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Table 6.  Number and percentage of public high schools reporting distribution of illegal drugs, possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, and incidents of vandalism at school, the number of incidents reported, and the rate of incidents per 1,000 students, by selected school characteristics: School year 2003–04


School characteristic Distribution of illegal drugs   Possession or use of alcohol or illegal drugs   Vandalism1
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		   Number
of
schools		 Percent
of
schools		 Number
of
incidents		 Rate per
1,000
students
All public schools  4,807 44 20,747 1.8   9,168 85 83,472 7.2   8,067 74 50,556 4.3
                             
Enrollment size                             
Less than 300  147 9 500 1.4   744 46 2,713 7.4   909 56 2,646 7.3
300–499  395 25 642 1.0   1,185 75 4,724 7.0   903 57 2,248 3.3
500–999  1,256 45 3,525 1.7   2,465 89 15,080 7.2   2,066 75 9,882 4.7
1,000 or more  3,008 62 16,080 1.9   4,774 98 60,956 7.2   4,189 86 35,780 4.2
                             
Urbanicity                             
City  1,332 57 8,472 2.5   2,060 88 25,335 7.5   1,927 82 15,940 4.7
Urban fringe  1,754 50 7,147 1.4   3,248 92 32,126 6.4   2,847 81 21,363 4.3
Town  678 39 1,918 1.5   1,474 84 10,296 7.9   1,134 65 5,123 3.9
Rural  1,042 33 3,211 1.7   2,386 75 15,715 8.1   2,160 68 8,130 4.2
                             
Crime level where
students live2 		                            
High  337 60 2,424 3.3   506 91 6,407 8.8   525 94 7,340 10.1
Moderate  1,137 51 5,365 2.1   2,018 91 19,430 7.5   1,756 79 11,468 4.4
Low  2,566 40 8,583 1.4   5,248 81 41,552 6.8   4,606 71 23,125 3.8
Mixed  767 48 4,376 2.0   1,396 87 16,083 7.5   1,179 74 8,623 4.0
                             
Percent minority
enrollment3 		                            
Less than 5 percent  834 33 1,966 1.2   1,838 72 11,146 7.0   1,672 65 7,327 4.6
5 to 20 percent  1,269 45 4,557 1.5   2,517 90 22,420 7.4   2,110 75 10,927 3.6
20 to 50 percent  1,257 50 4,615 1.5   2,228 89 21,105 6.9   1,966 78 11,142 3.7
50 percent or more  1,326 48 8,887 2.4   2,394 87 27,365 7.3   2,184 79 20,719 5.5
                             
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 		                            
0–20 percent  1,685 45 6,150 1.3   3,120 83 28,759 6.2   2,819 75 17,232 3.7
21–50 percent  1,950 43 7,110 1.6   3,943 87 33,668 7.5   3,333 74 17,348 3.8
More than 50 percent  1,172 46 7,487 3.0   2,105 82 21,045 8.5   1,914 75 15,976 6.4
                             
Percent of students
below 15th percentile
on standardized tests 		                            
0–5 percent  1,240 42 5,077 1.7   2,399 81 18,008 5.9   2,009 68 10,895 3.6
6–15 percent  2,184 45 7,536 1.4   4,094 85 37,015 7.0   3,565 74 18,831 3.6
More than 15 percent  1,382 45 8,134 2.4   2,675 87 28,450 8.5   2,492 81 20,830 6.3
                             
Percent of students likely
to attend college 		                            
0–35 percent  898 43 5,079 2.5   1,794 86 16,508 8.2   1,550 74 11,656 5.8
36–60 percent  1,527 47 5,782 1.8   2,717 84 24,254 7.6   2,351 73 11,901 3.7
More than 60 percent  2,381 43 9,885 1.5   4,657 84 42,710 6.6   4,166 76 26,999 4.2
                             
