Abstract
Multiple professional associations and agencies have recommended that schools establish threat assessment processes and procedures. Such recommendations have been directed at school districts in Colorado, a state that has experienced multiple school shootings. In this exploratory study, the nature and prevalence of threat assessment conducted in four Colorado school districts, as well as the demographics of students, were examined. The sample consisted of 759 threat assessment cases reported by the four participating Colorado school districts for the 2014–2015 academic year. Students were in grades pre-K to Grade 12. The majority of the threat cases were male (81.70%) and 39.9% received special education services. Just over 42% of the sample was white, 16.9% Hispanic, 16.1% African American, 5.3% Asian, and 4.2% Native American. Raw threat assessment data was provided by safety coordinators in each of the school districts. Data included student demographics and threat characteristics, though the availability of these data varied by district. Analyses revealed that males, students in special education, and African American and Native American students were overrepresented in the threat assessment sample. Logistic regression indicated that students in special education were significantly more likely to have a threat rated as serious than those not in special education. Study findings have implications for school assessment practices and training in public schools.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aber, J. L., Brown, J. L., & Jones, S. M. (2003). Developmental trajectories toward violence in middle childhood: Course, demographic differences, and response to school-based intervention. Developmental Psychology, 39(2), 324–348. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.39.2.324.
Allen, K., Cornell, D., Lorek, E., & Sheras, P. (2008). Response of school personnel to student threat assessment training. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19(3), 319–332. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450802332184.
Andrade, C. (2015). Understanding relative risk, odds ratios, and related terms: as simple as it can get. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 76(7), e857–e861. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.15f10150.
Borum, R., Cornell, D., Modzeleski, W., & Jimerson, S. R. (2010). What can be done about school shootings? A review of the evidence. Educational Researcher, 39, 27–37. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X09357620.
Brock, M., Kriger, N., & Miró, R. (2018). School safety policies and programs administered by the US federal government: 1990–2016. https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=273697
Burnette, A. G., Datta, P., & Cornell, D. (2017). The distinction between transient and substantive student threats. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, 5(a), 4–20. https://doi.org/10.1037/tam0000092.
Card, N. A., Stucky, B. D., Sawalani, G. M., & Little, T. D. (2008). Direct and indirect aggression during childhood and adolescence: a meta-analytic review of gender differences, intercorrelations, and relations to maladjustment. Child Development, 79(5), 1185–1229. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01184.x.
Colorado School Safety Resource Center. (2009). Essentials of School Threat Assessment: Preventing Targeted School Violence. http://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/safeschools/CSSRC%20Documents/CSSRC-Essentials-of-TA.pdf
Colorado School Safety Resource Center. (2016). Review of the three Arapahoe High School Shooting 2013 reports facilitated by the Colorado School Safety Resource Center, September 2016. http://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/safeschools/CSSRC%20Documents/CSSRC-RWG-Report-FINAL.pdf
Colorado School Safety Resource Center. (2018). Essentials of School Threat Assessment: Preventing Targeted School Violence. http://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/safeschools/CSSRC%20Documents/CSSRC-Essentials-of-TA.pdf
Cornell, D. G. (2011). A developmental perspective on the Virginia student threat assessment guidelines. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2011(129), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.386.
Cornell, D. (2014). Best practices in threat assessment in schools. In A. Thomas & P. Harrison (Eds.), Best Practices in School Psychology (6th ed., pp. 259–272) National Association of School Psychologists.
Cornell, D. (2015). Our schools are safe: Challenging the misperception that schools are dangerous places. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(3), 217–220. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000064.
Cornell, D., & Sheras, P. (2006). Guidelines for responding to student threats of violence. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
Cornell, D. G., Sheras, P. L., Kaplan, S., McConville, D., Douglass, J., Elkon, A., McKnight, L., Branson, C., & Cole, J. (2004). Guidelines for student threat assessment: field-test findings. School Psychology Review, 33(4), 527–546.
Cornell, D., Sheras, P., Gregory, A., & Fan, X. (2009). A retrospective study of school safety conditions in high schools using the Virginia threat assessment guidelines versus alternative approaches. School Psychology Quarterly, 24, 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016182.
