53 claims on pp. 6–123 (fact 38, statement 3, evidence 7, conclusion 1, conjecture 4).
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
This level of effort marks a dramatic increase from a decade ago, when fewer than half of schools had BTAM teams.
This lack of consistency can affect the quality and effectiveness of interventions, especially as many schools have only recently adopted BTAM.
Sample (no n: a percentage change, not a share of a sample) · a percentage that is not a share of a sample (e.g. a percentage-point change or a weighted estimate of the population)
BTAM has emerged as a widely adopted approach to address these challenges in K–12 schools across the United States, with federal data showing that as many as 85 percent of schools nationwide had a BTAM team in place as of 2024
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2016 | 42
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2018 | 44
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2020 | 64
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2022 | 65
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Fall 2022 | | 82
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2024 | | 85
Sample (no n: a percentage change, not a share of a sample) · a percentage that is not a share of a sample (e.g. a percentage-point change or a weighted estimate of the population)
By the 2015–2016 school year (the earliest national estimate available), 42 percent of a national sample of K–12 public school principals reported having threat assessment teams (Diliberti et al., 2017).
Sample (no n: a percentage change, not a share of a sample) · a percentage that is not a share of a sample (e.g. a percentage-point change or a weighted estimate of the population)
By the 2021–2022 school year, 65 percent of public schools reported having such teams, in which threat assessment was defined as “a formalized process of identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence in schools” (Burr et al., 2024, p. 13).
Sample (no n: a percentage change, not a share of a sample) · a percentage that is not a share of a sample (e.g. a percentage-point change or a weighted estimate of the population)
As noted above, more recent federal data show that this rate had increased to 85 percent of all public schools by 2024 (NCES, 2025).
As Figure 1.1 shows, the existence of BTAM teams at K–12 schools grew notably between 2016 and 2024.
During this time frame, the Secret Service continued to publish updated research on targeted school violence and guidance for the implementation of BTAM programs in K–12 schools (see, e.g., NTAC, 2018; NTAC, 2019; and NTAC, 2021), and there was increasing research into—and focus on—approaches for preventing violence in K–12 schools more broadly.
The passage of laws across various states mandating BTAM teams in K–12 schools also helped advance BTAM implementation at various points in time.
states, including Florida, passed mandates related to threat assessments in response to the 2018 Parkland shooting (Blad, 2023).
When did schools establish BTAM teams?
As shown in Figure 1.1, schools’ use of BTAM has increased over time.
the practice of BTAM has experienced significant growth at schools around the country since data on the topic first became available for the 2015–2016 school year
we focus on the subset of roughly 1,600 schools in our survey sample that reported having an official BTAM team or a BTAM-like team.
We asked principals in January 2025 when their school’s BTAM team (or alternative school-based team that functions similarly to a BTAM team) was formed.
Note that we asked principals this question midway through the 2024–2025 school year, making it slightly difficult to interpret principals’ responses about how long their BTAM team had been in place.
As shown in Figure 3.1, a minority of principals reported having BTAM teams that were formed five to eight years ago, or even earlier.
Sample (N = 1505) · Schools with BTAM team, excluding principals who did not know how long the team had been in place
Most principals (53 percent) reported that their BTAM teams were formed in the past two to four school years.
This timing corresponds with at least two notable trends: (1) the return to in-person schooling after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated spikes in student behavior problems, such as minor classroom disruptions and student fights (NCES, 2022; Peetz, 2025); and (2) high-profile school shootings throughout the country, which spurred renewed attention to behavioral threat assessment in schools and led directly to changes in state policy (WFTS Webteam, 2018; Higgins, 2025).
results from our nationally representative sample of principals who were asked to recall when their BTAM programs began largely to align with federal trend data presented in Figure 1.1.
Specifically, both data sources suggest a significant increase in BTAM implementation in approximately the past five years.
Nevertheless, Figure 3.1 uses principals’ responses to this question to display a representation of the timing of the formation of BTAM teams at all public schools across the country.
Sample (N = 1505) · Schools with BTAM team, excluding principals who did not know how long the team had been in place
9 or more years ago | 12 percent
Sample (N = 1505) · Schools with BTAM team, excluding principals who did not know how long the team had been in place
5 to 8 years ago | 21 percent
Sample (N = 1505) · Schools with BTAM team, excluding principals who did not know how long the team had been in place
2 to 4 years ago | 53 percent
Sample (N = 1505) · Schools with BTAM team, excluding principals who did not know how long the team had been in place
in the past year | 14 percent
This figure depicts response data from the following survey question: “Approximately how many school years has this BTAM team been in place?” (n = 1,505).
The trend could help explain the significant increase in BTAM adoption witnessed over the past decade.
Sample (column N undeterminable) · Earliest adopters (BTAM team in place 9+ years)
Looking at the earliest adopters (those schools that adopted BTAM teams nine or more years ago), 93 percent perceive that their BTAM teams are at the point where they are somewhat or very effective at maintaining school safety.
Sample (column N undeterminable) · Earliest adopters (BTAM team in place 9+ years)
Earliest adopters (9+ school years ago) | [unlabeled] | 52 | 75 | 81
Sample (column N undeterminable) · Midtime adopters
Midtime adopters (5 to 8 school years ago) | 22 | 66 | 87 | 89
Sample (column N undeterminable) · Recent adopters
Recent adopters (2 to 4 school years ago) | 40 | 82 | 88 | N/A
Sample (column N undeterminable) · New adopters
New adopters (0 to 1 school years ago) | 46 | 60 | N/A | N/A
This is a significant shift relative to ten years ago, when fewer than half of schools had BTAM teams in place.
The need may be driven by the strong recent adoption of BTAM, with a large percentage of schools adopting the practice in the past five years.
Sample (N = 1646 | 1408 by column) · Table A.20 columns: official BTAM teams and other school-based teams; official BTAM teams only
0 to 1 school year(s) (newly implemented) | 12.3 | 12.2
Sample (N = 1646 | 1408 by column) · Table A.20 columns: official BTAM teams and other school-based teams; official BTAM teams only
2 to 4 school years | 48.3 | 51.1
Sample (N = 1646 | 1408 by column) · Table A.20 columns: official BTAM teams and other school-based teams; official BTAM teams only
5 to 8 school years | 19.4 | 19.2
Sample (N = 1646 | 1408 by column) · Table A.20 columns: official BTAM teams and other school-based teams; official BTAM teams only
9 or more school years | 10.9 | 9.7
Sample (N = 1646 | 1408 by column) · Table A.20 columns: official BTAM teams and other school-based teams; official BTAM teams only
Don’t know | 9.0 | 7.7
N | 1,646 | 1,408
Sample (N = 919 | 867 by column) · Table A.25 columns: Official BTAM teams and other school-based teams | Official BTAM teams only
0 to 1 school year(s) (newly implemented) | 13.0 | 12.8
Sample (N = 919 | 867 by column) · Table A.25 columns: Official BTAM teams and other school-based teams | Official BTAM teams only
2 to 4 school years | 52.9 | 53.8
Sample (N = 919 | 867 by column) · Table A.25 columns: Official BTAM teams and other school-based teams | Official BTAM teams only
5 to 8 school years | 21.4 | 21.5
Sample (N = 919 | 867 by column) · Table A.25 columns: Official BTAM teams and other school-based teams | Official BTAM teams only
9 to 12 school years | 6.5 | 5.7
Sample (N = 919 | 867 by column) · Table A.25 columns: Official BTAM teams and other school-based teams | Official BTAM teams only
Don’t know | 6.2 | 6.2
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