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Table 28.1  Percentage of public middle schools that monitored campus in specified ways, by selected school characteristics: School year 2015–16

  Percentage of schools that monitored access to students in specified ways
School characteristic Require metal detector checks on students every day   Perform one or more random metal detector checks on students   Use one or more random dog sniffs to check for drugs   Perform one or more random sweeps for contraband, but not including dog sniffs1   Require drug testing for athletes   Require drug testing for students in extra-curricular activities other than athletics   Require students to wear uniforms  
All public middle schools 2.7   7.1   41.5   16.3   11.4   9.5   19.5  
                             
Enrollment size                            
Less than 300 ‡   9.0 ! 34.8   15.1   19.7   15.8   24.4  
300–499 ‡   2.9 ! 40.4   17.5   12.9   11.4   18.1  
500–999 2.5 ! 7.0   43.6   16.3   9.1   7.3   17.7  
1,000 or more 4.8 ! 12.3   45.7   15.8   4.8 ! 5.0 ! 22.4  
                             
Locale                            
City 8.2 ! 14.5   35.9   17.4   3.2 ! 2.6 ! 40.7  
Suburb ‡   4.7   37.9   13.7   5.0   3.7   15.0  
Town ‡   4.9 ! 44.5   17.7   19.5   17.4   14.8  
Rural ‡   4.3 ! 51.2   18.1   24.0   20.0   7.3 !
                             
Crime level where students live2                            
High 15.5 ! 21.8 ! 32.3   20.8 ! ‡   ‡   75.4  
Moderate 5.0 ! 14.4   34.1   20.5   12.3   9.8   32.0  
Low ‡   3.2   43.6   14.5   13.1   10.9   8.5  
Mixed ‡   5.7 ! 49.1   15.4   6.1 ! ‡   22.9  
                             
Percent combined enrollment of
Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific
 Islander, and American Indian/
 Alaska Native students, and
 students of Two or more races		                            
Less than 5 percent ‡   ‡   47.3   ‡   17.8 ! 17.8 ! ‡  
5 to less than 20 percent ‡   ‡   48.5   18.9   17.0   12.8   3.9 !
20 to less than 50 percent ‡   4.1 ! 38.2   11.9   9.5   8.1   5.2  
50 percent or more 6.4   14.0   38.8   18.8   8.2   7.3   41.8  
                             
Percent of students eligible for
free or reduced-price lunch		                            
0–25 percent ‡   ‡   31.5   8.5   ‡   ‡   ‡  
26–50 percent ‡   ‡   47.1   16.4   14.9   13.2   5.0 !
51–75 percent ‡   8.2   46.6   17.9   16.1   13.8   16.4  
More than 75 percent 9.6 ! 16.8   35.6   19.6   7.9   5.5 ! 53.0  
                             
Percent of students below 15th
percentile on standardized tests		                            
0–5 percent ‡   2.7 ! 42.1   12.8   12.8   9.5   11.8  
6–15 percent ‡   5.6   41.6   15.1   12.4   10.2   15.7  
More than 15 percent 5.2   11.7   41.1   20.0   9.3   8.7   29.0  
                             
Percent of students likely
to attend college		                            
0–35 percent 5.2 ! 11.1   42.7   21.6   14.9   12.7   28.3  
36–60 percent ‡   6.4   47.8   14.4   13.7   10.7   17.3  
More than 60 percent 1.9 ! 5.6   37.4   14.9   8.4   7.3   16.8  
                             
Percent of students who consider
academic achievement very important		                            
0–25 percent ‡   12.7 ! 50.1   21.1 ! 17.8 ! 18.2 ! 41.1  
26–50 percent ‡   7.8 ! 49.0   16.3   17.1   12.3   13.1  
51–75 percent 2.1 ! 9.3   43.6   20.4   11.1   10.6   23.6  
More than 75 percent 1.9 ! 4.3   35.2   12.7   7.7   5.9   16.3  
                             
