June 5, 2002
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND SECRET SERVICE RELEASE THREAT ASSESSMENT GUIDE FOR SCHOOLS
New tool to help school officials manage threatening situations based on Secret Service's study of people who carried out or attempted lethal attacks on public or prominent figures
Chicago, June 5—U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and
U.S. Secret Service Director Brian L. Stafford today released a new
guide entitled Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing
Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates, during one
of 12 regional training sessions being held across the country by the
two agencies.
Paige and Stafford made the announcement during Paige's 10th stop on
his No Child Left Behind Tour Across America.
The guide was developed through the Safe School Initiative, a
collaborative effort of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and the U.S.
Department of Education (ED), undertaken by the agencies following the
Columbine High School attack in April 1999.
"In order to ensure that no child is left behind, we have to first
ensure that each child is safe at school," said Paige. "It is critical
that schools are places where students feel safe, respected and able to
share their concerns openly, without fear of shame or punishment. It is
essential that students connect positively with at least one caring
adult, and also that they get the emotional support they need to break
the pervasive and dangerous 'code of silence' that sways today's youth."
"For more than 100 years, the primary mission of the Secret Service
has been the prevention of violence," Director Stafford said. "Based on
the findings from the Safe School Initiative, we believe that some
school attacks may be preventable. We believe the results of this effort
will give schools and communities concrete information that may help
them prevent future attacks."
Implemented through the Secret Service National Threat Assessment
Center (NTAC) and ED's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, the Safe
School Initiative built upon the USSS's Exceptional Case Study Project--
a five-year study of thinking and behavior of those who carried out, or
attempted, lethal attacks on public or prominent figures since 1949. The
joint ED-USSS study reinforced the findings of the Secret Service's
previous work, and provides guidance for schools and others on how to
evaluate behaviors to determine if there is a cause for concern.
The two agencies identified 37 incidents involving 41 school attacks
that had occurred between 1974 and 2000 and found that most attackers
display pre-attack behavior that can signal a potential for violence.
While more than 80 percent of school shooters spoke about their plans to
other students, their peers rarely told adults. The complete findings
are contained in The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School
Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the
United States.
Based on the study's findings, the agencies developed the guide and
the training sessions to share with schools and law enforcement a
"threat assessment" process to identify, assess and manage individuals
who might pose a risk of violence to a target in schools. The process
suggests that each situation of concern should be assessed individually,
but also that targeted violence is the result of a potentially
discernible process of pre-attack thinking and behavior.
The training sessions provide law enforcement and school personnel
with more information about the six underlying principles that form the
foundation of the process:
The central question in a threat assessment inquiry or investigation
is whether a student poses a threat, not whether the student has made a
threat; Targeted violence is the end result of an understandable, and
oftentimes discernible, process of thinking and behavior; An "integrated systems approach" in which various agencies cooperate
and partner should guide threat assessment inquiries and investigations;
An investigative, skeptical and probing mindset is critical to
successful threat assessment; Effective threat assessment is based upon facts, rather than
characteristics or traits; and Targeted violence stems from an interaction among the individual,
the situation, the setting and the target.
Schools, law enforcement, mental health professionals and other
community partners are advised to form teams to carry out threat
assessment inquiries, with law enforcement following up with an
investigation if the initial inquiry determines that a particular
student may pose a risk of targeted violence in school.
The guide advises school officials to establish open communication
with students. Most students follow a code of silence, in which they
feel that by "snitching" or "ratting" on a fellow student, they are
breaking an unwritten rule, the findings show. Adults are encouraged to
talk to students to build up a level of trust so that the student won't
feel he is betraying a friend, but rather showing good citizenship or
even being heroic.
To help schools, law enforcement and communities make use of the new
guide, ED and the USSS are holding a series of one-day training
seminars, including one last week in Seattle and today's event in
Chicago. Other sessions will be held in San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta
and Houston for school administrators, law enforcement officials and
others responsible for protecting children, to help them identify,
evaluate and manage students who may pose a risk for targeted violence
in schools.
States and school districts are receiving $644 million under the
federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program in fiscal year 2002.
Paige kicked off his nationwide tour on April 8. In addition to
today's visit, he has made visits in Albuquerque, N.M., Atlanta,
Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Nev., Southfield, Mich., Milwaukee, Wis.,
LaCrosse, Wis., Pittsburgh, and Albany, N.Y. Other stops will be
announced later.
The tour offers resources for parents and school officials about No
Child Left Behind. During the tour, Paige also launched a new Web site
www.NoChildLeftBehind.gov, a virtual one-stop shop for parents and
families, teachers and principals, local and state officials, and
members of the business and civic communities.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, states and school
districts will develop strong systems of accountability based upon
student performance. The new law also gives states and school districts
increased local control and flexibility, removing federal red tape and
bureaucracy and putting decision-making in the hands of educators and
education leaders at the local and state levels. Parents of children
from disadvantaged backgrounds will have options under the new law to
participate in public school choice programs or obtain supplemental
services such as tutoring. Teachers around the country will be
encouraged to use teaching methods based on scientific research that
shows they have been proven to work.
To access the guide and the final report, visit
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/publications.html or
http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac.shtml. (Note: the guide will be posted
on the Education site on Wednesday.) For more information on the threat
assessment training, go to www.threatassessmentseminars.org/.
Back to Top
Return to News and Press
| 
Official U.S. Department of Education web site.