Sample (N = 1746) · All principals who completed the survey and received a weight (weighted to national K-12 public school principals/schools)
As shown in Figure 2.1, 9 percent of schools (or roughly 8,000 schools across the United States) work with an external BTAM team.
Sample (N = 174) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Of those schools supported by external teams, the vast majority (89 percent) said these were community- or county-level teams that respond to cases in local schools and in the broader community.
Sample (N = 174) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Only 5 percent of schools received support from a state-level team, and only 2 percent engaged with a team managed by a federal agency (such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI]) about specific cases.
Sample (N = 122) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Most schools that worked with such teams (55 percent) said an outside BTAM team only becomes involved in a case when the school specifically seeks out its assistance.
Sample (N = 122) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Conversely, a handful (8 percent) reported that the only time their school engages with an outside BTAM team is when the external team approaches the school about a specific threat or tip received that is relevant to the school.
The remaining schools provided mixed responses in terms of who initiates the engagement—the school or the external team.
The principals we surveyed reported a mix of experiences working with these external teams.
Sample (N = 122) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Thirty-eight percent said outside BTAM teams have access to more or different information than the school or district does, including ready access to law enforcement data and other sources—a potential benefit.
Another potential benefit of external teams, which slightly more than half of schools that had engaged with these teams experienced, is access to a broader variety of service providers or providers with greater capacity to deliver intervention programming relative to what the school is able to provide.
Sample (N = 122) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
One-quarter (25 percent) of these respondents said that external teams do not know as much about school environments and/or youth populations relative to school-based stakeholders, which can be problematic when it comes to assessing the level of threat posed by student behavior.
Sample (N = 122) · Appendix A table base (respondents answering the table question; see note for tables)
Similarly, 20 percent of principals noted that outside teams do not know as much about the specific school community context.
High school principals, in particular, seemed more skeptical about the usefulness of these external teams.
Sample (column N undeterminable) · High school principals served by an external BTAM team
They were more likely than their elementary and middle school counterparts to believe that external teams do not know much about school environments and/or youth populations (48 percent said this) and also less likely than middle school principals to believe that these teams have access to a broader variety of service providers.
Still other states do not provide any guidance and leave these decisions to the individual school or school district.
Although we do not expect state policy context to be the primary determinant of schools’ decisions about which safety measures to implement (see Chapter 7 for a discussion of the primary drivers for initial BTAM implementation in schools), encouraging the use of BTAM or providing other supports, such as funding to state-level school safety agencies specifically for BTAM could promote adoption or influence how schools form BTAM teams and scope their responsibilities.
As a result, schools in states with early BTAM-specific legislation or in states that encouraged BTAM earlier than others might be further along today in refining their practices for their specific school context.
we drew on a systematic analysis of state-level laws and policies related to threat assessment and completed by Child Trends and NASBE
Some schools provided information on the potential drawbacks of working with external teams.
Find the Perfect Training Class For You
