Assessment and information gathering

Assess the context of the concerning behaviors, along with information on the student’s actions and circumstances (e.g., bullying experiences, stressors, mental health needs, negative homelife factors, substance misuse and abuse) to evaluate the student’s risks and needs;

The team will lead the process of gathering additional information and collaborate on designing an intervention and management plan.

Identifies threatening and other concerning behaviors and assesses them in context

When student behaviors elicit concern for their safety or that of others, they should be assessed in context and not in isolation.

The multidisciplinary team should gather information from multiple sources (e.g., the student of concern, teachers, classmates, family, and friends) to better inform a more accurate understanding of the student’s thinking, behavior, and situational circumstances (e.g., stressors).

Gathering information from diverse sources helps to ensure the team identifies concerning behaviors and accurately assesses the student’s risk and needs to better provide appropriate interventions, supports, and resources.

Additionally, multidisciplinary teams should evaluate the student’s concerning behaviors in the context of their age and social-emotional development.

Although some behaviors may seem inappropriate or maladaptive, they may be typical for adolescent behavior or in the context of identified mental health or developmental needs.

Assessing students who display concerning behaviors should be focused on gathering information about them and their behaviors within the context of relevant factors such as age, social and emotional development, mental health and well-being, and personal interests in order to provide support.

In contrast, behavioral threat assessment purposefully considers the context surrounding a student’s behavior and uses that information to identify the most appropriate interventions and resources to support their needs.

The team’s job is to receive reports of concerning student behavior and situations; gather additional information to better assess the student’s risks and needs; and identify interventions, supports, and resources to reduce the risk of harm to self or others and make positive outcomes for the student more likely.

Depending on the situation, local law enforcement may support the team’s assessment of the concerning behavior by partnering with a social worker to conduct a welfare check at the student’s home, speaking with a student’s parent or guardian, checking for the presence of weapons and safe storage in the home, or other law enforcement actions which help the team better understand the context surrounding the student’s concerning behaviors and the risk of harm the student may pose to themselves or others.

The assessment process and procedures that a multidisciplinary threat assessment team implements should help form a more accurate understanding of the student’s thinking, behavior, and circumstances in school, at home, and in the community. The goal is to evaluate the presence of factors that may indicate the possibility of harm to self or other members of the school community.

Teams should establish protocols to gather information from a variety of sources (e.g., the student of concern, classmates, friends, family, disciplinary history, academic assignments, school records, and previous interventions) to ensure they are identifying any relevant concerning behaviors and accurately assessing the student’s risk and needs. This will better position the team to provide more appropriate resources, supports, and interventions.

To ensure accurate assessment, teams should evaluate a student’s concerning behaviors in the context of their age, social and emotional development, and disability status.

To more comprehensively assess concerning behavior, teams should organize their information gathering around themes such as bullying and harassment; mental health and substance abuse; concerning communications; stressors; recent downward progressions in behavior, mood, or social activity; home life factors (e.g., ACEs, present living situation); academic performance; school disciplinary history; inappropriate interest in concerning topics (e.g., past school attacks or mass attackers); weapons use and interest in violence; previous contact with law enforcement; social networks; recent losses or loss of status (e.g., shame, humiliation, loss of significant relationship); and motivation for behavior.

Additionally, assessment considerations should include home, school, community, and virtual settings to understand the context in which the student is operating and illuminate behavior indicative of social, emotional, and/or psychological distress as a response to the environment.

Process for assessing individual student needs and level of support

Once a BTAM referral is made, schools must gather all relevant information. For SWD, several protections must be considered.

Further, to ensure that the concerning behaviors are understood in the context of the student’s disability, BTAM teams must be intentional about engaging in dialogue with the student, family members, and members of the IEP team, as well as those who know the student best during the interview and information-gathering process.

Additionally, the information-gathering process must include a review of existing IEP services and the extent to which those were delivered as intended as well as a review of the student’s present levels of performance and progress toward goals and objectives. These procedures ensure that the impact of the student’s disability is clearly understood in relation to the concerning behavior.

SWD can benefit from function-based assessments which can be used to better understand the purpose of behaviors interfering with their educational performance and identify any relevant contributing factors. The information gained can help establish function-based supports, interventions, and behaviorial plans to mitigate or eliminate the interfering behavior (Office of Special Eduction and Rehabilitative Services, 2024).