School safety reform and student experiences: A statewide study of behavioral threat assessment in Texas

• In Event: NIJ Day: Large-Scale Assessments of School Safety Strategies: Implications for Policy and Practice

Abstract

WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center (JPRC) is investigating the effect of behavioral threat assessment (BTA) training and implementation on student disciplinary outcomes in high schools across Texas. JPRC examines whether schools with high implementation of the BTA model reduce the use of exclusionary discipline compared to schools with low implementation. JPRC administered a survey in Fall 2022 to school staff from over 100 Texas high schools where at least one staff member attended a full day virtual BTA training. Survey responses were used to categorize schools into high and low implementation groups. Using longitudinal student records from more than 13,000 students collected by the Texas Education Agency, disciplinary outcomes for students in high implementation schools are compared with outcomes in matched comparison low-implementation schools adjusting for baseline differences. Benchmark analyses include a series of multilevel regression models, with additional terms to account for the nesting of students within schools. Results of the data analysis will examine the potential impact of BTA implementation on exclusionary discipline.

Authors

• Trevor Fronius, WestEd

• Justine Zimiles, WestEd