Figure 1.1, Spring 2016: 42 percent of schools had a BTAM team (SSOCS)
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2016 | 42
NCIER®
Report page 21
Claims on this page
Figure 1.1, Spring 2018: 44 percent of schools had a BTAM team (SSOCS)
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2018 | 44
Figure 1.1, Spring 2020: 64 percent of schools had a BTAM team (SSOCS)
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2020 | 64
Figure 1.1, Spring 2022: 65 percent of schools had a BTAM team (SSOCS)
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2022 | 65
Figure 1.1, Fall 2022: 82 percent of schools had a BTAM team (SPP)
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Fall 2022 | | 82
Figure 1.1, Spring 2024: 85 percent of schools had a BTAM team (SPP)
Sample (n = undeterminable of undeterminable) · Federal SSOCS / School Pulse Panel national estimates of schools with a BTAM team
Spring 2024 | | 85
Figure 1.1 source: SSOCS (Burr et al., 2024) and School Pulse Panel (NCES, 2025)
SOURCE: Features data from the U.S. Department of Education’s School Survey on Crime and Safety (Burr et al., 2024) and its School Pulse Panel (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2025).
Figure 1.1 note: principals asked about a BTAM team or other formal group to identify at-risk studen
NOTE: Both data collections asked principals whether their school had a behavioral threat assessment team or “any other formal group of persons to identify students who might be a potential risk for violent or harmful behavior (toward themselves or others).”
Figure 1.1 note: SSOCS = School Survey on Crime and Safety; SPP = School Pulse Panel
SSOCS = School Survey on Crime and Safety; SPP = School Pulse Panel.
Safe School Initiative examined 37 targeted school attacks between 1974 and 2000
The impetus for early adoption of the BTAM model dates back to the joint U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education’s Safe School Initiative, which examined 37 incidents of targeted school attacks between 1974 and 2000 following the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado (Vossekuil et al., 2004).
Safe School Initiative introduced BTAM as a violence prevention model for schools
The initiative introduced BTAM as a violence prevention model for schools, emphasizing the importance of identifying students who display behavior that elicits safety concerns, assessing the behaviors and their context, and managing any potential risk of harm through interventions and supports.
Safe School Initiative stressed multidisciplinary teams and positive school climates
It also stressed the importance of multidisciplinary teams to assess concerning behaviors and efforts to foster positive school climates that encourage reporting of concerns.
2015–2016: 42 percent of a national sample of K–12 public school principals had threat assessment te
Sample (no n: a percentage change, not a share of a sample) · a percentage that is not a share of a sample (e.g. a percentage-point change or a weighted estimate of the population)
By the 2015–2016 school year (the earliest national estimate available), 42 percent of a national sample of K–12 public school principals reported having threat assessment teams (Diliberti et al., 2017).
2021–2022: 65 percent of public schools reported having threat assessment teams (Burr et al., 2024)
Sample (no n: a percentage change, not a share of a sample) · a percentage that is not a share of a sample (e.g. a percentage-point change or a weighted estimate of the population)
By the 2021–2022 school year, 65 percent of public schools reported having such teams, in which threat assessment was defined as “a formalized process of identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence in schools” (Burr et al., 2024, p. 13).
More recent federal data: 85 percent of all public schools had a team by 2024 (NCES, 2025)
Sample (no n: a percentage change, not a share of a sample) · a percentage that is not a share of a sample (e.g. a percentage-point change or a weighted estimate of the population)
As noted above, more recent federal data show that this rate had increased to 85 percent of all public schools by 2024 (NCES, 2025).
BTAM teams at K–12 schools grew notably between 2016 and 2024 (Figure 1.1)
As Figure 1.1 shows, the existence of BTAM teams at K–12 schools grew notably between 2016 and 2024.
Secret Service published updated research and BTAM guidance (NTAC 2018, 2019, 2021)
During this time frame, the Secret Service continued to publish updated research on targeted school violence and guidance for the implementation of BTAM programs in K–12 schools (see, e.g., NTAC, 2018; NTAC, 2019; and NTAC, 2021), and there was increasing research into—and focus on—approaches for preventing violence in K–12 schools more broadly.
State laws mandating BTAM teams helped advance BTAM implementation at various points
The passage of laws across various states mandating BTAM teams in K–12 schools also helped advance BTAM implementation at various points in time.
Footnote continued: the report does not review how federal law or policy might affect BTAM
include a review of how federal law or policy, or any changes therein, might affect BTAM implementation at K–12 schools.
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