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Table 28.  Percentage of public middle 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
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
All public middle schools 2 14 37 24 6 23 13 6 20 1.4
                     
Enrollment size                    
Less than 300 8 31 19 3 20 7 5 10 1.0
300–499 3 9 44 27 12 25 12 4 18 1.5
500–999 1 14 36 23 5 22 13 6 24 1.5
1,000 or more29 39 31 8 27 18 8 27 1.8
                     
Urbanicity                    
City 7 30 39 32 5 22 17 14 20 1.9
Urban fringe 8 31 19 7 25 13 6 21 1.3
Town 12 40 29 9 19 9 5 19 1.4
Rural # 8 42 22 5 23 10 20 1.3
                     
Crime level where students live4                    
High 8 35 23 36 9 39 29 24 16 2.1
Moderate 2 21 39 31 9 32 21 9 23 1.9
Low 1 9 37 20 4 19 9 3 19 1.2
Mixed 20 40 32 13 23 14 6 26 1.8
                     
Percent minority enrollment4                    
0–5 percent # 4 34 21 4 14 9 1 21 1.1
6–20 percent # 5 40 16 6 17 12 2 17 1.1
21–50 percent 16 40 26 6 21 11 7 24 1.5
More than 50 percent 7 33 34 35 10 43 20 16 20 2.1
                     
Percent of students eligible for free/reduced-price lunch                    
0–20 percent 4 32 14 2 15 8 2 17 0.9
21–50 percent 10 37 24 8 18 11 4 21 1.4
More than 50 percent 5 29 43 36 9 38 20 14 23 2.1
                     
Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests                    
0–5 percent 11 39 25 3 15 10 4 18 1.2
6–15 percent 11 39 22 8 18 13 4 23 1.4
More than 15 percent 5 20 33 28 7 37 14 11 19 1.7
                     
Percent of students likely to attend college                    
0–35 percent 3 22 39 34 9 34 17 8 20 1.9
36–60 percent 2 12 42 23 5 21 10 6 20 1.4
More than 60 percent 9 30 18 6 16 11 4 21 1.1
                     
Percent of students who consider academic achievement important                    
0–25 percent 24 47 42 8 37 19 11 20 2.1
26–50 percent 4 16 40 34 6 20 13 8 18 1.6
51–75 percent 2 14 36 21 8 20 12 5 22 1.4
More than 75 percent 9 34 17 5 22 11 4 21 1.2
                     
Percent male enrollment                    
0–44 percent 2 20 34 25 10 26 14 12 23 1.6
45–55 percent 2 12 39 24 6 22 13 5 21 1.4
More than 55 percent 17 29 30 7 25 9 5 12 1.4
                     
Student/teacher ratio4,5                    
Less than 12 12 38 21 6 10 10 4 18 1.2
12–16 1 12 39 25 5 23 14 5 26 1.5
More than 16 2 14 35 26 9 37 13 6 17 1.6
                     
Number of classroom changes4                    
0–3 changes 5 17 29 19 12 57 6 8 21 1.8
4–6 changes 3 18 39 31 5 32 14 9 19 1.7
More than 6 changes 1 11 36 20 7 15 13 5 20 1.3
                     
Use of paid law enforcement6                    
Regular use 2 18 42 30 8 21 16 7 24 1.7
No regular use 4 28 13 3 26 6 3 12 0.9
                     
Number of serious discipline problems7                    
No problems 1 9 30 19 4 26 9 3 18 1.2
1 problem 3 15 40 27 6 21 12 4 19 1.5
2 problems 14 42 26 9 20 15 11 27 1.6
3 or more problems 3 19 41 28 9 21 17 8 23 1.7
                     
Transfers as percentage of enrollment4,8                    
0 to 6 percent 2 14 29 27 4 22 13 7 20 1.4
6 to 11 percent 3 11 39 25 5 23 10 4 20 1.4
11 to 21 percent 11 41 22 8 23 13 3 20 1.4
21 percent or more 3 17 40 24 7 22 14 9 22 1.6
                     
Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions4,9                    
No disruptions 1 13 37 24 6 23 11 5 19 1.4
Any disruptions 5 19 38 30 10 22 18 9 22 1.7
                     
Percent of students absent without excuses                    
None 8 38 19 4 19 7 15 1.1
1–2 percent 10 41 21 6 24 9 6 19 1.4
3–5 percent 2 17 36 28 6 24 17 8 26 1.7
6–10 percent 4 19 30 33 10 22 20 7 26 1.7
More than 10 percent 15 44 31 36 12 23 17 16 10 2.0
                     
Prevalence of violent incidents4,10                    
No violent incidents 11 18 11 4 40 9 10 12 1.2
Any violent incidents 2 14 40 26 7 21 13 6 22 1.5
# 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." 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.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2000.