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2015–16 CIVIL RIGHTS DATA COLLECTION

U.S. Department of Education

SCHOOL CLIMATE
Office for Civil Rights

AND SAFETY
DATA HIGHLIGHTS ON SCHOOL CLIMATE AND SAFETY
IN OUR NATION’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS

What's the 2015–16 Civil Rights Data Collection?

The 2015–16 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a survey of all public schools and school districts in the United States. The CRDC measures
student access to courses, programs, staff, and resources that impact education equity and opportunity for students. The CRDC has long provided
critical information used by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in its enforcement and monitoring activities.
In addition, the CRDC is a valuable resource for other federal agencies, policymakers, researchers, educators, school officials, parents, students,
and other members of the public who seek data on student equity and opportunity. To further explore the CRDC data through the use of data
tools, please visit the CRDC Reporting Website at ocrdata.ed.gov. To download the CRDC data, visit crdc.ed.gov.

Who’s in the 2015–16 CRDC?

Number of school districts: 17,337
Number of schools: 96,360
WHAT’S INSIDE
Total number of students: 50.6 Million
Serious Offenses............................................... 2
Nationwide Student Law Enforcement Referrals and
Demographics: Hispanic or School-Related Arrests.................................... 3
Latino of any race
26% Harassment or Bullying.................................. 5
Race/Ethnicity:1
Asian 5%
Black or African Restraint and Seclusion.................................. 11
American 15%
American Indian or School Discipline .............................................. 13
Alaska Native 1%
Data Highlights and CRDC Endnotes........... 17
Two or more races 3%
White 49% More About the CRDC.......................................18
Native Hawaiian
or Other Pacific Islander 0.4%
Data Collected for the First Time
Boys: 51% Girls: 49% Serious Offenses............................................... 2
English Learners: 10% Firearm Use......................................................... 2
Students with Disabilities: 14% School Homicides.............................................. 2
• Students with disabilities served under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA): 12%
• Students with disabilities served only under Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act, as amended: 2%
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, 2015–16.

U.S. Department of Education | Office for Civil Rights | April 2018 1

 NEW RELEASE FOR 2018

SCHOOL CLIMATE AND SAFETY†

School climate generally refers to interrelated aspects of the quality and character of school life. This issue brief focuses on one element of
school climate: safety. To evaluate how safe students are at school, the CRDC collects data on serious offenses, law enforcement referrals and
school-related arrests, harassment or bullying, restraint and seclusion, and school discipline.

Serious Offenses
Figure 1 shows the number of incidents of serious offenses.2 During the 2015–16 school year, nearly 1.1 million incidents of serious
offenses were reported in public schools across the nation.3

The categories of (a) physical attack or fight without a weapon, and (b) threats of physical attack without a weapon, accounted for 94 percent
of all reported incidents of serious offenses. About 789,800 (75 percent) incidents of physical attack or fight without a weapon, and about
200,800 (19 percent) incidents involving a threat of physical attack without a weapon were reported.

School districts also reported approximately 22,900 (2 percent) incidents of robbery without a weapon, and 11,900 (1 percent) incidents of a
physical attack or fight with a weapon. Each of the other offenses accounted for less than 1 percent of the total.

FIGURE 1: Number of incidents of serious offenses

Type of incident Number

Physical attack or fight without a weapon 789,800

Threats of physical attack without a weapon 200,800

Robbery without a weapon 22,900

Physical attack or fight with a weapon 11,900

Threats of physical attack with a weapon 10,100

Sexual assault (other than rape) 10,100

Possession of a firearm or explosive device 5,700

Threats of physical attack with a firearm or explosive device 3,500

Physical attack or fight with a firearm or explosive device 2,200

Rape or attempted rape 1,100

Robbery with a weapon 640

Robbery with a firearm or explosive device 560

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, 2015–16.

In addition to the foregoing incidents of serious offenses, for the first time, the CRDC required schools to report on school-related shootings
and school-related homicides. Nearly 240 schools (0.2 percent of all schools) reported at least 1 incident involving a school-related shooting,
and over 100 schools (0.1 percent of all schools) reported a school-related homicide involving a student, faculty member, or staff member.
About 1 out of every 100,000 students was enrolled in a school that reported a school-related shooting or school-related homicide during
the 2015–16 school year.

Note: The total number of school-related shootings or the total number of school-related homicides are not reported. The data reflect the number of schools that
had at least one incident of a school-related shooting or school-related homicide.

2 2015–16 Civil Rights Data Collection | SCHOOL CLIMATE AND SAFETY