The researcher conducted a quantitative research study to determine the perceptions of two groups of selected school personnel (principals or assistant principals and counselors or teachers) regarding gang presence in the fifth-grade population of elementary schools in a large urban school district in North Texas. The researcher examined and analyzed data from the survey questionnaire with educators of elementary institutions with a student population that is 95% or more low income. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the two groups of educators' perceptions of gang graffiti, gang turf or territorializing, gang identifiers (dress, physical identifiers, tattoos), gang communication (hand-signs, slang, body language), gang-related campus disruptions, and school environment.

The researcher determined that there were no statistically significant differences between the two personnel position groups (principal or assistant principal and teacher or counselor) on a linear combination of the dependent variables of gang graffiti, gang turf or territorializing, gang identifiers (dress, physical identifiers, or tattoos), gang communication (hand-signs, slang, or body language), gang-related campus disruptions, and school environment. The researcher also determined that there was no statistically significant differences between two personnel position groups (principal or assistant principal and teacher or counselor) on the dependent variables separately. The overall results indicated that there were no significant differences in the perceptions of the two personnel groups regarding gang presence and activity on their campuses.