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S. Public Schools: 1996-97Executive Summary& # 8220 ; No affair where you are, parents want their pupils to be safe and unafraid & # 8230 ; that might even predate a quality instruction & # 8230 ; & # 8221 ; With drugs, packs, and guns on the rise in many communities the menace of force & # 8220 ; weighs to a great extent on most principals & # 8217 ; minds these yearss & # 8230 ; Anyone who thinks they are non vulnerable is truly na? ve. & # 8221 ; ( Principal Michael Durso, Springbrook High School, as quoted in the Washingtonian Magazine, September 1997 ) .BackgroundRecent events have once more focused the state & # 8217 ; s attending on force in U.S. public schools, an issue that has generated public concern and directed research for more than two decades.

1 Despite long-standing attending to the job, there is a turning perceptual experience that non all public schools are safe topographic points of acquisition, and media studies highlight specific school-based violent Acts of the Apostless. The 7th end of the National Education Goals provinces that by the twelvemonth 2000, & # 8220 ; all schools in America will be free of drugs and force and the unauthorised presence of pieces and intoxicant, and offer a disciplined environment that is contributing to learning. & # 8221 ; In response to this end, the Congress passed the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994, which provides for support of drug and force bar plans.

As portion of this statute law, the National Center for Education Statistics ( NCES ) is required to roll up informations to find the & # 8220 ; frequence, earnestness, and incidence of force in simple and secondary schools. & # 8221 ; NCES responded to this demand by commissioning a study, the Principal/School Disciplinarian Survey on School Violence, 1996-97, the consequences of which are detailed in this study.The school force study was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1,234 regular public elementary, center, and secondary schools in the 50 provinces and the District of Columbia in the spring and summer of 1997.

The study requested information on four chief subjects:? The incidence of offense and force that occurred in public schools during the 1996-97 academic twelvemonth ;? Principals & # 8217 ; ( or school martinets & # 8217 ; ) perceptual experiences about the earnestness of a assortment of subject issues in their schools ;? The types of disciplinary actions schools took against pupils for serious discourtesies ; and? The sorts of security steps and force bar plans that were in topographic point in public schools.The types of condemnable incidents that schools were asked to describe included slaying, self-destruction, colza or other type of sexual battery, assault or battle with a arm, robbery, assault or battle without a arm, theft/ theft, and hooliganism. Any attempt to quantify the frequence and earnestness of these offenses and violent incidents happening in public schools will be affected by the manner in which the information is collected and reported. Three of import facets of the procedure that were used to garner the information reported in this publication were:?? The study inquiries asked, including how the inquiries were phrased, definitions applied, clip span covered, and the context in which they were asked ;? The pick of study respondent ; and? The study sample size.The reader should maintain these facets of the study in head when comparing consequences of this peculiar sample study with other surveies on school offense and force. The information reported from this survey may change from informations reported elsewhere because of differences in definitions, coverage, respondents, and sample. For illustration, the information reported in this study describe the figure of incidents of offense, non the figure of persons involved in such incidents. It should be noted that an incident could affect more than one single culprit or single victim.

Similarly, an single culprit or victim could be involved in multiple incidents.Key FindingssHow Serious A Problem Was Crime And Violence In U.S. Public Schools In The 1996-1997 School Year?More than half of U.S.

public schools reported sing at least one offense incident in school twelvemonth 1996-97, and 1 in 10 schools reported at least one serious violent offense during that school twelvemonth ( table 7 ) .?? Fifty-seven per centum of public simple and secondary school principals reported that one or more incidents of crime/violence that were reported to the constabulary or other jurisprudence enforcement functionaries had occurred in their school during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth.? Ten per centum of all public schools experienced one or more serious violent offenses ( defined as slaying, colza or other type of sexual battery, self-destruction, physical onslaught or battle with a arm, or robbery ) that were reported to constabularies or other jurisprudence enforcement functionaries during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth.? Physical onslaughts or battles without a arm led the list of reported offenses in public schools with approximately 190,000 such incidents reported for 1996-97 ( figure 1 ) . About 116,000 incidents of larceny or theft were reported along with 98,000 incidents of hooliganism. These less serious or nonviolent offenses were more common than serious violent offenses, with schools describing about 4,000 incidents of colza or other type of sexual battery, 7,000 robberies, and 11,000 incidents of physical onslaughts or battles in which arms were used.? While 43 per centum of public schools reported no incidents of offense in 1996-97, 37 per centum reported from one to five offenses and about 20 per centum reported six offenses or more ( figure 3 ) .

What Types Of Schools Were Likely To Have More Serious Problems With Crime And Violence?Crime and force were more of a job in center and high schools than in simple schools. Middle schools and high schools were more likely to describe that they had experienced one or more incidents of any offense and one or more incidents of serious violent offense than simple schools ( table 7 ) .?? Forty-five per centum of simple schools reported one or more violent incidents compared with 74 per centum of center and 77 per centum of high schools.? Four per centum of simple schools reported one or more serious violent offenses compared with 19 per centum of center and 21 per centum of high schools.

? Of the less serious or nonviolent offenses, the largest ratios of offenses per 100,000 pupils were found in center and high schools compared with simple schools. This was true for physical onslaughts or battles without a arm, theft/larceny, and hooliganism ( table 10 ) .? In general, simple schools reported proportionally fewer incidents of serious violent offense. They reported lower rates of physical onslaughts or battles with a arm and colza or other type of sexual battery when compared with in-between schools and high schools. However, while simple schools reported lower ratios of robbery compared with high schools, they were non significantly different from in-between schools.Schools that reported serious subject jobs were more likely to hold experienced one or more incidents of offense or force, and were more likely to see serious violent offense than those with less serious subject jobs ( table 7 ) .

