BTAM adoption is becoming a nearly ubiquitous practice across U.S. schools
Adoption of BTAM as part of school safety efforts is becoming a nearly ubiquitous practice across U.S. schools.
NCIER®
Conclusion claims
Every claim in the map classified as conclusion, in report order.
Claims
Main challenge now is effective and consistent implementation, not adoption
The main challenge now is not encouraging adoption but rather ensuring effective and consistent implementation.
Focused approach helps preserve the integrity of the threat assessment process
This focused approach helps preserve the integrity of the threat assessment process.
Individualized approach is appropriate for the diverse needs seen in BTAM cases
This individualized approach is appropriate for the diverse needs seen in BTAM cases.
BTAM efforts generally reflect commitment to supportive measures over exclusionary discipline or law
School BTAM efforts generally reflect a commitment to using supportive measures that address root causes of concerning behaviors rather than relying primarily on exclusionary discipline practices or referrals to law enforcement.
Pattern demonstrates BTAM teams function as intended: prevention focused on early intervention and s
This pattern demonstrates that BTAM teams function as intended—as a preventative approach focused on early intervention and support rather than punishment that helps students address underlying issues while keeping them connected to school.
Approach aligns with best practices and supports positive student outcomes
This approach aligns with best practices and supports positive student outcomes.
Parents are a key part of schools' behavioral threat management processes
Parents are a key part of schools’ behavioral threat management processes.
Highlights the importance of family buy-in for effective BTAM implementation
This highlights the importance of family buy-in for effective BTAM implementation.
Survey also identified opportunities for future focus
Despite these strong overarching messages, our survey results also identified opportunities for future focus.
Flexibility allows local adaptation but creates inconsistencies and challenges in measuring effectiv
Although this flexibility allows adaptation to local needs, it also creates inconsistencies and challenges in measuring effectiveness.
Relying on a single review method limits ability to assess and improve BTAM
Relying on a single method for review limits the ability to assess and improve BTAM effectiveness.
Findings underscore remarkable progress: near-universal implementation and focus on serious concerns
Findings from this nationally representative survey of K–12 principals underscore the remarkable progress schools have made in adopting BTAM programs, with near-universal implementation and a clear focus on addressing the most serious safety concerns through individualized, supportive interventions.
BTAM helps prevent violence and reduces reliance on exclusionary discipline
This approach not only helps prevent violence but also reduces reliance on exclusionary discipline, promoting a safer school environment.
Despite growth in BTAM adoption, there is little systematic data on BTAM in U.S. schools
Despite clear growth in schools’ adoption of BTAM programs, more than 20 years after the publication of findings from the joint U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education report on the Safe School Initiative (Fein et al., 2002; Vossekuil et al., 2004), we still have little systematic data on what BTAM actually looks like in schools across the United States.
BTAM is very common in schools across all 2019 state policy contexts
The three breakdowns demonstrate that BTAM is very common in schools across all 2019 state policy contexts.
Timing corresponds with post-COVID behavior spikes and high-profile school shootings
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).
Footnote: schools designed their own approaches, so positive experiences are not surprising
Because schools tended to design their own approaches to BTAM, it is not surprising that many typically had positive experiences implementing a program that met their needs (see also Chapter 6 for more details on initial program adoption).
Early identification of concerning behaviors can make intervention and support more effective
Early identification of these behaviors can make schools’ efforts to intervene and support students more effective.
cite page 38 Ch 4: What Is the Scope of Schools' BTAM Programs?
Note: principals' familiarity increases confidence in accuracy of survey responses
Principals’ overwhelming familiarity with BTAM increases our confidence about the accuracy of the responses they provided to our survey.
Authors say 6 percent figure indicates those schools made extra effort to draw personnel from outsid
this indicates that these schools made the extra effort to ensure that these disciplines were represented on the team, even though it required them to draw personnel from outside their current staffing.
Schools have differential access to school-based personnel; outside access can be challenging
This is noteworthy because schools have differential access to various types of school-based personnel, and accessing those disciplines from outside the school can be challenging, especially when it comes to individuals with specialized expertise.
