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                            Funding & Awards
 Student Threat Assessment as a Safe and Supportive Prevention Strategy
Award Information
Awardee
              The Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia
Award #
              2014-CK-BX-0004
Funding Category
              Competitive
Location
                    Charlottesville, VA
Congressional District
              5
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2014
Total funding (to date)
              $2,497,529
Original Solicitation
              NIJ FY 14 Investigator-Initiated Research: The Comprehensive School Safety Initiative
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2014, $2,497,529)
This project will evaluate and improve the implementation of student threat assessment in Virginia public schools, demonstrating that it can be used nationwide as a safe and effective violence prevention strategy that reduces use of school suspension, including the disproportionate suspension of minority students.  
The study will involve Virginia's 1,900 public schools serving 1.2 million students, carried out in partnership with the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and Department of Education.   

Student threat assessment was first recommended by the FBI, Secret Service, and U.S. Department of Education, and uses a multidisciplinary school-based team to investigate and resolve threatening situations such as student conflicts and bullying before they escalate into violence. The University of Virginia model has been widely implemented in Virginia schools, along with other models. Controlled studies have found that the Virginia model is a safe and effective practice associated with lower school suspension rates.  

In 2013, Virginia became the first state to mandate threat assessment in its K-12 schools, providing a unique opportunity to examine its impact under realistic scale conditions.  Research phase 1 will consist of a comprehensive statewide inventory of how threat assessment has been implemented. The inventory will identify different models of threat assessment and develop an instrument to assess fidelity of implementation. 

Phase 2 will use propensity score matching to create contrasting groups of schools using different models of threat assessment that will be compared on key student and school outcomes. Student outcomes are resolution of threats without violence, continuation in school without suspension, and provision of student support services. School outcomes are reductions in violence and bullying, fewer school suspensions, especially for disproportionately suspended minority students, and improved school climate. School climate is measured using teacher and student surveys to assess fairness of school discipline, supportive quality of teacher-student relations, and student engagement.

Phase 3 will consist of a randomized controlled study comparing 50 secondary schools that receive technical assistance with 50 control schools. Technical assistance will focus on improving implementation fidelity, broadening the use of threat assessment principles across a wider range of student disciplinary infractions, and further reducing school suspension.

The project will produce instruments, procedures, standards, and training materials that can be used to establish a national model of threat assessment as an effective school discipline and safety practice. Research findings will be widely disseminated through scholarly journals, professional conferences, and non-technical briefs for education and law enforcement. ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Five Facts About Mass Shootings in K-12 Schools
                  Student Threat Assessment: Virginia Study Finds Progress, Areas to Improve
                  School Safety: Research on Gathering Tips and Addressing Threats
                  High school graduation outcomes of student threat assessment
                  Student Threat Assessment as a Safe and Supportive Prevention Strategy, Final Technical Report
                  Grade Configuration Is Associated With School-Level Standardized Test Pass Rates for Sixth-, Seventh-, and Eighth-Grade Students
                  Student Threats of Violence Against Teachers: Prevalence and Outcomes Using a Threat Assessment Approach
                  Threat Assessment as a School Violence Prevention Strategy
                  Authoritative School Climate and Sexual Harassment: A Cross-Sectional Multilevel Analysis of Student Self-Reports
                  Online Educational Program to Increase Student Understanding of Threat Assessment
                  School Threat Assessment Versus Suicide Assessment: Statewide Prevalence and Case Characteristics
                  Student Threat Assessment as an Alternative to Exclusionary Discipline
                  The Best Way Out is Always Through: Addressing the Problem of Untested Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs) through Multidisciplinary Collaboration
                  School Climate, Student Engagement, and Academic Achievement: A Latent Variable, Multilevel Multi-Informant Examination
                  The Relationship of School Climate With Out-of-School Suspensions
                  Racial/Ethnic Parity in Disciplinary Consequences Using Student Threat Assessment
                  A Multilevel MTMM Approach to Estimating the Influences of Contextual Factors on Trait and Informant-Based Method Effects in Assessments of School Climate
                  Racial/Ethnic Parity in Disciplinary Consequences Using Student Threat Assessment
                  School Climate, Student Engagement, and Academic Achievement: A Latent Variable, Multilevel Multi-Informant Examination
                  Statewide Implementation of Threat Assessment in Virginia K-12 Schools
                  Student Threat Assessment as a Standard School Safety Practice: Results From a Statewide Implementation Study
                  The Distinction Between Transient and Substantive Student Threats
                  The Relationship of School Climate With Out-of-School Suspensions
                  Estimating School Climate Traits Across Multiple Informants: An Illustration of a Multitrait-Multimethod Validation Through Latent Variable Modeling
                  Virginia Evaluates Threat Assessment Processes
                  Threat Assessment in Virginia Schools: Technical Report of the Threat Assessment Survey for 2013-2014
                  Making U.S. Schools Safer Through Scientific Research




  
Grant-Funded Datasets
        
                      https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37658.v1
                  https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38329.v1

  
Date Created: September 30, 2014
    
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