Percent male enrollment                            
0–44 percent ‡   18.3 ! 33.2   35.6   17.5 ! ‡   26.5 !
45–55 percent 2.0   5.9   43.0   14.6   11.1   9.4   17.7  
More than 55 percent ‡   ‡   26.7 ! 22.3 ! ‡   ‡   42.4  
                             
Student-to-FTE ratio3                            
Less than 12 students ‡   6.4 ! 39.2   15.9 ! 12.3 ! 11.0 ! 19.9  
12–16 students 3.0 ! 7.6   40.1   17.3   15.9   12.6   17.9  
More than 16 students 2.3 ! 6.8   43.4   15.5   7.2   6.4   20.9  
                             
Number of classroom changes4                            
0–3 changes ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
4–6 changes 5.9 ! 11.8   35.1   18.0   7.6   6.7   24.9  
More than 6 changes 1.0 ! 4.7   48.5   16.5   14.6   12.0   16.2  
                             
Regular use of security staff5                            
Regular use 2.7   8.0   45.2   18.7   12.5   10.5   21.5  
No regular use ‡   4.4 ! 31.5   9.5   8.4   6.8   14.2  
                             
Number of serious discipline problems6                            
No problems 1.6 ! 5.4   39.6   15.1   11.7   9.8   17.2  
1 problem ‡   9.0 ! 42.4   17.5   14.1   11.3   21.2  
2 problems ‡   ‡   59.0   25.7 ! 8.3 ! 6.5 ! 21.8  
3 or more problems ‡   20.1 ! 40.1   14.8 ! ‡   ‡   35.2  
                             
Transfers as a percentage of enrollment7                            
Less than 6 percent ‡   5.1   44.3   15.4   5.6   4.7 ! 15.7  
6 to less than 11 percent ‡   4.9 ! 43.8   15.0   13.1   11.8   19.2  
11 to less than 21 percent 5.0 ! 9.5   38.7   15.1   12.5   10.6   17.8  
21 percent or more ‡   9.5   38.4   22.0   17.3   12.7 ! 30.4  
                             
Prevalence of schoolwide
disruptions8		                            
No disruptions 2.6   6.4   40.5   16.0   11.3   9.3   18.6  
Any disruptions ‡   14.0   52.3   18.6   11.6 ! 11.4 ! 28.8  
                             
Percent of students absent
on a daily basis		                            
0–2 percent ‡   ‡   39.0   14.6   10.2 ! 10.2 ! 12.9 !
3–5 percent 3.3 ! 6.4   45.7   15.0   11.9   9.7   17.7  
6–10 percent ‡   10.1   34.0   19.9   11.6   9.4   25.1  
More than 10 percent ‡   ‡   32.3   17.3 ! ‡   ‡   28.3 !
                             
Prevalence of violent incidents 9                            
No violent incidents ‡   ‡   30.3   8.4 ! 7.4 ! ‡   15.5 !
Any violent incidents 2.5   7.3   43.1   17.3   11.9   10.0   20.1  
! 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. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the standard error represents more than 50 percent of the estimate.
1Examples of contraband provided to respondents were drugs or weapons.
2Respondents 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."
3Student-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.
4Respondents were asked, "How many classroom changes do most students make in a typical day?" Responses exclude morning arrival and afternoon departure.
5Regular use of security staff includes full- or part-time school resource officers, sworn law enforcement officers, or security guards or security personnel present at school at least once a week.
6Serious discipline problems include student racial/ethnic tensions, student bullying, student sexual harassment of other students, student harassment of other students based on sexual orientation, student harassment of other students based on gender identity, widespread disorder in classrooms, student verbal abuse of teachers, student acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal abuse, and gang 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.
7Transfers 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.
8Schoolwide 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.
9Violent incidents include rape or attempted rape, sexual assault other than rape (including threatened rape), physical attack or fight with or without a weapon, threat of physical attack with or without a weapon, and robbery (taking things with force) with or without a weapon.
NOTE: Middle schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 4 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 9. Detail may not sum to totals because schools may have reported using more than one of these practices. 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, 2015–16 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), 2016.

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