Cornell, D., Gregory, A., & Fan, X. (2011). Reductions in long-term suspensions following adoption of the Virginia student threat assessment guidelines. Bulletin of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, 95, 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636511415255.
Cornell, D., Allen, K., & Fan, X. (2012). A randomized controlled study of the Virginia student threat assessment guidelines in grades K-12. School Psychology Review, 41, 100–115. https://doi.org/10.1037/e669802012-500.
Cornell, D., Maeng, J. L., Burnette, A. G., Jia, Y., Huang, F., Konold, T., Datta, P., Malone, M., & Meyer, P. (2018a). Student threat assessment as a standard school safety practice: Results from a statewide implementation study. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(2), 213–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000220.
Cornell, D., Maeng, J., Huang, F., Shukla, K., & Konold, T. (2018b). Racial/ethnic parity in disciplinary consequences using student threat assessment. School Psychology Review, 47(2), 183–195. https://doi.org/10.17105/SPR-2017-0030.V47-2.
Diliberti, M., Jackson, M., Correa, S., and Padgett, Z. (2019). Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings From the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2017–18 (NCES 2019-061). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for education statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
Farrell, A. D., Sullivan, T. N., Esposito, L. E., Meyer, A. L., & Valois, R. F. (2005). A latent growth curve analysis of the structure of aggression, drug use, and delinquent behaviors and their interrelations over time in urban and rural adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(2), 179–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00091.x.
Fein, R. A., Vossekuil, B., Pollack, W. S., Borum, R., Modzeleski, W., & Reddy, M. (2004). Threat assessment in schools: A guide to managing threatening situations and to creating safe school climates. https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/threatassessmentguide.pdf
Goodrum, S., Evans, M. K., Thompson, A. J., & Woodward, W. (2019). Learning from a failure in threat assessment: 11 questions and not enough answers. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 37, 353–371. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2399.
Gregory, A., Huang, F. L., Anyon, Y., Greer, E., & Downing, B. (2018). An examination of restorative interventions and racial equity in out-of-school suspensions. School Psychology Review, 47(2), 167–182. https://doi.org/10.17105/SPR-2017-0073.V47-2.
Holland, K. M., Hall, J. E., Wang, J., Gaylor, E. M., Johnson, L. L., Shelby, D., et al. (2019). Characteristics of school-associated youth homicides—United States, 1994–2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(3), 53–60.
Jimerson, S. R., Brock, S. E., & Cowan, K. C. (2005). Threat assessment: an essential component of a comprehensive safe school program. Principal Leadership, 6(2), 11–15.
Kann, L., McManus, T., Harris, W. A., Shanklin, S. L., Flint, K. H., Queen, B., et al. (2018). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2017. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 67(8), 1–479. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6708a1.
Kaplan, S. G., & Cornell, D. G. (2005). Threats of violence by students in special education. Behavioral Disorders, 31(1), 107–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290503100102.
Maeng, J. L., Cornell, D., & Huang, F. (2020). Student threat assessment as an alternative to exclusionary discipline. Journal of School Violence, 19(3), 377–388.
Meloy, J. R., Hempel, A., Mohandie, K., Shiva, A., Gray, T., & Richards, T. (2004). A comparative analysis of north American adolescent and adult mass murderers. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 22, 291–309. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.586.
Mitchell, M., & Palk, G. (2016). Traversing the space between threats and violence: a review of threat assessment guidelines. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 23(6), 863–871. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2016.1164638.
Morgan, G. A., Leech, N. L., Gloeckner, G. W., & Barrett, K. C. (2013). IBM SPSS for introductory statistics: Use and interpretation (5th ed.). Taylor and Francis.
Musu-Gillette, L., Zhang, A., Wang, K., Zhang, J., and Oudekerk, B.A. (2017). Indicators of school crime and safety: 2016 (NCES 2017-064/NCJ 250650). National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education, and Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC.
