69	33	28	52	22	30	54

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	23	47	21	10	28	9	18	28
21–50 percent	35	60	29	16	40	15	27	39
More than 50 percent	46	65	30	25	51	19	32	51

Percent of students below 15^th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	22	49	22	12	35	10	20	29
6–15 percent	35	58	26	18	37	14	25	40
More than 15 percent	53	73	35	26	55	21	36	56

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	45	66	33	24	51	21	33	51
36–60 percent	39	63	25	18	42	15	28	41
More than 60 percent	28	51	25	14	34	11	22	34

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	48	68	36	28	63	24	39	52
26–50 percent	48	68	29	23	47	20	31	52
51–75 percent	39	63	26	19	42	14	28	45
More than 75 percent	25	50	26	13	33	11	21	30

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	46	57	31	20	41	16	33	42
45–55 percent	36	60	28	19	41	15	27	41
More than 55 percent	37	53	24	15	45	14	23	43

Student-to-teacher ratio⁴
Less than 12 students	36	56	26	17	40	14	29	40
12–16 students	35	61	29	19	43	16	26	40
More than 16 students	42	65	29	21	44	15	25	46

Number of classroom changes⁵
0–3 changes	31	56	27	17	35	12	22	34
4–6 changes	38	59	28	19	44	14	27	45
More than 6 changes	40	63	27	20	44	20	34	43

Regular use of law enforcement⁶
Regular use	42	63	31	23	46	20	29	46
No regular use	32	56	25	15	38	12	26	38

Number of serious discipline problems⁷
No problems	27	51	23	12	34	11	23	30
1 problem	47	71	32	21	47	17	29	52
2 problems	55	75	35	36	61	25	38	70
3 or more problems	67	81	46	41	70	36	46	74

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁸
0 to 6 percent	30	54	27	18	36	15	23	35
6 to 11 percent	33	57	25	17	37	15	28	40
11 to 21 percent	38	61	27	17	44	12	28	39
21 percent or more	43	63	30	21	45	18	28	50

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁹
No disruptions	36	59	27	17	40	15	26	40
Any disruptions	51	64	36	34	60	26	37	60

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	19	49	25	13	33	16	19	24
3–5 percent	33	57	25	15	38	11	25	37
6–10 percent	46	68	32	25	51	20	33	55
More than 10 percent	50	60	34	28	42	25	31	48

Prevalence of violent incidents¹⁰
No violent incidents	18	35	20	9	23	6	16	20
Any violent incidents	41	65	29	21	46	17	30	46
¹ 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.
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 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
⁴ 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.
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 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?"
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.
⁹ 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, 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: 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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