Authors say survey results indicate otherwise given how principals described law enforcement's role
Our survey results indicate otherwise, given how principals described the role of law enforcement on their school BTAM teams.
Findings counter perceptions that law enforcement are only there for police or court records
Altogether, these findings are counter to some perceptions of the roles that law enforcement personnel play as BTAM team members (i.e., they are exclusively there to provide information from police or court records, which was actually the role least selected by principals).
Findings counter concern that schools treat police involvement in BTAM as a criminal-justice link
The findings also are counter to concerns that schools treat law enforcement involvement in BTAM as a direct link to the criminal justice system (i.e., concerns that the presence of police in schools is leading to more arrests; see, e.g., Theriot, 2009; Meiners, 2011).
BTAM team members are not necessarily BTAM experts or experts at multidisciplinary teamwork
Although BTAM teams are generally made up of experienced practitioners with field-specific expertise, individual members are not necessarily BTAM experts per se and are not necessarily experts at working effectively as part of a larger multidisciplinary team.
Stable funding is often a driver of whether a program can be sustained
Whether a program has stable funding is often a driver for whether it can be sustained over time, because funding instability (and the competition of other priorities for funds) can put programs at risk.
Schools in states with 2019 BTAM legislation appear ahead in operating BTAM programs in 2025, in som
schools in states that had already implemented legislation related to BTAM in 2019 appear to be ahead in terms of operating their BTAM programs in 2025, at least in some respects.
Schools in 2019-legislation states are out in front of schools where adoption was not promoted
Schools in states that included BTAM in legislation 2019 are now out in front compared with schools in states where adoption of BTAM was not promoted in 2019.
These state frameworks largely align with best practices identified by the Secret Service's NTAC
These frameworks largely align with best practices identified by the U.S. Secret Service’s NTAC.
State policy is not the determining factor in BTAM uptake by schools
The fact that BTAM programs are still very common even in those states where adoption of BTAM was neither mandated nor encouraged in 2019 further highlights the finding that state policy is not the determining factor in uptake of BTAM by schools.
cite page 55 Ch 7: Why Did Schools Adopt Specific BTAM Models?
Structure and consistency help ensure threats are not missed and students are treated fairly
Such structure and consistency are important in helping ensure that situations that might pose a threat are not missed and that students are treated fairly and appropriately through the BTAM process.
Using a standard set of actions for every student is counter to the BTAM goal
BTAM teams using a standard set of actions for every student they assess (our first response option) is counter to this goal.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Other three responses customized planning and reflected increasingly robust BTAM implementation
The other three responses described programs that customized intervention planning in different ways and reflected increasingly robust implementation of BTAM practices.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Parents add value, but trained BTAM team members select interventions
In short, although parents provide added value to the intervention planning process thanks to their knowledge, awareness, and buy-in, principals confirmed that trained BTAM team members are responsible for ultimately selecting appropriate interventions and supports.
cite page 63 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Special education supports are only appropriate for some students, explaining only-sometimes use
Similarly, special education supports are only appropriate for some students, explaining why schools tend to report using them only sometimes as an intervention.
cite page 64 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
Authors lack data on caseload size or case nature behind frequent exclusionary or arrest use
Although it is concerning that a handful of schools reported engaging in such practices frequently or every time a case is referred to the BTAM team, we do not have information about the size of teams’ caseloads or about the nature of specific cases.
cite page 66 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
BTAM teams do not commonly rely on exclusionary practices to intervene with students
Overall, our data demonstrate that BTAM teams do not commonly rely on exclusionary practices as the means of intervening with students who display behaviors that elicit concerns for the safety of themselves and others.
cite page 66 Ch 9: How Do BTAM Teams Develop Intervention Plans?
There is variability in how schools approach monitoring and follow-up
In sum, there is variability in how schools approach monitoring and follow-up as part of their BTAM programs.
cite page 72 Ch 10: How Do BTAM Teams Monitor Intervention Plans?
