Background: Threat assessment is a widely recommended practice used by schools to investigate and respond to student threats of violence; however, students are often reluctant to disclose threats. Methods: We developed an online educational program for students to increase their understanding of threat assessment and the need to report serious…

School violence research is often concerned with infrequently occurring events such as counts of the number of bullying incidents or fights a student may experience. Analyzing count data using ordinary least squares regression may produce improbable predicted values, and as a result of regression assumption violations, result in higher Type I…

Authorities in education and law enforcement have recommended that schools use a threat-assessment approach to prevent violence, but there is relatively little research on characteristics and outcomes of threats among students. The current study examined student reports of threat experiences in a sample of 3,756 high school students. Approximately…

This randomized controlled study examined disciplinary outcomes for 201 students who made threats of violence at school. The students attended 40 schools randomly assigned to use the Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines or follow a business-as-usual disciplinary approach in a control group. Logistic regression analyses found, after…

Reports results of school safety survey administered to middle and high school students in Virginia. Assessed attitudes towards aggressive and high-risk behaviors including weapon carrying, fighting, and substance abuse. Discusses implications for future use of school surveys and identification of high risk students. (Author/JDM)