Table 2. Number and percentage of public middle schools reporting incidents of crime that occurred at school to police, the number of incidents reported to police, and the rate of incidents reported to police per 1,000 students, by incident type and selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04

School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS)

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Table 2. Number and percentage of public middle schools reporting incidents of crime that occurred at school to police, the number of incidents reported to police, and the rate of incidents reported to police per 1,000 students, by incident type and selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04—Continued (Return to Table 2)

School characteristic	Theft reported to police³				Other incidents reported to police⁴
School characteristic	Number of schools	Percent of schools	Number of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students	Number of schools	Percent of schools	Number of incidents	Rate per 1,000 students
All public schools	6,345	44	27,362	2.8	10,225	71	67,302	6.9

Enrollment size
Less than 300	759	35	1,441	2.7	1,037	48	2,264	4.2
300–499	1,075	35	3,794	2.8	2,096	67	8,351	6.2
500–999	3,362	48	14,337	2.8	5,193	74	34,565	6.8
1,000 or more	1,149	53	7,790	2.8	1,900	87	22,121	7.9

Urbanicity
City	1,708	50	9,278	3.4	2,812	83	28,645	10.5
Urban fringe	2,333	43	10,522	2.6	3,723	69	22,833	5.6
Town	971	43	3,287	2.9	1,579	70	7,168	6.3
Rural	1,333	39	4,275	2.4	2,111	61	8,656	4.8

Crime level where students live⁵
High	499	47	2,473	2.8	915	86	10,483	12.0
Moderate	1,768	55	8,010	3.5	2,481	77	22,591	9.9
Low	3,088	38	12,212	2.4	5,216	65	24,376	4.8
Mixed	989	46	4,667	2.9	1,613	75	9,852	6.2

Percent minority enrollment⁶
Less than 5 percent	962	35	3,106	2.2	1,516	55	5,355	3.9
5 to 20 percent	1,633	44	6,296	2.6	2,532	69	13,565	5.5
20 to 50 percent	1,586	48	7,796	3.3	2,518	76	14,277	6.0
50 percent or more	2,018	46	9,783	2.9	3,419	77	33,190	9.8

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	1,582	47	5,941	2.3	2,174	64	11,075	4.3
21–50 percent	2,278	42	10,166	3.0	3,914	72	20,966	6.1
More than 50 percent	2,485	44	11,255	3.0	4,137	73	35,261	9.3

Percent of students below 15^th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	1,427	43	5,226	2.4	2,067	62	9,302	4.2
6–15 percent	2,927	46	12,657	3.0	4,483	70	28,508	6.7
More than 15 percent	1,991	42	9,479	2.9	3,675	77	29,492	9.0

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	2,023	43	10,593	3.4	3,586	77	30,844	10.0
36–60 percent	2,002	45	8,668	2.9	3,158	71	18,898	6.3
More than 60 percent	2,320	43	8,101	2.2	3,480	64	17,560	4.7

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	810	46	3,736	3.4	1,180	67	10,175	9.2
26–50 percent	1,500	46	6,156	2.8	2,551	78	18,000	8.3
51–75 percent	2,099	44	9,701	3.0	3,487	73	22,710	7.1
More than 75 percent	1,936	41	7,769	2.4	3,007	64	16,417	5.0

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	279	32	1,627	3.2	623	72	4,895	9.8
45–55 percent	5,640	45	23,551	2.7	8,867	70	57,584	6.7
More than 55 percent	425	41	2,184	3.4	735	70	4,823	7.6

Student-to-teacher ratio⁷
Less than 12 students	2,548	42	9,953	3.0	4,136	68	20,298	6.0
12–16 students	2,613	46	12,673	3.2	3,971	70	27,645	7.0
More than 16 students	1,184	43	4,737	1.9	2,119	78	19,359	7.9

Number of classroom changes⁸
0–3 changes	140	23	294	0.9	383	63	1,177	3.6
4–6 changes	2,396	43	10,306	2.6	3,691	66	27,655	7.1
More than 6 changes	3,809	46	16,762	3.0	6,151	75	38,470	6.9

Regular use of law enforcement⁹
Regular use	4,742	51	21,425	3.1	7,277	78	52,668	7.6
No regular use	1,602	31	5,937	2.1	2,948	57	14,634	5.2

Number of serious discipline problems¹⁰
No problems	2,470	36	7,888	1.9	4,209	62	19,259	4.6
1 problem	1,381	46	5,520	2.6	2,203	73	11,613	5.5
2 problems	1,135	50	4,965	3.0	1,802	79	13,738	8.4
3 or more problems	1,359	57	8,990	4.7	2,011	84	22,691	11.9

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment¹¹
0 to 6 percent	994	35	3,042	1.5	1,858	65	11,098	5.5
6 to 11 percent	1,475	46	5,950	3.0	2,231	69	11,738	5.8
11 to 21 percent	2,062	45	8,175	2.8	3,205	70	19,117	6.4
21 percent or more	1,814	48	10,195	3.6	2,931	77	25,349	9.1

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions¹²
No disruptions	5,605	43	23,414	2.7	8,997	69	55,525	6.5
Any disruptions	739	49	3,947	3.3	1,228	81	11,777	9.8

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	429	38	1,204	1.7	726	64	2,918	4.1
3–5 percent	3,243	42	13,450	2.6	5,205	67	29,763	5.7
6–10 percent	2,336	48	11,123	3.2	3,774	77	31,273	9.1
More than 10 percent	337	52	1,585	3.8	521	80	3,349	8.0
¹ 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.
² Serious violent incidents include rape, sexual battery other than rape, physical attack or fight with a weapon, threat of physical attack with a weapon, and robbery with or without a weapon.
³ Theft or larceny (taking things worth over $10 without personal confrontation) was defined for respondents as "the unlawful taking of another person's property without personal confrontation, threat, >violence, or bodily harm. Included are pocket picking, stealing purse or backpack (if left unattended or no force was used to take it from owner), theft from a building, theft from a motor vehicle or of motor vehicle parts or accessories, theft of bicycles, theft from vending machines, and all other types of thefts."
⁴ Other incidents include possession of a firearm or explosive device, possession of a knife or sharp object, distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, and vandalism.
⁵ 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."
⁶ These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
⁷ 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.
⁸ Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
⁹ 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?"
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ 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.
¹² 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.
NOTE: "At school" was defined for respondents to include activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 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.

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