Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2003-04. First Look. NCES 2007-302

This report presents findings on crime and violence in regular public schools in the United States, using data from the 2003--04 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS:2004). First administered in the 1999--2000 school year, SSOCS provides information about school crime-related topics from the perspective of school administrators. Developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and supported by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, SSOCS asks public school principals about the frequency of criminal incidents in their schools, such as physical attacks, robberies, and thefts. Portions of this survey also focus on school programs, disciplinary actions, and the policies implemented to prevent and reduce crime in schools. SSOCS:2004 is based on a nationally representative stratified random sample of 3,743 U.S. public schools. Questionnaires were mailed to principals on March 1, 2004, and data collection continued through June 4, 2004. A total of 2,772 public primary, middle, high, and combined schools provided usable questionnaires leading to an unweighted response rate of approximately 75 percent. When the responding schools were weighted to account for their original sampling probabilities, the response rate increased to approximately 77 percent. A nonresponse bias analysis was performed because the weighted response weight was less than 85 percent. Selected findings from the study include: (1) High schools (96 percent) and middle schools (94 percent) were more likely than primary schools (74 percent) to report violent incidents of crime--High schools were no different than middle schools in the number of violent incidents of crime reported; (2) Middle schools (42 percent) were more likely than high schools (21 percent) and primary schools (24 percent) to report that student bullying occurs at least once a week at school; and (3) The percentage of schools that drilled students on an existing written plan for school shootings (47 percent) was lower than the percentage of schools that drilled students on an existing written plan for natural disasters (84 percent). Appended are: (1) Standard Error Tables; (2) Methodology and Technical Notes; (3) Description of Variables; and (4) 2003-04 School Survey on Crime and Safety Instrument. (Contains 21 tables and 3 footnotes.)