The Expansion of Zero Tolerance From No Guns to No Toy Guns No - - PDF document

Student Threat Assessment Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. November 17, 2017 Do not copy without permission 434-924-8929 1

Statew ide I m plem entation of Student Threat Assessm ent in Virginia Public Schools

Dewey Cornell, Jennifer Maeng, Francis Huang (U Missouri), Timothy Konold, Anna Grace Burnette, Shelby Stohlman, Yuane Jia, Pooja Datta, Marisa Malone Curry School of Education University of Virginia Email: youthvio@virginia.edu Website: youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu

Student Threat Assessm ent as a Safe and Supportive Prevention Strategy 4-year project (2015-2018)

This project supported by Grant # NIJ 2014-CK-BX-0004 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/ program/ exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.

Traum a of School Violence

School shootings are so traum atic that they skew perceptions

• f school safety and stim ulate over-reactions to student

m isbehavior.

Zero Tolerance Suspensions After the New tow n Shootings

6 year old pointed finger and said “pow !”

http:/ / w w w .sott.net/ article/ 2 5 55 52 -6 -year-old-suspended- for-pretend-gunshot

The Expansion of Zero Tolerance

From No Guns to

• No Toy Guns
• No Nail clippers
• No Plastic utensils
• No Finger-pointing
• No Jokes
• No Drawings
• No Rubber band

shooting No Accidental violations

Student Threat Assessment Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. November 17, 2017 Do not copy without permission 434-924-8929 2

Suspension Practices

Suspension is a practice that has m ore negative than positive effects on students:

• Fall behind in their classes
• Feel alienated and rejected
• Continue to m isbehave

and be suspended

• Drop out of school
• Juvenile court involvem ent

The school-to-prison pipeline

Avoid the error of over-reaction Avoid the error of under-reaction

W hat is Threat Assessm ent?

Threat assessm ent is a problem - solving approach to violence prevention that involves assessm ent and intervention w ith students w ho have threatened violence in som e w ay.

Threat Assessm ent Takes a Problem -Solving Approach

The team takes action based on the seriousness of the threat.

• W hat protective action, if any, is needed?
• W hat problem stim ulated the threat?
• W hat can be done to resolve that problem ?

Potential Advantages of Threat Assessm ent

• Avoid over-reaction and stigm a of

identifying student as dangerous.

• Avoid under-reaction to serious cases.
• Fair, system atic process that

m inim izes bias in discipline.

• I m prove school clim ate by resolving

conflicts before they escalate.

Student Threat Assessment Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. November 17, 2017 Do not copy without permission 434-924-8929 3

• Developed 2 0 0 1 at

University of Virginia

• School-based team s

gather inform ation

• Follow decision-tree

to determ ine w hether threat is transient or substantive

• Attem pt to resolve

the problem underlying the threat

• Take protective action

if needed

Available from Amazon.com

Research on Threat Assessm ent

1. Cornell, D., Sheras, P. 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, 527-546. 2. Kaplan, S., & Cornell, D. (2005). Threats of violence by students in special education. Behavioral Disorders, 31, 107- 119. 3. Strong, K., & Cornell, D. (2008). Student threat assessment in Memphis City Schools: A descriptive report. Behavioral Disorders, 34, 42-54. 4. Allen, K., Cornell, D., Lorek, E., & Sheras, P. (2008). Response of school personnel to student threat assessment

• training. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19, 319-332.

5. 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. 6. 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. 7. 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. 8. Cornell, D. & Lovegrove, P. (2015). Student threat assessment as a method for reducing student suspensions. In D. Losen (Ed.). Closing the School Discipline Gap: Research for Policymakers. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. 9. 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. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tam0000038 10. Burnette, A. G., Datta, P., & Cornell, D. (in press). The distinction between transient and substantive student threats. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management.

2 0 1 3 Governor’s School and Cam pus Safety Task Force

4 0 m em bers, Led by Secretaries of Public Safety, Education, and Health and Hum an Resources

http: / / dcjs.virginia.gov/ vcss/ SchoolCampusSafetyTaskForce/

W hat is the “Virginia m odel”?

Threat assessm ent m odel developed in 2 0 0 1 at UVa under direction of Dr. Dew ey Cornell, recognized by NREPP as an evidence-based practice. Virginia Student Threat Assessm ent Guidelines ( VSTAG) Model Policies developed in 2 0 1 4 by VA Dept. of Crim inal Justice Services ( w ith input from Dr. Cornell) ; schools can use any m odel that conform s to its general guidelines, including the UVa VSTAG m odel.

Virginia Student Threat Assessm ent Project 1 . Statew ide inventory of practices 2 . Assessm ent of outcom es by race 3 . I dentify training needs 4 . I m prove training effectiveness

Student Threat Assessment Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. November 17, 2017 Do not copy without permission 434-924-8929 4

Selected sam ple of 1 ,8 6 5 threat assessm ent cases reported by 7 8 5 Virginia public schools during the 2 0 1 4 -1 5 school year Percentages for 1 ,8 6 5 threat cases from 7 8 5 schools. One case can involve m ore than one type of threat.

