School Threat Assessment

School Threat Assessment in Virginia

In 2014, our research team was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to evaluate and improve the implementation of student threat assessment in Virginia public schools. The grant involved several phases carried out over five years. The project began with a report concerning implementation of threat assessment across all Virginia public schools in 2014-2015 and culminated in our final technical report, Student Threat Assessment as a Safe and Supportive Prevention Strategy, in February 2020. 

We also developed a free online educational program to improve awareness of school safety and the threat assessment process.

School Threat Assessment and Disciplinary Outcomes

In 2021 the National Institute of Justice published an article summarizing our federally funded study of threat assessment in Virginia schools. A key conclusion is that threat assessment is an alternative to zero tolerance that results in very low rates of school removal and does not generate racial/ethnic disparities. Another conclusion is that school teams need training and support, and the kind of model they use makes a difference in student disciplinary outcomes.

National Center for School Safety

In 2019 we helped establish the National Center for School Safety with the University of Michigan and other partners. Our role is to lead training and technical assistance in school threat assessment. 

School Threat Assessment in Florida

In 2021 we initiated a new project funded by the U. S. Department of Justice to evaluate the statewide training, implementation, and outcomes of threat assessment in Florida public schools. This work has further demonstrated the safety, efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of school threat assessment. If particular note is that there were little or no differences by race, ethnicity, or disability status in disciplinary outcomes or law enforcement responses to students who received a threat assessment. 

Florida School Threat Assessment Technical Reports

Examining the CSTAG Model Across States

In 2023 we began a new project, also funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, to examine the fidelity of implementation, generalizability, and multi-year outcomes of the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) model across multiple districts in 5 states.