?? Sixteen per centum of public school principals considered at least one serious subject job ( out of 17 subject issues that they were asked approximately ) to be a serious job in their schools in 1996-97 ( table 12 ) . The staying schools were approximately every bit divided between those that had childs or no subject jobs on all 17 issues ( 43 per centum ) and those that reported a moderate ( but no serious ) job on at least 1 of the issues ( 41 per centum ) .? Principals in public high schools and in-between schools were more likely than public simple school principals to rate at least one subject issue as a serious job in their schools. Thirty-seven per centum of high school principals reported at least one serious subject job in their schools compared with 18 per centum of in-between school principals and 8 per centum of simple school principals ( table 12 ) .? In both 1990-91 and 1996-97, the three subject issues most often rated as serious or moderate jobs by principals were student tardiness, pupil absenteeism or category film editing, and physical struggles among pupils ( table 13 ) .What Measures Are Schools Taking To Cover With Problems Of Crime And Violences?Most public schools reported holding zero tolerance policies towards serious pupil discourtesies ( table 19 ) .

? Principals were asked about whether the school had & # 8220 ; zero-tolerance & # 8221 ; policies, defined as school or territory policy mandating predetermined effects for assorted pupil discourtesies. The proportion of schools that had such policies ranged from 79 to 94 per centum on force, baccy, intoxicant, drugs, arms other than pieces, and pieces ( figure 8 and table 19 ) .Most schools reported that they employed low degrees of security steps to forestall force ( figure 11 ) .?? To detect what types of security were employed, schools were asked whether visitants must subscribe in, if there was a closed campus policy for most pupils during tiffin, if entree to the school edifice was controlled, if entree to school evidences was controlled, if there had been one or more drug expanses, whether the school used random metal sensor cheques on pupils, or whether pupils must go through through metal sensors daily ( table 22 ) . Schools were besides asked about the presence of constabulary or other jurisprudence enforcement at the school ( table 23 ) .? Two per centum of public schools had rigorous security, which was defined as a full-time guard and day-to-day or random metal sensor cheques ( figure 11 ) . Eleven per centum of schools had instituted moderate security steps such as a full-time guard, or a parttime guard with restricted entree to the school, or metal sensors with no guards, while 84 per centum of public schools reported holding a low degree of security-restricted entree to their schools but no guards or metal sensors.

Another 3 per centum reported that none of the security measures asked about in the study were used.Most schools reported holding formal school force bar plans ( table 25 ) .?? Seventy-eight per centum of schools reported holding some type of formal violence-prevention or force decrease plan or attempt.? Fifty per centum of public schools with violence-prevention plans indicated that all or about all of their pupils participated in these plans ( figure 12 and table 30 ) .Footnote:[ 1 ] U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, & # 8220 ; Violent Schools & # 8211 ; Safe Schools: The Safe School Study Report to the Congress, & # 8221 ; December 1977.Last updated March 18, 1998Questions, jobs or remarks with this Web site?Contact NCESwebmaster @ ed.

gov.IntroductionThe break caused by force in our state & # 8217 ; s public elementary and secondary schools is a national concern. Crime in and around schools threatens the wellbeing of pupils, school staff, and communities. It besides impedes acquisition and pupil accomplishment. The 7th end of the National Education Goals provinces that by the twelvemonth 2000, & # 8220 ; all schools in America will be free of drugs and force and the unauthorised presence of pieces and intoxicant, and offer a disciplined environment that is contributing to learning.

& # 8221 ; To carry through this end, the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994 provides for support of drug and force bar plans. The Act includes an impact rating constituent, which contains a proviso necessitating the National Center for Education Statistics ( NCES ) to roll up informations to find the frequence, earnestness, and incidence of force in simple and secondary schools.Reacting to this statute law, NCES commissioned a study ( the Principal/School Disciplinarian Survey on School Violence ) to obtain current informations on school force and other subject issues in our state & # 8217 ; s public elementary and secondary schools. The study requested information about 1 ) the existent figure of specific offenses that had occurred at school during the 1996-97 academic twelvemonth ; 2 ) principals & # 8217 ; perceptual experiences about the earnestness of a assortment of subject issues at their schools ; 3 ) the types of disciplinary actions schools took against pupils for some serious misdemeanors ; and 4 ) the sorts of security steps and force bar plans that were in topographic point in public schools. Principals were asked to supply information about incidents of offense and force that were serious plenty for the constabulary or other jurisprudence enforcement representatives to hold been contacted. They were besides asked to describe merely on incidents happening in school edifices, on school evidences, on school coachs, and at school-sponsored events or activities held in topographic points other than school evidences or school belongings.

The information collected indicate both the incidence and frequence of many types of serious offenses that took topographic point in public schools and the types of security and other violence-prevention steps in topographic point in schools.This study presents the findings from the study, which was conducted for NCES by Westat, a research house in Rockville, Maryland. The study was conducted through the NCES Fast Response Survey System ( FRSS ) during the spring and summer of 1997.

FRSS is a study system designed to roll up little sums of issue-oriented informations with minimum load on respondents and within a comparatively short clip frame. Questionnaires were mailed to school principals, who were asked to finish the study signifier or to hold it completed by the individual most knowing about subject issues at the school.The study was conducted with a nationally representative sample of regular public elementary, center, and high schools in the 50 provinces and the District of Columbia. Particular instruction, alternate, and vocational schools, and schools that taught merely prekindergarten, kindergarten, or grownup instruction were non represented in the sample.

