Impact and Long-term Outcomes of School Threat Assessment

• In Event: Growing the Toolbox: Evaluating Varied School Safety Approaches

Abstract

During the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative, NIJ supported work on school-based behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM). A guiding principle of BTAM is that school authorities cannot accurately predict whether students are “dangerous” or “not dangerous,” but can focus on reducing risk factors when there is evidence that a student has serious intent to attack someone. BTAM is a problem-solving approach that reduces risk by classifying the seriousness of the threat and identifying relevant educational and mental health support services. Only in the most serious cases is it necessary to take legal action or remove a student from school. The Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) was developed at the University of Virginia in 2001 to implement and build upon FBI and Secret Service guidance. CSTAG has been tested in multiple controlled studies in Virginia and more recently examined in other states. This presentation reports on two NIJ-funded projects: a completed replication in Florida and an ongoing multi-state, longitudinal study that is examining fidelity of implementation and long-term student outcomes. This presentation will cover the safety, fairness, and effectiveness of BTAM, the value of threat classification, and student outcomes in academic, support, disciplinary, and law enforcement domains.

Authors

• Dewey Cornell, University of Virginia

• Jennifer Maeng, University of Virginia