The Virginia Model of School Threat Assessment June 19, 2019 Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. The Virginia Model of School Threat Assessm ent Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. Curry School of Education University of Virginia 434-924-8929 Email: youthvio@virginia.edu Website: youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu 1 2 2 0 1 8 -1 9 Research Team Dewey G. Cornell, Ph. D. • Professor of Education in the Curry School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. • Director of the UVA Youth Violence Project • Forensic clinical psychologist specializing in violent offenders This work was supported in part by Grant # NI J 2014-CK-BX-0004 awarded by the Disclosure: Dr. Cornell has financial interests in Comprehensive Student Assessment National I nstitute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The Guidelines, the CSTAG manual, and the Edclick software product, School Safety opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those Manager under the auspices of School Threat Assessment Consultants, LLC of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice or the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. Disclosure: Dewey Cornell is the primary developer of the Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines and author of the manual, Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines. 3 4 Threat Assessm ent For Schools Topics 1 . Building national interest in threat assessm ent 2 . Virginia threat assessm ent m odel 3 . Threat assessm ent research • 2 0 0 0 FBI report recom m ending school threat assessm ent • 2 0 0 2 Secret Service and US Dept of Education study and guide on school threat assessm ent 5 6 Do not copy without permission dcornell@virginia.edu 1
The Virginia Model of School Threat Assessment June 19, 2019 Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. March for Our Lives Virginia School Threat Assessm ent Model • 2 0 0 1 -0 2 University of Virginia team develops m odel based on federal studies, national expert panel, local school w orkgroup, field testing Youth reaction to the shooting at Stonem an Douglas High • 2 0 0 6 Manual, 2 0 1 8 Revised m anual School in Parkland Florida 7 8 States Are Moving Schools to Use Threat Assessm ent • State law s • State regulations • Model practices and guides • State training http: / / time.com/ 5201713/ what-is-stop-school-violence-act/ 9 10 The nationw ide m ovem ent to place Success or failure of threat assessm ent threat assessm ent team s in schools is in schools w ill affect the future of a critical m om ent for the threat threat assessm ent in general. assessm ent field. 11 12 Do not copy without permission dcornell@virginia.edu 2
The Virginia Model of School Threat Assessment June 19, 2019 Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. https: / / www.bja.gov/ stop-school-violence-program/ https: / / www.bja.gov/ stop-school-violence-program/ 13 14 School-Based Threat Threat Assessm ent Assessm ent 1 . Com pared to adults, students • frequently m ake threats; • often engage in fights; 2 . Over-reactions to student m isbehavior have Threat Assessm ent serious negative consequences. in Schools 3 . Schools have a duty to educate all students. 15 16 Accurate Threat Assessm ent Accurate Threat Assessm ent Avoids 2 Errors … Avoids 2 Errors … 1 . Over-reaction 2 . Under-Reaction 17 18 Do not copy without permission dcornell@virginia.edu 3
The Virginia Model of School Threat Assessment June 19, 2019 Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. The Expansion of Suspension Practices Zero Tolerance Suspension is a practice that has m ore From No Guns to negative than positive effects on students: • No Toy Guns • No Nail clippers • Fall behind in their classes • No Plastic utensils • Feel alienated and rejected • Continue to m isbehave • No Finger-pointing and be suspended • No Jokes • Drop out of school • No Drawings • Juvenile court involvem ent • No Rubber band shooting The school-to-prison pipeline No Accidental violations 19 20 3 .3 Million Suspensions Per Year Racial Discipline Gap Fuel the School to Prison Pipeline • Disproportionate suspension rates for some minority groups • Potential discrimination • USDOE Office for Civil Rights 21 22 Virginia Model of W hat is the “Virginia m odel”? School Threat Assessm ent • 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 • Take protective action if Model policies and procedures Model developed at substantive m andated by law and developed University of Virginia in in 2 0 1 4 by Va Dept of Crim inal 2 0 0 1 under direction of Dr. • Attem pt to resolve the Justice Services ( w ith input from Dew ey Cornell, recognized 2 0 1 8 Manual problem underlying the Dr. Cornell) . Perm its schools to by NREPP as an evidence- use any m odel that conform s to threat based practice its general guidelines. 23 24 Do not copy without permission dcornell@virginia.edu 4
The Virginia Model of School Threat Assessment June 19, 2019 Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. CSTAG Versus Other TA Model CSTAG Offers Schools an Alternative to Zero Tolerance 60 48.6 50 CSTAG • Zero tolerance uses punitive Percent of cases 40 35.8 Other discipline for all students regardless 30 of the circum stances or the 16.6 20 13.9 seriousness of their behavior. 10 5.7 3.5 • Threat assessm ent considers the 1.7 0 0 context and content of the behavior. Suspension * School Transfer* Expulsion * LE Action CSTAG n = 6 5 7 cases, Other = 6 6 1 cases * p < .05; for expulsion, significant by Rao-Scott Chi-square; all others used multi-level logistic regression. See Maeng & Cornell, 2019 25 26 Team roles W hat is a threat? Principal or Assistant Principal Leads team. A threat is an expression of intent to harm som eone. Advises team, responds to illegal School Resource Officer actions and emergencies. Threats may be spoken, written, or gestured. Team member to conduct mental Threats may be direct or indirect, and need not be Mental Health Staff health assessments. communicated to the intended victim or victims. (School counselors, Team member to take lead role in psychologists, social workers) (“I’m going to get him.”) follow-up interventions. Weapon possession is presumed to be a threat Option team m em bers Report threats, provide input to unless circumstances clearly indicate otherwise. Teachers, aides, other staff team. (“I forgot my knife was in my backpack.”) School divisions may further specify team roles and include When in doubt, assume it is a threat. other staff to meet local needs. 27 28 Form s Freely Available Transient Substantive Continuum of Threats https:/ / w w w .schoolta.com / • Warning of impending violence • Attempts to intimidate or frighten • Thrill of causing a disruption • Attention-seeking, boasting • Fleeting expressions of anger • Jokes • Figures of speech 29 30 Do not copy without permission dcornell@virginia.edu 5
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