Table 30. Percentage of public primary 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

Crime and Safety Surveys

Publications & Products|SSOCS & SCS Table Library|Staff

Back

Download Excel

(33 KB)

Download SE Excel

(34 KB)

Table 30. Percentage of public primary 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	31	58	27	14	38	11	23	36

Enrollment size
Less than 300	26	50	28	11	35	13	23	35
300–499	33	60	25	14	36	12	26	38
500–999	34	61	26	16	42	9	20	35
1,000 or more	37	68	35	33	49	17	24	44

Urbanicity
City	44	70	32	21	49	16	23	49
Urban fringe	26	53	23	9	34	8	21	30
Town	33	64	31	23	43	17	42	46
Rural	25	50	24	12	32	8	19	27

Crime level where students live¹
High	66	80	42	29	74	26	33	62
Moderate	39	69	32	19	51	15	29	49
Low	22	50	23	10	29	8	20	26
Mixed	43	66	27	17	43	14	24	46

Percent minority enrollment²
Less than 5 percent	26	50	29	11	30	7	25	29
5 to 20 percent	23	51	23	11	33	8	18	30
20 to 50 percent	27	53	22	11	36	7	20	32
50 percent or more	44	71	31	21	50	18	27	47

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	15	40	18	3	21	3	12	19
21–50 percent	29	58	30	14	38	11	23	33
More than 50 percent	41	68	29	21	48	16	28	47

Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	18	45	20	8	33	7	15	24
6–15 percent	29	56	26	15	31	10	22	35
More than 15 percent	52	77	35	21	56	18	35	51

Percent of students likely
to attend college
0–35 percent	39	68	32	19	48	18	30	47
36–60 percent	35	63	22	15	38	11	24	35
More than 60 percent	23	47	25	11	31	6	17	28

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	40	74	39	19	60	24	32	48
26–50 percent	44	72	27	18	43	15	29	49
51–75 percent	35	60	23	15	39	8	24	38
More than 75 percent	21	47	26	11	32	9	18	26

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	42	58	33	16	43	12	30	42
45–55 percent	30	59	27	15	37	11	23	35
More than 55 percent	34	56	23	11	44	12	20	39

Student-to-teacher ratio³
Less than 12 students	31	54	24	13	36	10	24	36
12–16 students	29	59	28	14	39	13	23	34
More than 16 students	39	66	30	16	43	11	23	42

Number of classroom changes⁴
0–3 changes	29	56	26	16	34	11	20	33
4–6 changes	32	56	28	13	42	11	24	39
More than 6 changes	35	74	23	14	37	14	32	36

Regular use of law enforcement⁵
Regular use	37	61	30	14	41	14	25	35
No regular use	29	57	25	15	37	10	22	37

Number of serious discipline problems⁶
No problems	23	50	22	10	32	8	20	26
1 problem	46	76	35	21	47	15	29	51
2 problems	52	77	32	33	56	20	30	77
3 or more problems	64	85	51	27	75	33	44	67

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁷
0 to 6 percent	19	49	26	14	34	13	17	28
6 to 11 percent	27	55	23	15	35	12	24	34
11 to 21 percent	34	59	24	12	39	7	24	32
21 percent or more	39	65	31	17	43	14	25	46

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁸
No disruptions	31	58	27	14	38	11	23	36
Any disruptions	43	56	24	26	63	9	28	51

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	15	47	24	13	32	17	17	20
3–5 percent	31	57	24	12	35	9	22	33
6–10 percent	39	66	32	20	50	15	29	51
More than 10 percent	43	60	33	20	33	13	28	36

Prevalence of violent incidents⁹
No violent incidents	15	34	19	8	21	5	14	18
Any violent incidents	37	66	29	17	44	14	26	43
¹ 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."
² These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
³ 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.
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 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?"
⁶ 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.
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, 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: Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.

Back

Download Excel

(33 KB)

Download SE Excel

(34 KB)