School team fidelity in behavioral threat assessment

The widespread adoption of behavioral threat assessment as a violence prevention strategy inU.S. schools has generated a need to measure its fidelity of implementation. This study examined a new measure of the fidelity of implementation completed by 584 members of multidisciplinary school teams from 314 schools using the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). The study found good psychometric properties for an 11-item Team Fidelity scale and that it was associated with team perceptions that they were able to prevent violence, help students, and calm concerns about violence in their schools. High team fidelity was also associated with lower rates of exclusionary school discipline. As the first systematic investigation of the fidelity of implementation by school threat assessment teams, this study opens an avenue for future research on behavioral threat assessment in schools.