Survey findings are presented individually for all regular public schools, and by the undermentioned school features ( defined in the glossary of footings on pages 32 through 35 ) 😕 Instructional degree: simple, in-between, high school.? Size of registration: less than 300 pupils ( little schools ) , 300 to 999 pupils ( moderate-sized schools ) , 1,000 or more pupils ( big schools ) .? Locale of school: metropolis, urban periphery, town, rural.? Geographic part: Northeast, Southeast, Central, West.? Percent minority registration: less than 5 per centum, 5 to 19 per centum, 20 to 49 per centum, 50 per centum or more.? Percentage of pupils eligible for the federally funded free or reduced-price tiffin plan used as a step of poorness concentration: less than 20 per centum, 20 to 34 per centum, 35 to 49 per centum, 50 to 74 per centum, 75 per centum or more.Some study findings are besides presented by school features reported in the study:? Principals & # 8217 ; studies on subject jobs in their schools: no problems/ child jobs reported by principal, moderate jobs, and serious jobs.? Types of offense reported: no offense, any offense ( including less serious or nonviolent offense merely and/or some serious offenses reported ) , lesser offenses merely, some serious offenses reported.

? Zero tolerance policy for force: schools describing that they do hold a zero tolerance policy for force, schools describing that they do non hold a zero tolerance policy for force.? Police/law enforcement presence: 30 hours or more per hebdomad ; 10-29 hours per hebdomad ; 1-9 hours per hebdomad ; stationed as needed ; none stationed at the school.It is of import to observe that many of the school features used for independent analyses may besides be related to each other. The size of registration and instructional degree of schools, for illustration, are known to be related with in-between schools and high schools typically being larger than simple schools. Similarly, venue may be related to poverty degree and other relationships between analysis variables may be.

The sample size was non big plenty to command for these types of relationships. Their being, nevertheless, should be considered in the reading of the informations presented in this study.Among the informations collected on school subject and force issues in public schools were incidents of specific offenses and on a assortment of specific subject issues. The types of offenses and subject issues on which this study focused make non stand for an thorough list of possible school offense or subject misdemeanors. Besides, the figure of incidents of offense reported by schools is non the same as the figure of persons involved in such incidents and the reader should maintain in head the particulars of this survey when comparing the findings reported here with other surveies on school offense and force. The information reported in this survey may change from informations reported elsewhere because of differences in definitions, coverage, respondents, and sample.

Among the issues to see in construing the information presented in this study are:The Choice of Survey Respondent. This study relied on the responses of public school principals ( or school martinets ) to describe on all informations points requested. This includes the studies on the incidence of specific offenses in their schools. There are other studies in being, most notably the one-year National Crime Victimization Survey of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice, that request information from existent offense victims.2 It is likely that the incident studies provided by a 3rd party, in this instance school principals, may be an undercount of the incidents of offense and force that might hold occurred during the school twelvemonth examined.

This is peculiarly likely for lesser incidents, such as larceny, that may non hold been reported to the principal as they occurred. Therefore, comparings with studies by victims of offenses that occurred in public schools will non needfully fit those studies provided by school principals in this survey.The Survey Questions Asked.

For describing on specific incidents of offense, principals were asked to supply information merely on those serious plenty for the constabulary or other jurisprudence enforcement representatives to hold been contacted. Additionally, the incidents reported were restricted to those that occurred in school edifices, on school evidences, on school coachs, and at school-sponsored events or activities held in topographic points other than school evidences or school belongings. These limitations were necessary to better callback and to guarantee that the incidents that were reported were both of a serious nature and comparable across schools.

These limitations could ensue in a lower figure of reported incidents when compared with the figure reported by other surveies that do non likewise curtail the inquiries asked.The Survey Sample Size. The sample size for this study, 1,234 public schools, was excessively little to guarantee dependable estimations for really rare events. In the instance of school-based force, both slayings and self-destructions are comparatively rare events.

In fact, no slayings were reported by principals in this study. Although a little figure of self-destructions were reported and later verified, the figure was excessively little to let the computation of dependable estimations and is hence non reported in the consequences of this study, except where combined with other types of violent events to show general statistics. This does non intend that no slayings or self-destructions occurred in public schools during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth. Other surveies have detailed both incidents of slaying and self-destruction in public schools and discussed the methodological analysis employed to do such estimates.3Finally, the reader should be cautioned that any sample study is capable to data aggregation mistakes and response prejudice. Further information on the proficient specifications, response rates, computation of standard mistakes and proving of comparings presented in this text are provided in the subdivision on study methodological analysis and sample choice at the terminal of the study.

Datas have been weighted to national estimations of regular public schools and postpone A on page 28 provides the leaden and unweighted distribution of the sample by the analysis variables. All comparative statements made in this study have been tested for statistical significance through chi-square trials or t-tests adjusted for multiple comparings utilizing the Bonferroni accommodation and are important at the 0.05 degree or better. However, non all statistically important comparings have been presented. Datas are presented in figures looking in the text and in mention tabular arraies that appear in the Table of Estimates and Standard Errors on pages 37 to 122. The study questionnaire is reproduced in appendix A.Incidents of Crime and Violence in Public SchoolsPublic school principals were presented with a list of offenses and asked to describe the figure of incidents of each type of offense that had occurred at their schools during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth. The offenses about which schools were asked were slaying, self-destruction, colza or other type of sexual battery, physical onslaught or battle with a arm, robbery, physical onslaught or battle without a arm, larceny or theft, and hooliganism.

Respondents were provided with definitions for each of these types of offense ( those definitions appear in the glossary of this study on pages 32 through 35 ) . Under the premise that offenses or discourtesies reported to patrol would be more accurately recalled, schools were asked to describe merely those incidents for which the constabulary or other jurisprudence enforcement representatives had been contacted. It was besides assumed that necessitating a benchmark of jurisprudence enforcement contact would minimise subjective judgement about which incidents to include.