Nearly all schools monitor after an intervention, but BTAM team involvement differs significantly
While nearly all schools engage in some form of monitoring after implementing an intervention or safety plan, the level of involvement by BTAM teams differs significantly from school to school.
cite page 72 Ch 10: How Do BTAM Teams Monitor Intervention Plans?
Most schools rely on BTAM teams to monitor, but almost 25 percent delegate to other school staff
Sample (N = 1379) · Teams answering exclusionary discipline and arrest/prosecution questions (Figure 9.2)
Most schools rely on their BTAM teams to actively manage and monitor student progress, but almost 25 percent delegate this responsibility to other school staff, particularly in cases involving district-level teams or smaller BTAM teams.
cite page 72 Ch 10: How Do BTAM Teams Monitor Intervention Plans?
Most schools incorporate measurable goals; fewer use formal tracking systems
Additionally, while most schools incorporate measurable goals into their intervention plans, fewer use formal systems to track progress, relying instead on periodic updates and reports from school personnel.
cite page 72 Ch 10: How Do BTAM Teams Monitor Intervention Plans?
Rare BTAM initial decisions were expected since teams typically receive reports then respond
This was expected, given that a BTAM team typically receives reports of behavior and then moves forward with response rather than making the initial decision in response to an incident.
cite page 77 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Even in very serious scenarios, principals rarely identified BTAM team as initial decisionmaker
Even in these very serious scenarios, principals still rarely identified their BTAM team as the entity making the initial response decision.
cite page 79 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Scenario data point to three types of situations showing how schools use BTAM teams
Across both elementary and secondary schools, our scenario data point to three types of situations that depict how schools are using BTAM teams:
cite page 79 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Schools selected different interventions based on specific information in the scenario
Second, despite some commonalities in the most frequently chosen options, there is clear evidence that schools selected different intervention options based on the specific information presented in the scenario.
cite page 83 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Finding does not indicate schools avoid exclusionary discipline; some use it frequently
This finding does not indicate that schools are avoiding exclusionary discipline practices altogether; indeed, our results indicate that schools are still turning to such practices, some frequently (see more on this point below).
cite page 83 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Schools respond differently to more-severe incidents than to lower-level ones
Our data also show that schools respond differently to more-severe incidents than they do to lower-level ones, as shown in Figure 11.4.
cite page 84 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Schools answer low-level incidents with support-focused options, reserve restrictive ones for severe
Schools are responding to low-level incidents with support-focused intervention options and reserving restrictive practices for more severe incidents.
cite page 84 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Principals did not report using all 16 interventions for every incident (tailoring evidence)
The fact that principals did not report that their schools would respond to every incident with all 16 interventions provides further evidence that schools are tailoring their interventions to the specifics of indi-
cite page 86 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Schools are not blindly responding to all scenarios with all available tools
In other words, even though we know schools have many options available to them (see Figure 9.1), schools are not blindly responding to all scenarios by throwing all available tools at any particular case.
cite page 87 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Answer to whether schools are “doing BTAM right” appears in the previous two sections
However, the answer to the key question of whether schools are “doing BTAM right” appears in the previous two sections.
cite page 91 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Balance of support-focused and restrictive interventions is encouraging, but law enforcement...
Although the balance between support-focused and restrictive interventions is encouraging, the number of scenarios in which at least some principals selected law enforcement involvement is likely cause for concern (Figure 11.7).
cite page 91 Ch 11: How Are Schools Using BTAM to Respond to Student Behavior?
Principals think BTAM positively affects safety feelings and climate, and at worst has no effect
Overall, our survey results indicate that principals think that BTAM is having a positive effect on feelings of school safety and school climate more generally, and at worst no effect.
cite page 94 Ch 12: What Do Principals Think Are the Effects of Their BTAM Programs?
Widespread agreement reflects strong national confidence in BTAM as foundational to school safety
This widespread agreement across contexts reflects strong national confidence in BTAM as a foundational element of school safety infrastructure.
cite page 94 Ch 12: What Do Principals Think Are the Effects of Their BTAM Programs?
