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 2007

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 2007–08
School characteristic	Lack of or inadequate teacher training in classroom management	Lack of or inadequate alternative placements or programs 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 by faculty or staff
All public schools	43	64	35	25	48	21	37	47

Level¹
Primary	38	63	33	21	45	16	36	40
Middle	48	67	36	28	52	25	36	54
High school	53	63	38	36	56	31	37	61
Combined	46	64	40	29	49	29	40	55

Enrollment size
Less than 300	42	65	35	20	41	20	39	49
300–499	39	64	32	20	48	16	35	41
500–999	43	62	35	27	50	22	35	45
1,000 or more	55	68	41	41	57	32	40	60

Urbanicity
City	53	69	40	36	60	27	38	55
Suburb	37	58	31	21	42	18	35	45
Town	40	68	33	21	48	20	38	37
Rural	42	64	35	20	44	20	36	45

Crime level where students live²
High	65	80	43	47	72	36	41	67
Moderate	57	72	44	34	65	29	43	57
Low	35	60	31	17	39	16	34	40
Mixed	41	61	35	32	50	20	38	49

Percent of combined Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian/ Alaska Native students
Less than 5 percent	41	66	33	18	44	23	40	46
5 to less than 20 percent	34	58	29	18	40	15	34	41
20 to less than 50 percent	39	63	36	22	46	19	36	43
50 percent or more	53	68	39	35	59	27	38	54

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	30	51	25	16	32	14	29	37
21–50 percent	39	63	33	21	46	19	37	46
More than 50 percent	52	71	41	33	58	27	40	52

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	34	56	26	17	38	16	32	38
6–15 percent	43	66	35	24	49	19	38	46
More than 15 percent	54	72	47	37	60	31	42	59

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	49	72	41	34	63	26	41	52
36–60 percent	49	70	38	25	52	22	39	51
More than 60 percent	36	56	30	20	38	18	33	41

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	52	75	39	36	60	27	40	57
26–50 percent	53	77	43	35	61	28	46	60
51–75 percent	47	66	36	28	54	24	40	50
More than 75 percent	35	56	31	18	38	15	31	38

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	42	59	37	23	50	24	36	44
45–55 percent	42	64	34	24	47	20	36	46
More than 55 percent	47	68	40	31	55	22	44	50

Student-to-FTE ratio³
Less than 12 students	41	63	34	23	45	21	37	45
12–16 students	42	63	35	24	50	18	35	46
More than 16 students	49	70	39	33	56	28	40	54

Number of classroom changes⁴
0–3 changes	40	63	37	24	44	20	37	41
4–6 changes	42	63	31	22	47	17	33	46
More than 6 changes	47	65	39	30	54	28	41	52

Regular use of law enforcement⁵
Regular use	51	67	39	31	55	27	40	52
No regular use	36	61	31	20	43	16	34	42

Number of serious discipline problems⁶
No problems	35	57	29	18	40	15	30	38
1 problem	50	76	46	34	61	25	48	59
2 problems	65	83	44	39	69	41	52	72
3 or more problems	79	85	52	59	78	58	55	77

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁷
Less than 6 percent	35	58	31	19	38	18	32	40
6 to less than 11 percent	39	62	31	21	44	18	33	44
11 to less than 21 percent	48	66	36	24	51	23	40	49
21 percent or more	46	67	39	33	56	24	39	51

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁸
No disruptions	42	63	33	24	47	20	35	45
Any disruptions	56	74	52	39	67	36	52	63

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	33	49	32	17	39	17	31	39
3–5 percent	39	61	31	21	42	18	34	42
6–10 percent	50	71	40	30	60	25	42	53
More than 10 percent	52	71	42	44	60	38	42	61

Prevalence of violent incidents⁹
No violent incidents	29	46	25	14	34	10	25	29
Any violent incidents	47	70	38	28	53	25	40	52
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 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.
⁴ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁵ 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?"
⁶ 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.
⁷ 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.
⁸ 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.
⁹ Violent incidents include rape or attempted 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: Respondents were asked to rate the level of limitation in their school’s efforts to reduce or prevent crime for each factor. Survey response options included “limits in major way,” “limits in minor way,” or “does not limit." The estimates in this table represent only those schools that reported limitations in a major or minor way. 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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