Merely crimes happening at the school, including those that took topographic point in school edifices, on school evidences, on school coachs, and at school-sponsored events or activities, but non officially on school evidences, were to be reported. While pupil victimization and teacher-reported informations on offenses happening at school have been collected and reported elsewhere, school principals were asked to describe unduplicated incidents at the school level.4During 1996-97, approximately 4,000 incidents of colza or other types of sexual battery were reported in our state & # 8217 ; s public schools ( figure 1 and table 1 ) . There were about 11,000 incidents of physical onslaughts or battles in which arms were used and 7,000 robberies in schools that twelvemonth. About 190,000 battles or physical onslaughts non affecting arms besides occurred at schools in 1996-97, along with about 115,000 larcenies and 98,000 incidents of hooliganism ( tables 2-6 ) .Because the sample size was non big plenty to bring forth dependable estimations for really rare events, the study was non able to gauge either the per centum of schools sing one or more incidents of slaying or self-destruction or the entire figure of these offenses that occurred at public schools during 1996-97. For illustration, in the sample of 1,234 public schools, slaying was non reported by any of the schools and, likewise, merely 4 schools in the sample reported any incidents of self-destruction. The rareness of the happening of these offenses at school, given the sample size of the survey, precluded the coevals of dependable national estimations.

In a descriptive instance survey of violent deceases in schools, Kachur, et al. , estimated that there were 105 school-associated violent deceases including 85 slayings happening at schools during a 2-year period from 1992 to 1994.5Footnotes:[ 4 ] See W. Mansfield, D. Alexander, and E.

Farris, Teacher Survey on Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools, Fast Response Survey System, FRSS 42, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1991 ( NCES 91-091 ) for teacher-reported informations.

For student-reported offense informations see L. Bastian and B. Taylor, School Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1991 ( NCJ-131645 ) , and M.J.

Nolan, E. Daily, and K. Chandler, Student Victimization at School, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1995 ( NCES 95-204 ) .

[ 5 ] S.P. Kachur, et al. , & # 8220 ; School Associated Violent Deaths in the United States, 1992 to 1994, & # 8221 ; Journal of the American Medical Association, June 12, 1996, 275 ( 22 ) : 1729-1733.Last updated March 18, 1998Questions, jobs or remarks with this Web site?Contact NCESwebmaster @ ed.gov.

Percentage of Public Schools Reporting Crime and ViolenceSchools were asked to describe the figure of incidents of assorted offenses. To understand the extent to which offenses affect our state & # 8217 ; s public schools and public school pupils, the incidence of offense in footings of the proportion of schools sing offenses are examined below. Nationally, 43 per centum of schools reported that none of the listed offenses had occurred at that place during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth ( figure 2 and table 7 ) . Fifty-seven per centum, nevertheless, reported that at least one of these offenses had occurred and had been reported to the constabulary.

One in 10 public schools reported at least one serious violent offense such as colza or sexual battery, self-destruction, physical onslaughts or battles with arm, or robbery had occurred at the school. Almost half ( 47 per centum ) indicated that they had experienced no incidents of serious violent offense, but one or more less serious offenses such as a physical onslaught or battle without the usage of a arm, larceny, or hooliganism had occurred.Vandalism was reported by 38 per centum of public schools, theft/larceny by 31 per centum of schools, and physical onslaughts or battles without a arm by 28 per centum ( table 8 ) .

These offenses were the most often happening in footings of the per centums of schools affected. Smaller per centums of schools reported more serious offenses: 3 per centum of public schools reported the happening of a colza or other type of sexual battery at the school ; 3 per centum, a robbery ; and 6 per centum, a physical onslaught or battle in which a arm had been used.With the exclusion of hooliganism, approximately the same per centum of schools describing assorted types of offense besides reported incidents affecting pupils as either victims or culprits and that offense occurred during school hours or at school-sponsored events.A smaller per centum of simple schools than in-between schools or high schools reported that any offense at all occurred during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth ( table 7 ) . About half of all simple schools ( 45 per centum ) reported at least one offense. In contrast, 74 per centum of in-between schools and 77 per centum of high schools did so. Higher per centums of center and high schools besides reported at least one serious violent offense ( i.e.

, robbery, colza or sexual battery, or assault or battle with a arm ) , with about 20 per centum bespeaking a serious violent offense had occurred at the school compared with 4 per centum for simple schools.School offense was besides more likely in larger schools. While 38 per centum of little schools reported any incidents, 60 per centum of moderate-sized schools, and 89 per centum of big schools reported condemnable incidents. Serious violent offense was more likely to be reported by the largest schools. One-third of schools with registrations of 1,000 or more reported at least one serious violent offense, compared with 4 to 9 per centum in schools with fewer than 1,000 pupils.Schools in metropoliss were at least twice every bit likely to describe serious violent offense as those in towns andin rural locations, although metropolis schools were non significantly different from urban periphery schools.

Seventeen per centum of metropolis schools reported at least one serious violent offense, while 8 per centum of rural schools and 5 per centum of schools located in towns reported any serious violent offense. Eleven per centum of schools in urban periphery countries reported a serious violent offense, which was non significantly different from metropoliss.Schools with the highest proportion of minority pupils were more likely to describe offenses than schools with the smallest proportion of minority registration. Sixty-eight per centum of schools with minority registrations of 50 per centum or more reported some offense compared with 47 per centum of those with less than 5 percent minority registration. Further, schools with 50 per centum or more minority registration were more likely to describe serious violent offense than with less than 5 percent minority registration ( 15 per centum compared with 6 per centum ) .

