Table 6. Number and percentage of public schools reporting at least one incident of the distribution, possession, or use of illegal drugs or alcohol at school, or of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2007

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Table 6. Number and percentage of public schools reporting at least one incident of the distribution, possession, or use of illegal drugs or alcohol at school, or of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2007–08

	Distribution, possession, or use of illegal drugs						Distribution, possession, or use of alcohol				Vandalism¹
School characteristic	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	Num- ber of schools	Per- cent of schools	Num- ber of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students
All public schools	19,240	23	107,300		2	0	12,330	15	37,800	1	40,930	49	212,100	4

Level²
Primary	1,540	3	3,200		#		1,320	3	1,500	#	19,290	39	78,100	3
Middle	6,710	44	24,500		3		2,920	19	6,600	1	9,860	65	65,800	7
High school	9,160	77	72,800		6		6,690	56	26,900	2	8,760	74	58,600	5
Combined	1,830	28	6,900		3		1,400	21	2,800	1	3,020	46	9,500	4

Enrollment size
Less than 300	1,810	10	6,800	!	2	0	1,470	8	2,300	1	6,830	36	19,900	5
300–499	2,970	12	6,800		1	0	1,320	5	2,200	#	11,140	46	41,900	4
500–999	7,460	25	27,100		1	0	4,380	15	10,800	1	15,720	52	82,500	4
1,000 or more	7,000	75	66,600		5	0	5,170	56	22,400	2	7,250	78	67,700	5

Urbanicity
City	5,660	27	35,800		3	0	3,630	17	11,900	1	13,080	62	83,100	6
Suburb	5,010	21	31,100		2	0	3,290	14	11,800	1	12,550	53	73,200	4
Town	3,050	26	13,300		2	0	1,800	15	4,900	1	5,260	45	19,800	3
Rural	5,530	21	27,100		2	0	3,620	14	9,300	1	10,040	39	36,000	3

Crime level where students live³
High	1,840	29	13,200		4	0	1,160	19	3,000	1	4,090	66	29,500	8
Moderate	4,920	29	27,900		3	0	2,720	16	9,400	1	10,240	60	69,900	7
Low	9,590	20	48,700		2	0	6,550	13	19,600	1	21,050	43	84,600	3
Mixed	2,890	28	17,400		2	0	1,910	18	5,900	1	5,550	53	28,200	4

Percent of combined Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian/ Alaska Native students
Less than 5 percent	3,110	23	11,300		2	0	1,770	13	4,300	1	5,270	39	15,800	3
5 to less than 20 percent	4,620	22	24,900		2	0	3,330	16	10,500	1	9,630	45	36,000	3
20 to less than 50 percent	4,770	24	28,000		2	0	3,240	16	10,200	1	10,710	53	48,000	4
50 percent or more	6,740	24	43,100		3	0	4,000	15	12,700	1	15,320	55	112,200	6

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	4,540	26	24,100		2	0	3,390	19	12,200	1	8,760	50	36,500	3
21–50 percent	7,220	24	43,600		3	0	4,760	16	14,900	1	13,830	46	62,200	4
More than 50 percent	7,480	21	39,600		2	0	4,190	12	10,700	1	18,340	52	113,400	6

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	5,160	18	27,900		2	0	3,930	14	11,000	1	12,160	42	50,100	3
6–15 percent	7,730	23	42,700		2	0	4,600	14	14,900	1	16,110	49	83,600	4
More than 15 percent	6,360	30	36,800		3	0	3,800	18	11,900	1	12,670	60	78,300	6

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	4,930	24	27,700		3	0	2,650	13	8,000	1	10,850	52	64,500	6
36–60 percent	5,870	26	31,500		3	0	3,480	16	9,400	1	11,360	51	56,900	5
More than 60 percent	8,440	21	48,100		2	0	6,200	16	20,400	1	18,720	47	90,800	4

