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Table 10.  Percentage of public high schools reporting selected types of disciplinary problems occurring at school daily or at least once a week, or at all, by selected school characteristics: School year 2005–06

  Happens daily or at least once a week   Happens at all 
School characteristic Student racial/ethnic tensions   Student bullying   Student sexual harassment of other students1   Student verbal abuse of teachers   Widespread disorder in classrooms   Student acts of disrespect for teachers  Gang activities2   Cult or extremist group activities3  
All public schools  5   22   6   17   5   30   39   11  
                                 
Enrollment size                                 
Less than 300    20     8 ! 6 ! 24   16    
300–499  5 ! 15 !   12 !   22   17   10 !
500–999  4 ! 23   5 ! 16   5   27   29   7  
1,000 or more  7   25   8   24   5   38   61   17  
                                 
Urbanicity                                 
City  5   18   7   27   7   36   66   18  
Urban fringe  7   22   8   16   3   31   44   11  
Town    26   5 ! 16   4 ! 22   29   8 !
Rural  4 ! 24   4 ! 14   5 ! 30   21   8  
                                 
Crime level where
students live4 
                               
High    31   12 ! 29     43   87   16  
Moderate  7   23   8   28   6 ! 40   52   15  
Low  4   20   6   12   3   24   26   8  
Mixed  7   27   5 ! 23   9   39   56   15  
                                 
Percent minority
enrollment5 
                               
Less than 5 percent  4 ! 28   6 ! 10   4 ! 23   7   2 !
5 to less than 20 percent  4   21   6   15   3 ! 30   25   10  
20 to less than 50 percent  8   21   6   20   5   32   54   15  
50 percent or more  4   21   7   26   9   36   70   14  
                                 
Percent of students
eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch 
                               
0–20 percent  5   19   6   11   3 ! 23   23   8  
21–50 percent  6   26   7   17   3   33   41   12  
More than 50 percent  4 ! 22   6   25   9   36   54   13  
                                 
Percent of students
below 15th percentile on
standardized tests 
                               
0–5 percent  3 ! 16   4 ! 11   3 ! 22   23   6  
6–15 percent  6   22   5   15   3 ! 30   40   11  
More than 15 percent  6   31   10   29   11   42   57   16  
                                 
Percent of students likely
to attend college 
                               
0–35 percent  5 ! 30   9   28   11   40   50   12  
36–60 percent  7   22   6   18   4 ! 32   41   13  
More than 60 percent  4   20   5   13   3   27   34   10  
                                 
Percent of students who consider
academic achievement important 
                               
0–25 percent  7 ! 32   13 ! 32   13 ! 43   57   13 !
26–50 percent  4 ! 25   6 ! 19   6 ! 30   38   11  
51–75 percent  7   26   8   17   5   36   42   12  
More than 75 percent  3   16   3   14   3 ! 24   34   9  
                                 
Percent male enrollment                                 
0–44 percent    29   6 ! 25   10 ! 36   42   11 !
45–55 percent  5   22   6   17   4   31   38   11  
More than 55 percent    20 !   17   7 ! 26   48   11 !
                                 
Student-to-FTE ratio6                                 
Less than 12 students  3 ! 18   5   14   4 ! 28   26   7  
12–16 students  7   26   5   22   6   34   44   14  
More than 16 students  5 ! 25   10   17   5   30   55   13  
                                 
Number of classroom
changes7 
                               
0–3 changes    14 ! 6 ! 18 !   28   53   13 !
4–6 changes  7   24   7   17   5   33   41   12  
More than 6 changes  3   22   5   17   5   28   35   10  
                                 
Regular use of law
enforcement8 
                               
Regular use  6   22   7   19   5   32   47   13  
No regular use    22   5 ! 11   4 ! 24   15   4 !
                                 
Number of serious
discipline problems9 
                               
No problems  #   #   #   #   #   #   30   7  
1 problem    36     5   #   53   41   12  
2 problems  6 ! 48   8 ! 50     82   52   17  
3 or more problems  31   77   35   83   34   95   64   23  
                                 
Transfers as a percentage
of enrollment10 
                               
Less than 6 percent  4 ! 19   3 ! 12   4 ! 22   25   9  
6 to less than 11 percent  4 ! 23   8   15   3 ! 23   32   10  
11 to less than 21 percent  7   26   7   16   3 ! 33   40   10  
21 percent or more  4   22   7   24   8   40   53   14  
                                 
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions11 
                               
No disruptions  5   20   6   15   4   27   36   9  
Any disruptions  8   37   9 ! 30   9 ! 50   58   23  
                                 
Percent of students
absent on a daily basis 
                               
0–2 percent    13 ! #   11 !   20 ! 13 ! #  
3–5 percent  4   21   4   14   4 ! 23   31   10  
6–10 percent  5   24   8   18   6   34   43   12  
More than 10 percent  6 ! 22   8   28   7 ! 47   61   13  
                                 
Prevalence of violent incidents12                                 
No violent incidents  #     #     #        
Any violent incidents  5   23   6   18   5   32   40   11  
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is from 30 percent to 50 percent of the estimate’s value.
‡ Reporting standards not met. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value.
1 Sexual harassment was defined for respondents as "unsolicited, offensive behavior that inappropriately asserts sexuality over another person. This behavior may be verbal or nonverbal."
2 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."
3 Cult or extremist group was defined for respondents as "a group that espouses radical beliefs and practices, which may include a religious component, that are widely seen as threatening the basic values and cultural norms of society at large."
4 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."
5 Responding schools that did not have race/ethnicity on the sampling frame (2 percent of schools) are excluded from the base.
6 Student-to-FTE 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.
7 Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
8 Respondents were asked, "During the 2005–2006 school year, did you have any sworn law enforcement officers, security guards, or security personnel present at your school at least once a week?"
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 Violent incidents include rape or attempted 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: "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. Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school. Detail may not sum to totals, because schools may have reported having more than one of these disciplinary problems. High schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 9 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 12.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2005–06 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2006.