Schools bespeaking that they have a policy to describe offenses to the populace were less likely to describe holding experienced any offense than those without this policy, but both types of schools were approximately every bit likely to describe at least one serious offense. Greater constabulary or jurisprudence enforcement presence, nevertheless, was associated with the incidence of serious offense. Schools with constabularies or other jurisprudence enforcement stationed at the school for 30 or more hours per hebdomad were more likely to describe holding experienced a serious violent offense ( 38 per centum ) compared with schools in which constabulary were non stationed or stationed merely as needed ( 6 to 14 per centum, severally ) .Schools in which principals perceived that general subject issues were non a serious job were more likely to describe that they had no offense incidents. Sixty per centum of public schools in which principals reported no subject jobs or merely minor subject jobs reported no offense for the 1996-97 school twelvemonth. Thirty-eight per centum of those in which school principals reported some moderate subject jobs reported holding no offense, and 14 per centum of schools with at least one subject job considered serious by their principal had no reported offense.

Among schools with at least one subject job considered serious, 28 per centum reported serious offense compared with 3 per centum of schools with no subject jobs or minor jobs, and 10 per centum of those with moderate jobs.Frequency of Crime and ViolenceMost public schools experienced a comparatively little figure of offenses in 1996-97. While 43 per centum reported none of the offenses for which the study collected informations, 37 per centum reported 1 to 5 incidents of offense at the school ( figure 3 ) .

Seven per centum of public schools reported holding between 6 and 10 separate incidents during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth, and 12 per centum reported more than 10 incidents for that period. The figure of incidents is a factor of the size of schools. Therefore, another step, the ratio of incidents of offenses, was used to find the frequence of offense in schools.6Overall, approximately 1,000 offenses per 100,000 pupils were reported in our state & # 8217 ; s public schools ( table 9 ) . This included about 950 offenses per 100,000 that were non serious or violent offenses ( larceny, hooliganism, battles or assaults without a arm ) and about 50 serious violent offenses per 100,000 pupils ( colza or sexual battery, robbery, battle with a arm, self-destruction ) . The overall rate of offense differed by school features.

Elementary schools reported about 350 offenses per 100,000 pupils, compared with approximately 1,625 in in-between schools and about 1,800 in high schools. The ratio of serious violent offense was lowest in simple schools, with 13 violent offenses reported per 100,000 pupils compared with 93 per 100,000 pupils in in-between schools and 103 per 100,000 pupils in high schools.While a lower per centum of little schools reported any serious violent offense compared with medium and big schools, the ratio of serious violent offenses per 100,000 pupils was lower in moderate-sized schools than in big schools. Medium-sized schools reported 38 serious violent offenses per 100,000 pupils, compared with the 90 serious violent offenses per 100,000 pupils reported by big schools.

Small schools reported 61 serious violent offenses per 100,000 pupils.City schools reported 95 incidents of serious force per 100,000 pupils, compared with 28 serious violent incidents per 100,000 pupils in towns. City schools, nevertheless, were non significantly different from rural or urban periphery schools in this respect.The ratio of serious violent offense was associated with percent minority registration. While the ratio of serious violent offense per 100,000 pupils was 19 in schools with less than 5 percent minority registration, it was 51 per 100,000 pupils in those schools with 20 to 49 per centum minority pupils, and 96 per 100,000 in schools with 50 per centum or more minority registration.Footnote:[ 6 ] It should be noted that the ratio of incidents of offenses was calculated from the figure of incidents reported by public schools per 100,000 public school pupils and does non stand for student-reported victimization rates.Frequency of Specific CrimesFor every 100,000 public school pupils, 26 onslaughts or battles with a arm, 17 robberies, and 10 colzas occurred at school ( table 10 ) .

These represented the serious violent offenses for which the study collected informations. More often reported were the less serious or nonviolent offenses including 444 onslaughts or battles without a arm, 274 incidents of larceny or theft, and 234 incidents of hooliganism per 100,000 pupils in public schools.Elementary schools, which reported proportionally fewer incidents of serious violent offense in general, reported lower rates of both physical onslaughts or battles in which arms were used and colza or other type of sexual battery than in-between and high schools. Differences between simple schools and high schools were besides found in the rate at which robbery was reported, although no difference was found between simple and in-between schools for this offense. Physical onslaughts or battles in which arms were used were about 7 times more frequent in in-between and high schools than in simple schools. While there were 7 physical onslaughts or battles with a arm per 100,000 pupils in simple schools, the rate was 49 per 100,00 in-between school pupils and 46 per 100,000 high school pupils. Rapes or other types of sexual battery were reported in center and high schools at about the same rate, with 17 per 100,000 pupils in in-between schools and 18 per 100,000 in high schools, as compared to the 3 colzas or other type of sexual battery per 100,000 pupils reported in simple schools.Of the less serious or nonviolent offenses ( hooliganism, physical onslaughts or battles without a arm, and larceny or theft ) , the ratio at which all three offenses occurred was more frequent in in-between and high schools than in simple schools.

Physical onslaughts or battles without a arm were the figure one offense in both in-between schools and high schools, followed by larceny and hooliganism.Principals & # 8217 ; Percepts of Discipline Issues in Their SchoolsPrincipals were asked to describe the extent to which specific subject issues were a job in their schools during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth so that the relationship between subject and offense could be examined. Additionally, informations were available on this subject from a 1991 study which could be used for comparings.Overall, principals by and large perceived these subject issues in their schools as no more than minor jobs ( 43 per centum ) or moderate jobs ( 41 per centum ; figure 4 ) . Sixteen per centum of public school principals, nevertheless, perceived at least one subject issue as a serious job.

