Response of school personnel to student threat assessment training

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. School safety has become an important area of concern for school improvement. This study examined the effects of staff training as means of improving school responses to student threats of violence. A multidisciplinary sample of 351 staff from 2 school divisions completed pre-post training surveys as part of a 1-day training program using the Guidelines for Responding to Student Threats of Violence (Cornell & Sheras, 2006). Analysis of pre-post surveys found large changes in staff attitudes toward school safety and violence prevention efforts. There was a substantial decrease in concerns about school homicide and increased awareness of effective violence prevention efforts. There was a drop in support for zero tolerance and profiling approaches, along with increased knowledge of threat assessment principles and concepts. These changes were sustained across school divisions serving a challenging urban population and a more affluent, suburban population. Similar effects were found across all school personnel. These findings demonstrate the viability of training staff in a student threat assessment approach. Introduction School safety is a relatively new topic for the field of school effectiveness and school improvement research. Traditionally, school effectiveness research has focused on student achievement, and school improvement efforts have aimed at teaching and learning outcomes (Creemers, 2002). In previous decades, safety may have been taken for granted and its role overlooked in effective schools, but as Roland and Galloway (2004) observed, ''positive social behaviour may be a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for good academic outcomes'' (p. 243). A developing body of evidence points to school safety as an important condition for learning. Safe and orderly schools are necessary so that teachers can devote their time and energy to instruction and students can engage in learning without being …