Table 28. Percentage of public elementary schools that monitored students in selected ways and the mean number of policies per school reported, by selected school characteristics: 1999

School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS)

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Table 28. Percentage of public elementary schools that monitored students in selected ways and the mean number of policies per school reported, by selected school characteristics: 1999–2000

School characteristic	Percentage									Mean number of these policies³
School characteristic	Require students to pass through metal detectors each day	Perform one or more random metal detector checks on students	Use one or more random dog sniffs to check for drugs	Perform one or more random sweeps for contraband¹ not including dog sniffs	Require drug testing for any students²	Do not provide school lockers to students	Require clear book bags or ban book bags on school grounds	Require students to wear badges or picture IDs	Use one or more security cameras to monitor the school	Mean number of these policies³
All public elementary schools	‡	4	4	3	1	21	2	2	14	1.1

Enrollment size
Less than 300	#	‡	5	‡	#	25	‡	#	8	0.9
300–499	‡	3	6	3	‡	22	2	‡	16	1.1
500–999	#	5	3	5	1	20	3	3	16	1.2
1,000 or more	#	‡	#	#	#	4	‡	‡	27	1.3

Urbanicity
City	‡	9	4	7	2	16	3	3	14	1.2
Urban fringe	#	1	1	1	#	15	2	‡	21	1.1
Town	#	‡	‡	#	‡	18	‡	‡	8	1.0
Rural	#	2	9	3	#	34	1	1	8	0.9

Crime level where students live⁴
High	#	12	6	9	‡	16	‡	‡	23	1.5
Moderate	#	4	4	2	#	18	4	‡	13	1.1
Low	#	2	4	2	‡	25	1	1	14	1.0
Mixed	‡	7	‡	7	‡	8	‡	‡	9	1.2

Percent minority enrollment⁴
0–5 percent	#	‡	7	4	‡	33	‡	#	12	0.9
6–20 percent	#	3	3	2	#	25	‡	2	16	1.0
21–50 percent	#	‡	4	‡	#	16	3	2	16	1.1
More than 50 percent	‡	8	3	5	2	10	3	2	14	1.3

Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	#	1	2	2	#	22	‡	#	16	1.0
21–50 percent	#	2	6	3	‡	28	‡	1	13	1.0
More than 50 percent	‡	6	4	4	1	16	3	2	13	1.2

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	#	1	6	4	#	24	2	2	13	1.0
6–15 percent	#	2	‡	‡	#	21	2	1	13	1.0
More than 15 percent	‡	8	6	5	3	19	2	2	17	1.2

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	#	5	5	4	2	16	3	1	15	1.2
36–60 percent	‡	4	5	2	‡	28	2	2	13	1.0
More than 60 percent	#	1	4	3	#	19	1	2	14	1.1

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	#	6	‡	6	#	13	‡	‡	15	1.2
26–50 percent	‡	5	8	4	3	31	‡	2	17	1.1
51–75 percent	#	4	5	2	‡	21	3	1	16	1.1
More than 75 percent	#	2	3	3	#	17	1	1	11	1.0

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	#	4	7	‡	‡	21	‡	‡	18	1.2
45–55 percent	‡	4	4	4	‡	22	2	1	14	1.1
More than 55 percent	#	‡	4	‡	‡	16	4	‡	11	1.1

Student/teacher ratio⁴,⁵
Less than 12	#	3	7	2	‡	27	1	1	11	1.0
12–16	‡	4	3	5	‡	21	3	2	17	1.2
More than 16	#	4	4	2	‡	18	‡	1	13	1.1

Number of classroom changes⁴
0–3 changes	#	5	1	3	‡	15	1	1	14	1.1
4–6 changes	‡	3	4	3	1	21	1	2	14	1.1
More than 6 changes	#	‡	14	6	#	39	6	‡	13	1.0

Use of paid law enforcement⁶
Regular use	‡	7	7	4	1	21	3	3	17	1.2
No regular use	#	2	3	2	‡	22	1	1	13	1.0

Number of serious discipline problems⁷
No problems	#	2	4	2	‡	19	1	1	13	1.0
1 problem	#	5	6	2	‡	30	4	‡	17	1.0
2 problems	#	‡	7	5	‡	17	‡	#	22	1.3
3 or more problems	‡	10	‡	9	‡	24	5	6	8	1.2

Transfers as percentage of enrollment⁴,⁸
0 to 6 percent	#	3	2	‡	#	24	‡	#	8	0.9
6 to 11 percent	#	2	8	5	‡	25	4	‡	14	1.1
11 to 21 percent	‡	5	6	4	‡	25	‡	2	13	1.1
21 percent or more	#	4	3	2	‡	16	2	2	19	1.1

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁴,⁹
No disruptions	‡	3	4	3	1	20	2	2	14	1.1
Any disruptions	#	‡	‡	‡	‡	26	#	#	12	0.9

Percent of students absent without excuses
None	#	‡	‡	3	#	22	‡	‡	12	1.0
1–2 percent	#	3	4	3	1	23	2	1	13	1.0
3–5 percent	‡	5	8	4	‡	19	2	2	17	1.2
6–10 percent	#	8	4	‡	‡	22	#	‡	15	1.1
More than 10 percent	#	‡	#	‡	#	9	‡	‡	12	1.2

Prevalence of violent incidents⁴,¹⁰
No violent incidents	#	3	3	‡	#	20	3	‡	12	1.0
Any violent incidents	‡	4	5	5	1	22	2	2	15	1.1
# Rounds to zero.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
¹ For example, drugs or weapons.
² For example, athletes.
³ Data represents the mean number of "yes" responses to the policies listed.
⁴ Some schools are omitted from these categories because of missing data on their school characteristics. For this reason, the detailed results do not sum to the totals. See appendix J of 2000 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) Detailed Data Documentation (NCES 2004-307) for further information.
⁵ Student/teacher ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of students enrolled in the school by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. The total number of full-time equivalent teachers is a combination of the full-time and part-time teachers, including special education teachers, with an adjustment to compensate for the part-time status.
⁶ Schools were included as regularly using paid law enforcement if they reported the use of paid law enforcement during any of the following times: at any time during school hours, while students were arriving or leaving, at selected school activities, (e.g., athletic and social events, open houses, science fairs), or at any other time that the respondent specified.
⁷ Serious discipline problems is a count of discipline problems reported by principals. These discipline problems include student racial tensions, student bullying, student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms, and student acts of disrespect for teachers. If a principal 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. Undesirable gang activities and undesirable cult or extremist group activities were also counted once as a problem if the principal reported that these events occurred at all in their school.
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 bomb threats or anthrax 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: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. "At school/at your school" was defined for respondents as including activities happening in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that are holding school-sponsored events or activities. Respondents were instructed to, unless the survey specified otherwise, only respond for those times that were during normal school hours or when school activities/events were in session. A gang was defined for respondents as, "an ongoing loosely organized association of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, that has a common name, signs, symbols or colors, whose members engage, either individually or collectively, in violent or other forms of illegal behavior." Elementary 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.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2000.

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