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	1,550	28	10,900		4	0	960	18	3,200	1	2,890	53	25,900	10
26–50 percent	4,360	31	20,800		3	0	2,320	17	7,100	1	7,840	56	42,200	6
51–75 percent	6,510	26	34,900		2	0	4,090	17	12,400	1	12,710	52	57,900	4
More than 75 percent	6,830	18	40,700		2	0	4,970	13	15,100	1	17,490	45	86,100	4

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	1,790	23	7,900		2	0	1,200	15	3,200	1	3,540	45	16,000	4
45–55 percent	15,640	24	89,000		2	0	10,240	16	32,200	1	32,580	50	167,700	4
More than 55 percent	1,810	18	10,400	!	2	0	890	9	2,400	1	4,820	48	28,300	6

Student-to-FTE ratio⁴
Less than 12 students	7,810	19	34,700		2	0	4,820	11	12,800	1	18,420	44	84,500	4
12–16 students	7,610	27	44,800		2	0	4,830	17	13,900	1	14,660	51	77,300	4
More than 16 students	3,830	31	27,800		3	0	2,680	22	11,100	1	7,850	64	50,200	5

Number of classroom changes⁵
0–3 changes	1,230	6	4,500		1		750	3	1,800	#	8,590	39	38,600	4
4–6 changes	8,910	25	54,200		2	0	5,450	15	18,300	1	18,580	52	97,700	4
More than 6 changes	9,100	37	48,600		3	0	6,130	25	17,700	1	13,760	55	75,800	5

Regular use of law enforcement⁶
Regular use	15,440	40	98,600		3	0	10,300	27	33,800	1	23,140	60	147,300	5
No regular use	3,800	9	8,700		1		2,030	5	4,000	#	17,790	40	64,700	3

Number of serious discipline problems⁷
No problems	10,060	18	48,200		2	0	6,680	12	20,300	1	23,700	42	97,200	3
1 problem	4,430	27	26,200		3	0	2,660	16	7,100	1	9,910	61	53,000	5
2 problems	1,990	38	12,800		4	0	1,170	22	3,900	1	3,580	69	23,900	7
3 or more problems	2,760	57	20,100		5	0	1,830	38	6,500	2	3,740	78	38,000	10

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁸
Less than 6 percent	3,570	19	16,300		2	0	3,030	17	8,200	1	9,460	51	42,800	4
6 to less than 11 percent	3,660	22	19,400		2	0	2,290	14	7,400	1	7,450	45	41,100	4
11 to less than 21 percent	6,400	25	33,600		2	0	3,690	15	11,200	1	11,810	46	60,700	4
21 percent or more	5,610	25	38,000		3	0	3,310	15	10,900	1	12,210	54	67,400	5

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁹
No disruptions	16,260	21	85,000		2	0	10,070	13	29,600	1	36,470	48	174,000	4
Any disruptions	2,980	48	22,300		4	0	2,260	36	8,200	2	4,460	72	38,000	7

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	1,060	14	3,900		1	0	580	7	1,600	#	3,420	44	14,500	4
3–5 percent	7,940	18	37,500		2	0	5,100	12	14,000	1	20,200	46	97,900	4
6–10 percent	7,830	30	50,400		3	0	5,130	20	17,800	1	14,050	55	77,800	5
More than 10 percent	2,410	48	15,500		5	0	1,530	30	4,400	1	3,260	64	21,800	7
#Rounds to zero.
!Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is from 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimate’s value.
¹ Vandalism was defined for respondents as "the willful damage or destruction of school property including bombing, arson, graffiti, and other acts that cause property damage. This includes damage caused by computer hacking."
² 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.
³ 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."
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 2007–08 school year, did you have any security guards, security personnel, or sworn law enforcement officers present at your school at least once a week?"
⁷ Serious discipline problems include student racial/ethnic tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, student acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal abuse, 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.
NOTE: "At school" was defined for respondents to include activities happening 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. Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2007–08 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2008.

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