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Table 17.  Number of students in public middle schools involved in the distribution, possession, or use of alcohol or illegal drugs at school, and the number and percentage of students receiving various disciplinary actions, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


  Disciplinary actions taken for students involved in the distribution, possession, or use of alcohol or illegal drugs at school
Total students involved in recorded offenses Removals without continuing services   Transfers to specialized schools1   Out-of-school suspensions lasting 5 or more days   Other disciplinary action2
School characteristic Number Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
All public schools 37,022   1,621 5   11,136 31   13,688 39   8,944 25
                           
Enrollment size                           
Less than 300  1,081   59 5   216 20   142 13   663 61
300–499  4,784   310 7   1,252 27   1,894 41   1,182 25
500–999  19,157   885 5   5,466 30   7,520 41   4,589 25
1,000 or more  12,001   367 3   4,202 37   4,132 37   2,510 22
                           
Urbanicity                           
City  13,649   514 4   4,533 36   4,313 34   3,368 26
Urban fringe  13,048   754 6   3,926 31   5,155 41   2,830 22
Town  4,341   128 3   1,213 28   1,815 42   1,118 26
Rural  5,983   225 4   1,464 26   2,406 42   1,628 28
                           
Crime level where students live3                          
High  4,759   164 4   1,571 36   1,375 32   1,220 28
Moderate  10,496   380 4   3,276 32   3,394 33   3,118 31
Low  16,047   729 5   4,647 30   6,508 42   3,624 23
Mixed  5,719   348 6   1,642 31   2,411 45   982 18
                           
Percent minority enrollment4                           
Less than 5 percent  3,517   141 4   701 20   1,475 43   1,122 33
5 to 20 percent  8,803   339 4   2,099 25   3,716 44   2,287 27
20 to 50 percent  8,430   370 4   2,680 33   3,891 47   1,293 16
50 percent or more  15,750   748 5   5,405 37   4,452 30   4,150 28
                           
Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch                           
0–20 percent  6,925   164 2   1,780 27   2,812 43   1,803 27
21–50 percent  13,210   738 6   3,548 28   6,067 47   2,493 19
More than 50 percent  16,887   720 5   5,808 36   4,809 30   4,648 29
                           
Percent of students below 15th percentile on standardized tests                           
0–5 percent  5,508   241 5   1,563 29   2,293 43   1,258 23
6–15 percent  15,724   530 4   4,291 28   5,682 38   4,610 31
More than 15 percent  15,790   850 6   5,281 35   5,713 38   3,076 21
                           
Percent of students likely to attend college                           
0–35 percent  15,239   1,036 7   4,277 29   5,600 39   3,625 25
36–60 percent  11,942   263 2   4,152 37   3,760 33   3,173 28
More than 60 percent  9,841   322 3   2,706 28   4,327 46   2,146 23
                           
Percent of students who consider academic achievement important                          
0–25 percent  4,811   186 4   1,475 31   1,839 39   1,205 26
26–50 percent  9,977   715 8   2,731 29   3,695 39   2,330 25
51–75 percent  11,879   531 5   3,781 33   4,162 36   3,044 26
More than 75 percent  10,355   189 2   3,148 32   3,992 41   2,365 24
                           
Percent male enrollment                           
0–44 percent  2,252   130 6   827 38   982 45   242 11
45–55 percent  31,415   1,330 4   9,319 31   11,330 38   7,950 27
More than 55 percent  3,355   160 5   989 30   1,376 42   752 23
                           
Student-to-teacher ratio5                           
Less than 12 students  10,070   432 4   2,249 23   4,087 42   2,961 30
12–16 students  16,352   712 5   5,893 38   4,845 31   4,005 26
More than 16 students  10,599   477 5   2,994 29   4,756 47   1,978 19
                           
Number of classroom changes6                           
0–3 changes  624   68 11   161 26   208 34   175 29
4–6 changes  14,956   763 5   4,517 32   5,817 41   3,117 22
More than 6 changes  21,442   789 4   6,458 31   7,663 37   5,652 27
                           
Regular use of law enforcement7                          
Regular use  29,261   1,209 4   8,952 32   10,902 39   6,950 25
No regular use  7,761   411 6   2,184 30   2,786 38   1,994 27
                           
Number of serious discipline problems8                           
No problems  10,988   586 6   3,379 32   4,241 41   2,259 22
1 problem  8,208   284 4   2,620 33   2,533 32   2,590 32
2 problems  7,157   251 4   2,470 36   2,904 42   1,310 19
3 or more problems  10,669   500 5   2,667 27   4,010 40   2,785 28
                           
Transfers as a percentage of enrollment9                          
0 to 6 percent  5,735   429 8   934 17   2,859 51   1,338 24
6 to 11 percent  6,535   217 3   2,216 35   2,551 41   1,266 20
11 to 21 percent  11,532   436 4   3,153 29   4,441 40   2,999 27
21 percent or more  13,218   539 4   4,832 39   3,837 31   3,341 27
                           
Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions10                          
No disruptions  32,618   1,561 5   9,479 30   12,514 40   7,641 24
Any disruptions  4,404   60 1   1,657 40   1,174 28   1,303 31
                           
Percent of students absent on a daily basis                          
0–2 percent  1,777   18 1   387 23   742 43   558 33
3–5 percent  17,739   686 4   6,089 36   6,623 39   3,555 21
6–10 percent  16,218   851 6   4,373 28   5,970 39   4,264 28
More than 10 percent  1,288   65 5   286 22   353 28   567 45
                           
Prevalence of violent incidents11                           
No violent incidents  462   17 4   159 37   27 6   231 53
Any violent incidents  36,559   1,604 5   10,977 31   13,661 39   8,713 25
1 Specialized school was defined for respondents as "a school that is specifically for students who were referred for disciplinary reasons. The school may also have students who were referred for other reasons. The school may be at the same location as your school."
2 Other disciplinary actions include suspension less than 5 days, detention, etc.
3 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."
4 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
5 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.
6 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
7 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?"
8 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.
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, 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: The numbers of students involved in offenses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about discipline issues at the school. 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.