During the 1996-97 school twelvemonth, pupil tardiness ( 40 per centum ) , student absenteeism or category film editing ( 25 per centum ) , and physical struggles among pupils ( 21 per centum ) were the three subject issues most frequently cited by public school principals as serious or moderate jobs in their schools ( derived from table 11 ) . Public school principals were much less likely ( 0 to 2 per centum ) to bespeak that instructor intoxicant or drug usage, physical maltreatment of instructors, the sale of drugs on school evidences, and pupil ownership of arms were serious or moderate jobs at their school than the three most prevailing jobs.Types of Schools With Discipline ProblemsPrincipals were more likely to comprehend at least one subject issue as a serious job in high schools and schools with registrations of more than 1,000 pupils ( table 12 ) .

Relatively, the lowest per centum of schools with principals describing serious subject jobs were simple schools ( 8 per centum ) , followed by in-between schools ( 18 per centum ) . Twice as many principals in high schools reported some serious subject jobs ( 37 per centum ) . Thirty-eight per centum of principals in big schools reported some serious subject jobs compared with 15 per centum of principals in moderate-sized schools and 10 per centum of principals in little schools.The subject issues most often reported as moderate or serious jobs by principals differed by instructional degree, school size, location of school, minority registration, and the per centum of pupils eligible for the federally funded free or reduced-price tiffin plan ( tables 13 through 17 ) . For simple and high schools, pupil tardiness and pupil absenteeism or category film editing were among the three most frequently cited serious or moderate subject jobs ( 32 and 67 per centum, severally, for pupil tardiness, and 17 and 52 per centum, severally, for pupil absenteeism/class film editing ; figure 5 and table 13 ) .

Principals of simple and in-between schools besides reported physical struggles among pupils as one of their top three serious or moderate subject jobs ( 18 per centum and 35 per centum, severally ) , whereas in high schools, pupil baccy, drug, and intoxicant usage were more frequently reported as serious or moderate jobs than physical struggles among pupils ( 48, 36, and 27 per centum compared with 17 per centum, severally ) .Principals in big schools were more likely to describe pupil tardiness was a serious or moderate job than those in moderate-sized and little schools ( 64 per centum compared with 42 per centum and 29 per centum, severally ; table 14 ) . Student absenteeism/class film editing was besides more of an issue in big schools, with 53 per centum of these schools compared with 24 per centum of medium schools and 19 per centum of little schools sing it a serious or moderate job. Tobacco usage was besides more often regarded as a serious or moderate job in big schools ( 40 per centum of big schools, compared with 11 per centum of medium and 13 per centum of little schools ) .Physical struggles among pupils were more often reported to be serious or moderate subject jobs in metropolis schools than in rural schools ( 25 per centum versus 14 per centum ; table 15 ) . Student tardiness was more often reported as a serious or moderate job by principals in schools with a minority registration of more than 50 per centum ( 56 per centum ) compared with 25 to 42 per centum in schools with less than 20 percent minority registration ( table 16 ) .

This form was besides found in schools with the highest per centum of pupils eligible for the federally funded free or reduced-price tiffin plan compared to the lowest ( table 17 ) . Twenty-nine per centum of schools with 75 per centum or more pupils eligible for the school tiffin plan reported physical struggles as a serious or moderate job, compared with 13 per centum in schools that have fewer than 20 per centum of pupils eligible for the free or reduced-price tiffin.Relationship Between Safety and Principals & # 8217 ; Percepts of Discipline IssuesPrincipals & # 8217 ; perceptual experiences of subject issues were related to reported offense in their schools. Among principals in schools with no reported offense, 59 per centum reported that subject issues were either non a job or that there were merely minor jobs compared with 31 per centum in schools with at least one offense ( figure 6 ) . Conversely, 24 per centum of principals in schools with any offense at their schools perceived at least one subject issue as a serious job while 5 per centum of principals in schools with no offense perceived that their schools had one or more serious subject jobs.Comparisons of Principals & # 8217 ; Percepts in 1991 and 1997Identical information on principals & # 8217 ; perceptual experiences of subject jobs, with the exclusion of an point about packs, was collected in another FRSS study conducted in 1991. A few comparings of the principal-reported information over clip are notable, and tabular arraies 13 through 17 provide informations for both old ages.Although pupil tardiness, pupil absenteeism/class film editing, and physical struggles were the three most frequently mentioned serious or moderate subject jobs in 1991 and 1997, principals in high schools were more likely to describe tardiness, absenteeism/class film editing, and pupil drug usage as serious or moderate jobs in 1997 ( 67, 52, and 36 per centum, severally ) than in 1991 ( 50, 39, and 20 per centum, severally ; table 13 ) .

Among those schools with 75 per centum or more pupils eligible for the federally funded free or reduced-price tiffin plan, teacher absenteeism was less likely to be rated as a serious or moderate jobs in 1997 by principals ( table 17 ) . In 1991 instructor absenteeism was reported to be a serious or moderate job by 33 per centum of principals compared to 15 per centum of principals in 1997.School Actions and Reactions to Discipline IssuesThe study asked respondents to bespeak how many of three specific actions were taken against pupils for each of the undermentioned discourtesies:? The ownership or usage of a piece ;? The ownership or usage of a arm other than a piece ;? The ownership, distribution, or usage of intoxicant or drugs, including baccy ; and? Physical onslaughts or battles.The three disciplinary actions about which schools were asked to describe were ejections, transportations to alternative schools or plans, and out-of-school suspensions enduring 5 or more yearss. It is of import to observe that schools may hold chosen to raise any, more than one, or none of these disciplinary actions during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth for the above discourtesies. They may besides hold taken other disciplinary actions.

