Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

NCES Releases Report on Crime, Safety in Schools

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/01/24

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice recently released its annual Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety, a news release reports. The report includes data regarding active shooter situations and deaths, bullying, student victimization, existing mental health services, students carrying weapons, and other campus safety and security measures.

According to the report, between 2000 and 2022, there were 50 documented active shooter incidents in elementary and secondary schools, and 18 documented active shooter incidents at postsecondary institutions. About 3 percent of students in grades 9–12 reported carrying a weapon on school property (including a knife, gun, or club) on at least one day during the previous 30, down from 5 percent in 2011. Public schools reporting the presence of an armed law enforcement officer on campus dropped from 51 percent during the 2019–20 academic year to 45 percent in 2021–22, according to the news release.

About 19 percent of students ages 12–18 reported being bullied during school during 2021–22, down from 28 percent in 2010–11. Likewise, the number of crimes reported on postsecondary campuses per 10,000 full-time students fell by 16 percent between 2011 and 2021. Finally, the number of hate crimes reported on campus was 12 percent lower in 2021 than it was in 2011.

The full report is available on the NCES website.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Children walking along bright school corridor with motion blur

    How Next-Gen Design Is Reshaping the Student Experience

    The environments where students learn play a crucial role in shaping their growth in and out of the classroom. By centering design on well-being, flexibility, and purpose, districts can ensure their facilities remain vibrant community assets for many years to come.