Percent of students who
consider academic
achievement important 		                            
0–25 percent  270 31 778 1.2   694 79 5,053 7.5   610 69 2,761 4.1
26–50 percent  1,033 48 5,955 2.8   1,876 87 19,238 9.0   1,728 80 11,534 5.4
51–75 percent  1,587 46 6,658 1.8   2,965 86 26,471 7.2   2,606 76 15,968 4.4
More than 75 percent  1,917 44 7,356 1.4   3,634 84 32,710 6.4   3,123 72 20,292 3.9
                             
Percent male enrollment                             
0–44 percent  361 40 1,994 2.4   694 76 5,084 6.2   593 65 3,968 4.8
45–55 percent  4,159 46 17,247 1.7   7,839 87 73,314 7.2   6,936 77 42,272 4.1
More than 55 percent  287 33 1,505 2.7   635 72 5,074 9.1   538 61 4,315 7.8
                             
Student-to-teacher ratio4                             
Less than 12 students  1,219 29 4,473 1.6   3,053 73 18,725 6.8   2,892 69 13,045 4.7
12–16 students  2,161 53 10,414 2.1   3,759 92 34,756 7.1   3,070 75 18,923 3.8
More than 16 students  1,427 56 5,860 1.5   2,356 92 29,991 7.6   2,105 83 18,588 4.7
                             
Number of classroom
changes5 		                            
0–3 changes  185 33 618 1.1   447 81 3,354 6.2   430 77 3,067 5.7
4–6 changes  2,590 49 11,465 1.9   4,652 89 48,470 8.1   3,866 74 25,287 4.2
More than 6 changes  2,031 40 8,664 1.7   4,070 81 31,648 6.2   3,771 75 22,202 4.4
                             
Regular use of law
enforcement6 		                            
Regular use  4,100 53 19,016 1.9   7,117 92 71,808 7.1   6,127 79 42,776 4.2
No regular use  707 23 1,732 1.1   2,051 67 11,665 7.7   1,940 63 7,780 5.1
                             
Number of serious
discipline problems7 		                            
No problems  2,705 40 10,309 1.6   5,407 80 40,611 6.4   4,511 67 21,899 3.5
1 problem  776 47 3,607 1.9   1,447 88 14,619 7.5   1,459 89 8,488 4.4
2 problems  602 50 2,324 1.6   1,145 95 12,545 8.6   997 83 6,372 4.3
3 or more problems  723 59 4,508 2.4   1,169 96 15,697 8.3   1,099 90 13,796 7.3
                             
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment8 		                            
0 to 6 percent  1,025 40 3,736 1.5   2,011 77 14,960 5.9   1,834 71 10,235 4.0
6 to 11 percent  967 44 4,161 2.1   1,771 81 12,531 6.2   1,534 71 9,516 4.7
11 to 21 percent  1,505 45 6,669 1.7   2,934 87 28,306 7.3   2,547 76 16,252 4.2
21 percent or more  1,309 49 6,181 1.9   2,451 91 27,676 8.7   2,151 80 14,553 4.6
                             
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions9 		                            
No disruptions  3,926 43 14,839 1.6   7,673 83 65,800 6.9   6,652 72 37,809 4.0
Any disruptions  881 54 5,908 2.7   1,495 92 17,672 8.2   1,414 87 12,747 5.9
                             
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 		                            
0–2 percent  210 32 625 1.2   467 70 3,850 7.6   471 71 2,331 4.6
3–5 percent  1,753 43 6,625 1.6   3,354 82 27,563 6.6   2,785 68 15,836 3.8
6–10 percent  2,264 47 10,221 1.8   4,224 88 42,379 7.5   3,858 80 24,983 4.4
More than 10 percent  580 46 3,276 2.6   1,123 89 9,680 7.8   952 75 7,406 6.0
1 Vandalism was defined for respondents as "the willful damage or destruction of school property including bombing, arson, graffiti, and other acts that cause property damage. Includes damage caused by computer hacking."
2 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."
3 These estimates exclude data from Tennessee because schools in this state did not report estimates of student race.
4 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.
5 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
6 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?"
7 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.
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 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 the school.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2004.

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