33 23 21 18 13 5 1 1

5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Unspecified Kill Use weapon Hit, beat Stab, cut Bomb Arson Sexual

Types of Threats (%)

n= 1,865

Percentages for 1 ,8 6 5 threat cases from 7 8 5 schools. One case can involve m ore than one victim .

68 15 13 7 4

20 40 60

Student Teacher Whole school/group Staff/administrator Other

Intended Victim (%)

n = 1,865

Characteristics of Threats Judged to be Serious

( 3 0 .5 % )

Characteristic of Threat Odds Ratio Elementary 0.57* * * Special Education 1.27* Homicide threat 1.40* * Battery threat 1.61* * Administrator threatened 3.55* * * Weapon in possession 4.41* * *

* p < .0 5 , * * p < .0 1 , * * * p < .0 0 1

97.7 2.6 0.7

20 40 60 80 100

Threat Not Attempted Attempted and Averted Threat Carried Out

Threat Outcomes (%)

n = 1,865 cases

Characteristics of Threats That W ere Attem pted

( 3 .3 % )

Characteristic of Threat Odds Ratio Elementary ns Special Education ns Homicide threat 0.22* Battery threat 3.33* * * Administrator threatened ns Weapon in possession ns Judged to be serious 12.48* * *

* p < .0 5 , * * p < .0 1 , * * * p < .0 0 1

Student Threat Assessment Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. November 17, 2017 Do not copy without permission 434-924-8929 5

Percentages for 1 ,8 6 5 threat cases from 7 8 5 schools. One case can involve m ore than one outcom e.

53 44 16 5 3 3 1 1

10 20 30 40 50

Reprimand Suspension out of school Suspension in school Expulsion reduced to… Detention after school Placed in juvenile detention Arrested Expelled

Disciplinary Outcome (%)

n= 1,865

84 8 5 1 2

20 40 60 80

No Change Transferred to alternative school Homebound instruction Transferred to regular school Other

School Placement Outcome (%)

n = 1,865 cases

No statistically significant differences for W hite vs Black or W hite vs Hispanic students

45 15 0.5 0.7 0.8 46 18 1.4 1.2 0.7 43 16 1.5 0.8

10 20 30 40 50

Suspension Change in Placement Expulsion Arrest Incarceration Percent of Students

No Racial Differences in Disciplinary Outcomes for Students Receiving a Threat Assessment

n = 785 schools

White Black Hispanic

Virginia Student Threat Assessm ent Project

• Analyses show som e positive results for

statew ide im plem entation of student threat assessm ent.

• Schools are m aking differentiated

assessm ents, recognizing that m ost cases are not serious.

• Most students are able to return to school,

w ith few arrests or expulsions.

• Sim ilar outcom es for Black, Hispanic, and

W hite students.

Virginia Student Threat Assessm ent Project Variation across schools in…. 1 . Threshold for doing an assessm ent 2 . Criteria for a serious threat 3 . Threat response Virginia Student Threat Assessm ent Project Educational program s to: 1 . I ncrease school understanding of threat assessm ent 2 . I ncrease serious threat reporting

Student Threat Assessment Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. November 17, 2017 Do not copy without permission 434-924-8929 6 School Safety Online Educational Program

• Students (15 min)
• Parents (25 min)
• Teachers/ staff (25 min)
• Team m em bers (25, 20, 30 min)

Programs include anonymous survey questions to measure learning. Answers will be used for research purposes. For more information, contact Dr. Jennifer Maeng at jlc7d@virginia.edu

Excerpt from online program for students

.

97 92 97 96 98 78 66 40 67 55 56 45

20 40 60 80 100

Threat assessment includes intervention with students whose behavior may pose a threat to others A threat assessment team will automatically suspend a student for making a threat. (False) Threat assessment teams investigate threatening statements or actions by students Schools have a relatively high rate of shootings compared to other locations in the U.S. All Virginia public schools are required to have a threat assessment team Overall percent correct Percent Answering Correctly

Staff Knowledge of Threat Assessment

(N = 283)

Pretest Posttest

91 85 93 72 82 82 82 66 69 22 32 54

20 40 60 80 100

If another student talked about killing someone, I would tell one of the teachers or staff at school. A threat assessment team may try counseling to prevent two students from fighting. Threat assessment teams investigate threatening statements or behaviors by students. A threat assessment team will automatically suspend a student for making a threat. (False) My school has a threat assessment team. Overall scores

Percent Answering Correctly

Student Response to Program

(N = 2,355)

Pretest Posttest

Student Threat Assessment Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. November 17, 2017 Do not copy without permission 434-924-8929 7

Next Steps

• Exam ine online training effects
• n threat reporting and school

clim ate

• Com pare differences in threat

team outcom es

• Dissem inate best practices

2 0 1 7 -1 8 Research Team

Rear: Patrick Meyer, Jennifer Maeng, Yuane Jia, Tim Konold Middle: Francis Huang, Anna Grace Burnette, Dewey Cornell, Brittany Crowley Front: Whitney Hyatt, Shelby Stohlman, Katrina Debnam, Marisa Malone

http:/ / youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu