Table. Percentage of public schools reporting the presence of recognized student acceptance groups, by purpose of student group and selected school characteristics: School year 2015

School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS)

Publications & Products|SSOCS & SCS Table Library|Staff

Back

Download Excel

(108 KB)

Download SE Excel

(26 KB)

Table 37. Percentage of public schools reporting the presence of recognized student acceptance groups, by purpose of student group and selected school characteristics: School year 2015–16

School characteristic	Acceptance of students' sexual orientations ¹ and gender identities ²		Acceptance of students with disabilities	Acceptance of cultural diversity
All public schools	12.4		26.8	21.4

Level ³
Primary	2.1		21.7	14.1
Middle	12.1		31.9	22.3
High School	50.2		44.5	49.3
Combined	16.0		18.3	19.8

Enrollment size
Less than 300	7.2		18.1	13.0
300–499	6.2		20.8	15.7
500–999	9.7		28.4	21.1
1,000 or more	50.6		56.5	56.6

Locale
City	15.8		28.0	29.5
Suburb	15.3		34.4	25.5
Town	10.9		23.5	17.1
Rural	6.0		18.0	10.4

Crime level where students live ⁴
High	8.9		24.9	27.8
Moderate	13.4		23.8	22.7
Low	10.6		26.9	18.2
Mixed	21.4		32.8	29.6

Percent combined enrollment of Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and American Indian/ Alaska Native students, and students of Two or more races
Less than 5 percent	7.3	!	15.6	‡
5 to less than 20 percent	10.3		26.3	13.9
20 to less than 50 percent	13.9		29.9	23.8
50 percent or more	13.4		26.9	27.1

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–25 percent	17.1		33.7	24.4
26–50 percent	14.0		29.5	20.0
51–75	9.9		21.0	16.6
More than 75 percent	10.4		25.9	25.9

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	13.6		28.9	24.7
6–15 percent	12.4		26.8	18.6
More than 15 percent	11.3		25.3	22.1

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	8.5		21.9	15.7
36–60 percent	9.0		26.1	17.9
More than 60 percent	15.2		28.9	25.0

Percent of students who consider academic achievement very important
0–25 percent	10.2	!	20.6	13.5	!
26–50 percent	8.1		24.8	18.7
51–75 percent	11.2		24.4	18.2
More than 75 percent	14.7		29.6	25.1

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	17.2		26.9	27.4
45–55 percent	12.1		27.2	20.9
More than 55 percent	10.9		24.0	21.5

Student-to-FTE ratio⁵
Less than 12 students	9.6		20.9	16.7
12–16 students	11.8		26.5	22.1
More than 16 students	13.4		28.6	22.2

Number of classroom changes⁶
0–3 changes	3.4		25.9	16.5
4–6 changes	12.2		26.6	20.8
More than 6 changes	19.3		27.9	26.0

Regular use of security staff ⁷
Regular use	18.6		32.7	27.2
No regular use	4.2		19.2	13.9

Number of serious discipline problems ⁸
No problems	11.1		27.3	20.9
1 problem	18.0		24.3	21.3
2 problems	11.6		19.1	20.2
3 or more problems	25.5		39.5	38.9

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment ⁹
Less than 6 percent	16.4		28.8	24.2
6 to less than 11 percent	14.5		25.9	18.0
11 to less than 21 percent	9.4		27.4	18.5
21 percent or more	8.6		24.4	25.1

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions ¹⁰
No disruptions	11.6		26.3	20.9
Any disruptions	20.1		32.3	27.0

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	10.7		27.4	21.6
3–5 percent	9.6		24.3	17.4
6–10 percent	15.0		30.5	26.3
More than 10 percent	26.9		32.4	34.9

Prevalence of violent incidents ¹¹
No violent incidents	4.3		24.5	16.2
Any violent incidents	16.0		27.9	23.8
! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is from 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimate’s value.
‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the standard error represents more than 50 percent of the estimate.
¹ Sexual orientation means one's emotional or physical attraction to the same and/or opposite sex.
² Gender identity means one’s inner sense of one’s own gender, which may or may not match the sex assigned at birth. Different people choose to express their gender identity differently. For some, gender may be expressed through, for example, dress, grooming, mannerisms, speech patterns, and social interactions. Gender expression usually ranges between masculine and feminine, and some transgender people express their gender consistent with how they identify internally, rather than in accordance with the sex they were assigned at birth.
³ 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.
⁴ 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."
⁵ 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.
⁶ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁷ Regular use of security staff includes full- or part-time school resource officers, sworn law enforcement officers, or security guards or security personnel present at school at least once a week.
⁸ Serious discipline problems include student racial/ethnic tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student harassment of other students based on sexual orientation, student harassment of other students based on gender identity, widespread disorder in classrooms, student verbal abuse of teachers, student acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal abuse, and gang 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.
⁹ 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.
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ Violent incidents include rape or attempted rape, sexual assault other than rape (including threatened rape), physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery (taking things with force) with or without a weapon.
NOTE: 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, National Center for Education Statistics, 2015–16 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2016.

Back

Download Excel

(108 KB)

Download SE Excel

(26 KB)