National Association of School Psychologists School Safety and Crisis Response Committee. (2010). Model for comprehensive and integrated school psychological services. National Association of School Psychologists. https://www.nasponline.org/standards-and-certification/nasp-practice-model
National Association of School Psychologists School Safety and Crisis Response Committee. (2015). Threat assessment for school administrators and crisis teams. National Association of School Psychologists. https://www.nasponline.org/resourcesand-publications/resources/school-safety-and-crisis/threat-assessmentat-school/threat-assessment-for-school-administrators-and-crisis-teams.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2018). Percentage of students suspended and expelled from public elementary and secondary schools, by sex, race/ethnicity, and state: 2013–14. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_233.28.asp?current=yes
National Threat Assessment Center. (2018). Enhancing school safety using a threat assessment model: An operational guide for preventing targeted school violence. Department of Homeland Security: U.S. Secret Service.
National Threat Assessment Center. (2019). Protecting America’s schools: A U.S, Secret service analysis of targeted school violence. Department of Homeland Security: U.S. Secret Service.
Nekvasil, E. K., & Cornell, D. G. (2012). Student reports of peer threats of violence: Prevalence and outcomes. Journal of School Violence, 11(4), 357–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2012.706764.
Nekvasil, E., & Cornell, D. (2015). Student threat assessment associated with positive school climate in middle schools. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, 2, 98–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/tam0000038.
O’Malley, M. D., Wolf-Prusan, L., Lima Rodriguez, C., Xiong, R., & Swarts, M. R. (2019). Cultural-competence considerations for contemporary school-based threat assessment. Psychology in the Schools, 56(2), 255–275. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22197.
O’Toole, M. E. (2000). The school shooter: A threat assessment perspective. National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime: Critical Incident Response Group, FBI Academy.
Rose, C. A., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). Risk and protective factors associated with the bullying involvement of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 37(3), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/019874291203700302.
Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Raudenbush, S. W. (2005). Social anatomy of racial and ethnic disparities in violence. American Journal of Public Health, 95(2), 224–232. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2004.037705.
Sandy Hook Promise Foundation. (2017). Safety assessment and intervention. http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/prevention_Programs
Sawchuk, S. (2019). What are threat assessments and how do schools use them? Education Week,39 (3), 7.
Skiba, R. J., Horner, R. H., Chung, C. G., Rausch, M. K., May, S. L., & Tobin, T. (2011). Race is not neutral: A national investigation of African American and Latino disproportionality in school discipline. School Psychology Review, 40, 85–107.
Strong, K., & Cornell, D. (2008). Student threat assessment in Memphis City schools: A descriptive report. Behavioral Disorders, 34(1), 42–54.
Swearer, S. M., Wang, C., Maag, J. W., Siebecker, A. B., & Frerichs, L. J. (2012). Understanding the bullying dynamic among students in special and general education. Journal of School Psychology, 50(4), 503–520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2012.04.001.
The Office for Civil Rights. (2014). School discipline. Author.
Van Dyke, R. B., & Schroeder, J. L. (2006). Implementation of the Dallas threat of violence risk assessment. In S. R. Jimerson & M. Furlong (Eds.), Handbook of school violence and school safety: From research to practice (pp. 603–616). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Vossekuil, B., Fein, R. A., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2004). The final report and findings of the safe school initiative: Implications for the prevention of school attacks in the United States. United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education.
Woitaszewski, S., Crepeau-Hobson, F., Conolly, C., & Cruz, M. (2018). Rules, requirements, and resources for school-based threat assessment: A fifty state analysis. Contemporary School Psychology, 22(2), 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-017-0161-y.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
This study was not supported by any funding and the authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
This study was approved by the Colorado Multiple Institutional Review Board in 2018.
Existing, deidentified data were used in this study and informed consent was not required.
Due to agreements with participating school districts, the data used in this study cannot be made available to other researchers.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crepeau-Hobson, F., Leech, N. An Exploratory Investigation of Threat Assessment Practices in Colorado Schools. Contemp School Psychol 26, 458–468 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-021-00356-7
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-021-00356-7