Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 228.70. Number and percentage of public school teachers who reported that they were threatened with injury or physically attacked by a student from school during the previous 12 months, by selected teacher characteristics: Selected school years, 1993-94 through 2020-21
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Year Total Sex Race/ethnicity Instructional level1
Male Female White Black Hispanic Asian Pacific
Islander
American Indian/
Alaska Native
Two or
more races
Elementary Secondary
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
  Number of teachers
Threatened with
   injury
                                                                       
1993-94 326,800   (7,040) 111,200   (3,830) 215,600   (5,380) 281,300   (6,220) 23,400   (1,360) 15,100   (1,770) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 128,000   (4,450) 198,800   (5,150)
1999-2000 287,400   (7,060) 89,600   (3,680) 197,800   (5,370) 237,100   (5,630) 27,200   (2,170) 16,300   (1,940) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 138,000   (5,480) 149,300   (4,360)
2003-04 242,100   (7,840) 75,300   (3,640) 166,800   (6,840) 189,800   (6,310) 31,900   (3,120) 11,800   (1,760) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 108,800   (6,990) 133,300   (4,970)
2007-08 276,600   (10,570) 85,200   (5,800) 191,500   (8,220) 223,200   (8,760) 27,600   (3,000) 17,400   (3,230) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 123,800   (7,670) 152,800   (7,090)
2011-12 338,400   (17,290) 79,800   (5,400) 258,600   (15,480) 266,800   (13,430) 33,400   (4,400) 26,600   (4,660) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 184,000   (13,400) 154,400   (7,750)
2015-16 327,900   (7,840) 80,700   (3,630) 247,200   (6,490) 262,800   (7,210) 26,200   (1,900) 24,400   (1,790) 4,700   (770)   (†)   (†) 6,600   (920) 182,100   (6,370) 145,800   (5,050)
2020-21 215,000   (6,870) 41,700   (2,250) 173,200   (6,310) 182,800   (6,340) 9,500   (1,200) 14,700   (1,520)   (†)   (†)   (†) 4,500   (780) 142,400   (6,140) 72,600   (3,180)

Physically
   attacked
                                                                       
1993-94 112,400   (3,730) 28,700   (1,780) 83,700   (3,710) 96,300   (3,720) 7,600   (860) 5,900   (1,270) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 71,600   (3,120) 40,700   (1,850)
1999-2000 125,000   (4,630) 29,100   (2,010) 95,900   (4,230) 103,100   (3,590) 11,000   (1,550) 8,400   (1,640) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 94,400   (4,180) 30,600   (2,240)
2003-04 121,400   (7,180) 21,700   (2,420) 99,700   (6,100) 95,500   (5,450) 14,800   (2,320) 6,400   (1,820) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 85,100   (6,380) 36,300   (3,310)
2007-08 146,400   (8,200) 33,400   (4,750) 113,000   (6,250) 124,100   (6,990) 11,600   (2,330) 7,800   (1,990) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 109,100   (7,340) 37,300   (3,090)
2011-12 197,400   (11,730) 29,500   (3,310) 167,900   (11,200) 160,700   (10,890) 18,000   (3,590) 11,300   (2,890) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 153,800   (10,100) 43,600   (4,380)
2015-16 192,500   (6,040) 30,200   (1,850) 162,300   (5,430) 155,600   (5,460) 12,700   (1,370) 14,200   (1,430) 4,600   (870)   (†)   (†) 3,600   (670) 153,700   (5,640) 38,800   (2,230)
2020-21 155,000   (7,380) 19,500   (1,670) 135,500   (7,220) 133,400   (7,140) 4,500   (810) 11,000   (1,160)   (†)   (†)   (†) 3,600   (640) 129,600   (7,010) 25,400   (1,800)
  Percent of teachers
Threatened with
   injury
                                                                       