Therefore, these three disciplinary options are non an thorough list, merely those that were focused upon in this study. It is of import to observe that schools may non hold experienced any of the offenses or misdemeanors and hence took no actions.Possession or usage of a piece. For the ownership or usage of a piece, 5 per centum of all schools reported taking one or more of these three actions against pupils for a sum of 16,587 actions ( table 18 ) . One-half of the actions reported were out-of-school suspensions enduring 5 or more yearss ( 49 per centum ; figure 7 ) .

Twenty per centum of school-reported actions were reassigning pupils to alternative schools or plans, and 31 per centum were ejections of pupils for the ownership or usage of a piece ( figure 7 and table 18 ) .Possession or usage of a arm other than a piece. Weapons other than a piece were defined as any instrument or object used with the purpose to endanger, injure, or kill, including knives, razor blades or other sharp-edged objects, ice choices or other pointed objects, baseball chiropterans, sticks, stones, or bottles. Twenty-two per centum of public schools reported holding taken one or more of the specific actions against pupils for ownership or usage of a arm other than a piece ( table 18 ) . About 58,000 actions were reported: 23 per centum of these actions were ejections, 22 per centum were transportations to alternate plans or schools, and 55 per centum were out-of school-suspensions enduring 5 or more yearss ( figure 7 and table 18 ) .Possession, distribution, or usage of intoxicant or drugs, including baccy.

For the ownership, distribution, or usage of intoxicant, drugs, and baccy, 27 per centum of schools reported taking a sum of about 170,000 actions: 62 per centum of the actions were out-of-school suspensions enduring 5 or more yearss, 20 per centum were transportations to alternative schools or plans, and 18 per centum were ejections ( figure 7 and table 18 ) .Physical Attacks or Fights. About 40 per centum of all public schools reported holding taken at least one of the actions against pupils for contending for an estimated sum of 331,000 actions ( figure 7 and table 18 ) . The most normally reported action was out-of-school suspensions enduring 5 or more yearss ( 66 per centum ) , followed by transportations to an alternate school or plan and ejections ( 19 and 15 per centum, severally ) .

Zero Tolerance PoliciesThree-fourthss or more of all schools reported holding zero tolerance policies for assorted pupil discourtesies ( figure 8 and table 19 ) . & # 8220 ; Zero tolerance policy & # 8221 ; was defined as a school or territory policy that mandates preset consequence/s or penalties for specific discourtesies. About 90 per centum of schools reported zero tolerance policies for pieces ( 94 per centum ) and arms other than pieces ( 91 per centum ) .

Eighty-seven and 88 per centum had policies of zero tolerance for intoxicant and drugs, severally. Seventy-nine per centum had a zero tolerance policy for force and 79 per centum had a zero tolerance policy for baccy.Schools with no offense reported were less likely to hold a zero tolerance policy for force ( 74 per centum ) than schools that had reported one or more serious offenses ( 85 per centum ) .Policies to Report Crimes to the PublicThirty-nine per centum of public schools had a policy to describe serious offenses to the populace ( table 20 ) . Schools with no reported offense ( 46 per centum ) were more likely than schools with reported offense ( 34 per centum ) to hold such a policy.Necessitating School UniformsThree per centum of all public schools require pupils to have on uniforms ( table 21 ) .

About one-fourth ( 26 per centum ) of these schools initiated the demand prior to the 1994-95 school twelvemonth, 40 per centum initiated it between the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school old ages, and 34 per centum initiated it in 1996-97 ( figure 9 ) .Uniforms were more likely to be required in schools with a high per centum of pupils eligible for free or reduced-price tiffin ( 11 per centum in schools with 75 per centum or more free or reduced-price tiffin eligibility ) compared with schools in which less than 50 per centum of pupils were eligible ( 2 per centum or less ; table 21 ) . Schools with 50 per centum or more minority registration were besides more likely to necessitate pupil uniforms than those with lower minority registration ( 13 per centum compared with 2 per centum or less ) .School Attempts to Guarantee Safety and Promote DisciplineSchools finishing the study were given a list of seven security steps widely used to guarantee safety in schools and asked if these steps were used in their establishments.Schools reported on whether the undermentioned actions were taken:? Visitors were required to subscribe in ;? Access to school evidences was controlled ;? Entree to the school edifice was controlled ;? School campuses were closed for most pupils during tiffin ;? Students had to go through through metal sensors daily ;? Random metal sensor cheques were performed ; and? Schools conducted drug expanses ( e.

g. , cabinet hunts, dog hunts ) .Ninety-six per centum of public schools reported that visitants were required to subscribe in earlier come ining the school edifices ( calculate 10 ) . This step was required by about all schools, with a scope of 91-100 per centum, irrespective of instructional degree, size, venue, part, minority registration, or per centum of pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced school tiffin ( table 22 ) .Security included controlled entree to school evidences in 24 per centum of public schools and was most prevailing in big schools.

Forty-nine per centum of big schools reported commanding entree to school evidences, compared with 16 per centum of little schools and 24 per centum of moderate-sized schools.Controlled entree to school evidences besides varied by venue, part, per centum minority registration, per centum of pupils eligible for free or reduced-price tiffin, and principals & # 8217 ; reported subject jobs. City schools were more likely to procure school evidences than rural schools ( 35 per centum, compared with 13 per centum ) . Schools in the Central part of the state were approximately half as likely to describe commanding entree to school evidences as those in the Southeast and the West ( 12 per centum compared with 28 to 31 per centum, severally ) .