Results suggest the policy challenge is improving existing BTAM programs, not advancing adoption
the policy challenge going forward is less about advancing adoption of BTAM as a component of schools safety efforts—the vast majority of schools already have done so—and more about how to improve existing programs.
cite page 100 Ch 13: Sustaining and Improving BTAM Programs over Time
The top two challenges relate to external factors
Importantly, these top two challenges relate to external factors
cite page 103 Ch 13: Sustaining and Improving BTAM Programs over Time
Many schools think about continuous improvement but too few engage in concrete activities
Taken together, these data suggest that, though many schools are thinking about continuous improvement, too few are engaged in concrete activities to better understand how their BTAM teams are operating.
cite page 104 Ch 13: Sustaining and Improving BTAM Programs over Time
Survey sought to understand how BTAM works on the ground and revealed key bright spots
The survey sought to understand how BTAM is working on the ground at K–12 schools and revealed the following key bright spots:
BTAM adoption or an alternative BTAM-like team is nearly ubiquitous across U.S. schools
Adoption of BTAM as part of school safety efforts—or the existence of an alternative BTAM-like team—has become a nearly ubiquitous practice across U.S. schools.
Foremost challenge is not schools’ initial adoption of BTAM
Even for the few schools that have not yet adopted BTAM—or that might move from using an alternative team to a dedicated multidisciplinary BTAM team—our results indicate that the foremost challenge is not schools’ initial adoption of BTAM.
Schools appear to be appropriately scoping BTAM to the most severe, high-risk cases
Responses suggest that schools are appropriately scoping their BTAM programs to focus on the most severe and high-risk cases of student behavior.
Schools are successfully focusing BTAM on situations most likely to affect safety
Taken together, our results suggest schools are successfully focusing BTAM on situations most likely to affect student and school safety while relying on other behavioral teams or processes for less severe cases—a critical balance that helps maintain the integrity of the behavioral threat assessment process.
BTAM efforts reflect commitment to supportive measures over exclusionary discipline or police
School BTAM efforts generally reflect a commitment to using supportive measures that address root causes of concerning behaviors, rather than relying primarily on exclusionary discipline practices or referrals to law enforcement.
Pattern shows BTAM teams function as a preventative approach of early intervention and support
This pattern demonstrates that BTAM teams function as intended—as a preventative approach focused on early intervention and support rather than punishment, helping students address underlying issues while keeping them connected to school.
Parents are a key part of schools’ behavioral threat management processes
Parents are a key part of schools’ behavioral threat management processes.
Survey results identified opportunities for future focus: five continuing challenges
Despite these strong overarching messages, our survey results also identified opportunities for future focus. In particular, principals identified five key continuing challenges:
Variability shows the importance of flexibility but also presents risks
While the variability highlights the importance of schools’ flexibility to choose and adapt models to be appropriate to their school context, it also presents risks.
Talking about BTAM outcomes is talking about outcomes of individual, differently used approaches
It also means that talking about BTAM outcomes is really talking about the outcomes of individual approaches that schools are using somewhat differently from place to
Why inferred The sentence crosses a page break: this quote is the page 109 part and the sentence continues on page 110. Full sentence (pages 109–110): “It also means that talking about BTAM outcomes is really talking about the outcomes of individual approaches that schools are using somewhat differently from place to place.”
Observing outcomes across BTAM programs will internalize and reflect that variability
Observing outcomes across BTAM programs will internalize and reflect that variability.
A related challenge is lack of standardization across critical BTAM team functions
A related challenge is the lack of standardization across critical BTAM team functions and operations.
Though many schools may have implemented BTAM, it is not fully integrated and institutionalized
This means that while many schools may have implemented a BTAM program, it is not fully integrated and institutionalized in their school or school district.
Survey data are the first of their kind on how BTAM is operationalized
These novel data are the first of their kind to collect comprehensive data on how BTAM is being operationalized in schools across the country.
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