Table 28. Percentage of public middle schools that had specified practices to monitor school climate, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003

Crime and Safety Surveys

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Table 28. Percentage of public middle schools that had specified practices to monitor school climate, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04

School characteristic	Require students to wear uniforms	Enforce a strict dress code	Require faculty and staff to wear badges or picture IDs	Provide telephones in most classrooms	Provide two-way radios to any staff	Prohibit all tobacco use on school grounds
All public schools	14	71	50	63	73	93

Enrollment size
Less than 300	12	62	22	56	56	92
300–499	12	69	43	57	63	93
500–999	13	73	57	66	80	94
1,000 or more	19	77	65	72	80	94

Urbanicity
City	32	75	53	64	74	91
Urban fringe	10	73	58	67	75	94
Town	7	66	43	55	69	94
Rural	5	68	40	63	69	94

Crime level where students live¹
High	41	74	57	70	81	92
Moderate	24	80	53	61	73	93
Low	6	66	46	64	70	94
Mixed	12	75	58	59	77	94

Percent minority enrollment²
Less than 5 percent	2	57	36	64	65	96
5 to 20 percent	2	68	52	70	72	95
20 to 50 percent	8	76	59	60	77	94
50 percent or more	35	79	51	62	73	91

Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–20 percent	2	69	56	71	74	94
21–50 percent	3	67	51	66	74	95
More than 50 percent	31	77	46	56	71	92

Percent of students below 15^th percentile on standardized tests
0–5 percent	5	69	50	63	78	96
6–15 percent	11	71	50	65	71	93
More than 15 percent	23	73	50	62	71	93

Percent of students likely to attend college
0–35 percent	24	75	48	58	71	91
36–60 percent	13	75	49	60	73	95
More than 60 percent	5	65	53	71	73	94

Percent of students who consider academic achievement important
0–25 percent	26	76	48	56	70	90
26–50 percent	15	74	47	55	70	95
51–75 percent	15	72	47	64	75	93
More than 75 percent	7	67	56	71	73	94

Percent male enrollment
0–44 percent	28	76	44	64	69	92
45–55 percent	13	71	50	63	73	93
More than 55 percent	10	69	51	67	71	94

Student-to-teacher ratio³
Less than 12 students	10	64	48	64	68	94
12–16 students	14	75	54	58	75	94
More than 16 students	20	80	47	73	78	90

Number of classroom changes⁴
0–3 changes	19	58	33	64	69	89
4–6 changes	18	67	49	64	77	91
More than 6 changes	10	75	52	63	70	95

Regular use of law enforcement⁵
Regular use	16	76	56	63	75	93
No regular use	9	63	40	64	68	94

Number of serious discipline problems⁶
No problems	12	70	46	63	71	92
1 problem	11	77	55	67	75	95
2 problems	17	68	49	57	74	94
3 or more problems	18	69	56	66	72	94

Transfers as a percentage of enrollment⁷
0 to 6 percent	11	62	48	69	69	97
6 to 11 percent	16	74	49	69	71	92
11 to 21 percent	12	71	49	61	73	95
21 percent or more	15	76	53	57	77	90

Prevalence of schoolwide disruptions⁸
No disruptions	13	71	49	63	73	94
Any disruptions	19	70	56	65	73	92

Percent of students absent on a daily basis
0–2 percent	10	64	41	70	72	95
3–5 percent	12	71	50	63	72	95
6–10 percent	17	73	53	62	74	91
More than 10 percent	16	68	42	64	72	92

Prevalence of violent incidents⁹
No violent incidents	9	60	45	59	66	88
Any violent incidents	14	72	50	64	73	94
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.

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