Controlled entree to school evidences was higher in schools with the highest per centums of minority pupils than those with the lowest per centums ( 14 per centum in schools with less than 5 percent minority registration and 38 per centum in schools in which at least half the pupils were minorities ) and in schools with the largest proportions of pupils in poorness than in those with the lowest ( 18 per centum in schools with less than 20 percent eligibility for the free or reduced-price school tiffin plan and 37 per centum in schools with 75 per centum eligibility for the school tiffin plan ) .Fifty-three per centum of public schools controlled entree to their school edifices. Elementary and in-between schools were more likely to procure entree to the school edifice than high schools ( 57 and 51 per centum compared with 40 per centum ) . Differences were besides found by school size. Fifty-five per centum of big schools and 57 per centum of moderate-sized schools controlled entree to their school edifices compared with 40 per centum for little schools. City and urban periphery schools were besides more likely to command constructing entree ( 62 and 68 per centum, severally ) compared with those located in towns ( 49 per centum ) and rural countries ( 33 per centum ) . Northeastern schools were more inclined to hold controlled entree to their school edifices ( 70 per centum ) compared with Western schools ( 46 per centum ) , Central schools ( 48 per centum ) , and Southeastern schools ( 52 per centum ) .

Eighty per centum of schools reported holding a closed campus policy forbiding most pupils from go forthing the campus for tiffin. At 93 per centum, in-between school principals overpoweringly reported holding this policy ( table 22 ) . A smaller per centum of simple and high schools had this policy ( 76 and 78 per centum, severally ) . Sixty-seven per centum of little schools had instituted the closed campus policy compared with 82 per centum of big schools.

Daily usage of metal sensors as a security step was reported in 1 per centum of public schools. Schools where serious violent offenses were reported were more likely to use metal sensors than those with less serious offense merely or no offense ( 4 per centum compared with 1 per centum or less ) . Random metal sensor cheques were more likely to be reported by big schools ( 15 per centum ) compared with little schools ( less than 1 per centum ) or moderate-sized schools ( 4 per centum ) .

Similarly, a higher per centum of schools where a serious offense was reported ( 15 per centum ) performed these cheques compared to schools where no offense was reported ( 1 per centum ) or schools where merely less serious offenses were reported ( 4 per centum ) .Middle and high schools where principals reported at least one serious subject job were more likely to utilize drug expanses ( 36 and 45 per centum, severally ) compared with simple schools ( 5 per centum ) .Presence of Police or Other Law Enforcement in Public SchoolsIn add-on to the security steps above, 6 per centum of public schools had constabularies or other jurisprudence enforcement representatives stationed 30 hours or more at the school, 1 per centum of schools had jurisprudence enforcement functionaries stationed 10 to 29 hours, 3 per centum had functionaries stationed from 1 to 9 hours, 12 per centum of schools did non hold functionaries stationed during a typical hebdomad ( but were available as needed ) , and 78 per centum of schools did non hold any functionaries stationed at their school during the 1996-1997 school twelvemonth ( table 23 ) . The full-time presence of jurisprudence functionaries, while rare at simple schools ( 1 per centum ) , was found in 10 per centum of in-between schools and 19 per centum of high schools. It was besides reported in 39 per centum of big schools with 1,000 or more pupils, in 13 per centum of metropolis schools and schools with 50 per centum or more minority registration, in 15 per centum of schools in which principals felt there were some serious subject issues, and in 23 per centum of schools in which at least one serious offense was reported in 1996-97.

Violence Prevention ProgramsA bulk of public school principals ( 78 per centum ) reported holding some type of formal school force bar or decrease plans ( tabular arraies 25 and 26 ) . The per centum of schools with both 1-day and on-going plans ( 43 per centum ) was about double the per centum of schools with merely ongoing plans ( 24 per centum ) and quadruple the per centum of schools with merely 1-day plans ( 11 per centum ) .Schools in which a serious offense was reported were more likely to hold force bar plans than those in which no offense or merely less serious offense had occurred ( 93 per centum compared with 74 and 79 per centum, severally ; tabular arraies 25 and 27 ) .

Schools with serious offense besides had more plans per school. They reported a mean of 6 plans per school compared with 3.4 force bar plans in schools with no offense or lesser offenses merely ( table 27 ) .In some public schools, incidents during 1996-97 necessitating constabularies contact were used to modify or present new force bar plans. Of schools with force bar plans that had reported one or more offenses in 1996-97, 31 per centum had used these incidents to present or modify their force bar plans ( table 28 ) .School principals were asked if, during the 1996-97 school twelvemonth, they had any formal plans or attempts intended to forestall or cut down school force. Selected constituents of prevention/reduction plans were listed and principals were asked if any of their plans included each of the followers:The bar course of study, counseling/social work, and review/revision of schoolwide subject patterns were constituents used most frequently by schools with force bar or decrease plans ( 89 per centum, 87 per centum, and 85 per centum, severally ) , while reorganisation of school, classs, or agendas was used to the lowest degree frequently ( 28 per centum ; table 29 ) .

With the exclusion of community/parental engagement, which 48 per centum of schools reported utilizing, between 63 per centum and 81 per centum of the schools with force bar or decrease plans reported utilizing the staying constituents.Engagement in Violence Prevention ProgramsWhen asked how many pupils in their schools participated in force bar plans that straight served pupils, 50 per centum of principals in schools with force bar plans reported that all or about all of their pupils participated ( figure 12 and table 30 ) .When asked what proportion of instructors and staff in the schools were well involved in the plans, 44 per centum of principals in schools with force bar plans reported all or about all ( table 31 ) . Fifty-one per centum of simple school principals reported that all or about all of their staff were well involved in school force attempts or plans compared to 40 per centum of in-between schools and 26 per centum of high schools. Forty-six per centum of moderate-sized schools reported that all or about all of their staff were involved in force bar plans, compared to 32 per centum of big schools.