1993-94 12.8   (0.26) 16.0   (0.44) 11.5   (0.28) 12.7   (0.28) 12.4   (0.64) 13.9   (1.42) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 9.6   (0.35) 16.2   (0.30)
1999-2000 9.6   (0.22) 11.9   (0.44) 8.8   (0.23) 9.4   (0.22) 11.9   (0.91) 9.7   (1.12) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 8.6   (0.34) 10.7   (0.29)
2003-04 7.4   (0.24) 9.3   (0.43) 6.8   (0.28) 7.0   (0.24) 12.4   (1.03) 5.8   (0.90) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 6.3   (0.39) 8.7   (0.29)
2007-08 8.1   (0.30) 10.4   (0.68) 7.4   (0.31) 7.9   (0.30) 11.5   (0.99) 7.3   (1.34) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 7.2   (0.43) 9.1   (0.41)
2011-12 10.0   (0.48) 10.0   (0.56) 10.0   (0.57) 9.6   (0.47) 14.5   (1.84) 10.1   (1.70) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 10.7   (0.76) 9.3   (0.38)
2015-16 9.8   (0.21) 10.4   (0.42) 9.6   (0.22) 9.8   (0.24) 11.7   (0.74) 8.4   (0.57) 6.5   (1.01) 11.9 ! (4.46) 15.5   (3.21) 14.3   (1.86) 10.8   (0.30) 8.8   (0.26)
2020-21 5.7   (0.16) 4.8   (0.25) 6.0   (0.20) 6.1   (0.18) 4.2   (0.52) 4.1   (0.42) 2.4   (0.54)   (†) 7.7   (2.08) 7.3   (1.24) 7.6   (0.28) 3.9   (0.15)

Physically
   attacked
                                                                       
1993-94 4.4   (0.14) 4.1   (0.24) 4.5   (0.20) 4.3   (0.17) 4.0   (0.43) 5.4   (1.09) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 5.4   (0.22) 3.3   (0.15)
1999-2000 4.2   (0.15) 3.9   (0.25) 4.3   (0.18) 4.1   (0.14) 4.8   (0.63) 5.0   (0.92) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 5.9   (0.26) 2.2   (0.15)
2003-04 3.7   (0.22) 2.7   (0.29) 4.1   (0.25) 3.5   (0.21) 5.8   (0.84) 3.2   (0.93) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 5.0   (0.37) 2.4   (0.21)
2007-08 4.3   (0.24) 4.1   (0.57) 4.4   (0.24) 4.4   (0.25) 4.9   (0.95) 3.3   (0.79) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 6.3   (0.44) 2.2   (0.18)
2011-12 5.8   (0.33) 3.7   (0.39) 6.5   (0.41) 5.8   (0.38) 7.8   (1.52) 4.3   (1.05) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) 8.9   (0.57) 2.6   (0.24)
2015–16 5.7   (0.17) 3.9   (0.24) 6.3   (0.19) 5.8   (0.19) 5.7   (0.58) 4.9   (0.47) 6.3   (1.17) 9.4 ! (4.30) 7.2   (2.07) 7.9   (1.35) 9.1   (0.28) 2.3   (0.13)
2020-21 4.1   (0.18) 2.2   (0.19) 4.7   (0.23) 4.4   (0.21) 2.0   (0.36) 3.1   (0.33) 2.6   (0.63)   (†)   (†) 5.8   (1.01) 6.9   (0.33) 1.4   (0.09)
---Not available.
†Not applicable.                                                                        
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1Teachers were classified as elementary or secondary on the basis of the grades they taught, rather than on the level of the school in which they taught. In general, elementary teachers include those teaching prekindergarten through grade 6 and those teaching multiple grades, with a preponderance of grades taught being kindergarten through grade 6. In general, secondary teachers include those teaching any of grades 7 through 12 and those teaching multiple grades, with a preponderance of grades taught being grades 7 through 12 and usually with no grade taught being lower than grade 5.
NOTE: Teachers who taught only prekindergarten students are excluded. Includes teachers in both traditional public schools and public charter schools. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher Data File," 1993-94, 1999-2000, 2003-04, 2007-08, and 2011-12; "Charter School Teacher Data File," 1999-2000; and National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Teacher Data File," 2015-16 and 2020-21. (This table was prepared November 2022.)

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest