School violence and threats remain a significant concern in education. At the same time, schools are seeking supportive strategies to address concerning behavior. The authors present a comprehensive look at how schools are implementing and using behavioral threat assessment and management programs as part of their violence prevention efforts, using data from a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of school leaders.

The State of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management in K–12 Public Schools

Findings from a 2025 American School Leader Panel Survey

Melissa Kay Diliberti, Pauline Moore, Brian A. Jackson, Kelsey Morris, Wade Buckland, Lina Alathari, Steven Driscoll, Diana Drysdale, Jacquelyn Glidden

ResearchPublished Nov 12, 2025

School violence and threats remain a significant concern in education for kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12). At the same time, schools are seeking supportive strategies to address concerning behavior and reduce use of exclusionary discipline. By distinguishing credible threats from less serious incidents and providing tailored interventions, a behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) program can help schools manage safety risks while supporting student well-being and reducing reliance on suspensions or expulsions. Although several studies have sought to understand the use and impact of threat assessment programs on various school-level outcomes, including violence prevention, to date these have been specific to a single threat assessment model, confined to understanding trends in single states, or based on interviews or surveys of a small number of individuals. Addressing the need for national-level understanding, this report presents data on how BTAM is being implemented and operationalized across the United States in 2025.

The authors present a comprehensive look at how K–12 schools are implementing and using BTAM programs as part of their violence prevention efforts, using data from a first-of-its-kind comprehensive survey administered to a nationally representative sample of school leaders. The authors provide a comprehensive picture of BTAM implementation and operation, the practices that schools are using to identify and manage potential threats to schools, and any potential solutions to strengthen BTAM across the country.

Key Findings

Adoption of BTAM in school safety efforts is becoming a ubiquitous practice across U.S. schools

  • This level of effort marks a dramatic increase from a decade ago, when fewer than half of schools had BTAM teams. The main challenge is ensuring effective and consistent implementation.
  • Even though most schools have adopted BTAM practices, there is still considerable variability in the models they use.

Responses suggest that schools are scoping their BTAM programs to focus on the most severe and high-risk cases of student behavior

  • The data reported by principals who participated in the survey do not support concerns that BTAM might be used for minor behavioral issues.

Most schools are incorporating individualized interventions into plans as part of the threat management process, tailoring supports to meet the specific needs of students

  • 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.
  • According to the data, it appears that schools are prioritizing interventions that help students recover and reintegrate.

Parents are a key part of schools’ behavioral threat management processes

  • Although only 20 percent of schools involve parents directly in intervention planning, most consult with them during the process.

Principals believe that BTAM has a net positive impact on improving safety at their schools

  • Principals report reductions in crime, violence, and self-harm and view BTAM as preferable to exclusionary discipline.

Recommendations

  • Schools and supporting agencies should focus on refining practices and sustaining programs, with ongoing support as needed to institutionalize best practices and build long-term capacity.
  • Schools with BTAM teams should incorporate processes for multiple robust feedback mechanisms to identify challenges and take steps to address challenges and improve performance over time.
  • The interventions and supports assigned by BTAM teams in response to concerning behavior should be tailored to the specific needs of a student identified by a team as posing a risk of harm to self or others.
  • Schools should address uneven frequency and scope of training for BTAM teams to ensure that teams have the knowledge they need to be effective.
  • Schools should develop clearer tools and resources to support systematic and effective BTAM team operations.
  • Clearer guidance and best practices are needed to ensure that BTAM interventions are implemented effectively and fairly across schools.

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Diliberti, Melissa Kay, Pauline Moore, Brian A. Jackson, Kelsey Morris, Wade Buckland, Lina Alathari, Steven Driscoll, Diana Drysdale, and Jacquelyn Glidden, The State of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management in K–12 Public Schools: Findings from a 2025 American School Leader Panel Survey. Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center operated by the RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3658-1.html.
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This research was sponsored by the U.S. Secret Service and conducted in the Infrastructure, Immigration, & Security Operations Program of the RAND Homeland Security Research Division, which operates the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center.

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