Faculty and Staff Perspectives of a Behavior Assessment Team: a Case Study Evaluation
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Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Fall 2014 Faculty and Staff erspectivesP of a Behavior Assessment Team: A Case Study Evaluation Kerry Greenstein Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Part of the Higher Education Administration Commons Recommended Citation Greenstein, Kerry, "Faculty and Staff erspectivesP of a Behavior Assessment Team: A Case Study Evaluation" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1182. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1182 This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FACULTY AND STAFF PERSPECTIVES OF A BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT TEAM: A CASE STUDY EVALUATION by Kerry Greenstein (Under the Direction of Daniel Calhoun) ABSTRACT Following the shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2007, colleges began formally implementing threat assessment teams to help identify threats and prevent violence from occurring. On many campuses those teams have developed into Behavior Assessment Teams (BATs) that evaluate threats as well as support students by identifying concerning behavior and strategically implementing interventions to reduce the risk of violence. Many of those teams are now well established and need some method for evaluating their effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to understand faculty and staff perceptions of a campus BAT and evaluate a team’s effectiveness as defined by the team’s impact on campus culture, specifically as it relates to campus safety. Four specific aspects (the reporting process, the team’s response to a report, the observed changes in behavior following an intervention, and the impact on campus safety) were identified for review. Each of these areas came from literature regarding best practices for a BAT, and, collectively, were used to evaluate the team’s effectiveness. Using a case study approach the researcher interviewed 13 faculty and staff members from the campus that had previously submitted a report to the BAT. The researcher believed that community members who had previously worked with the team were in a better position to discuss their experiences and provide feedback about the team’s handling of cases than team 1 members themselves. Additionally, this study included an analysis of team documents including the institution’s BAT policy and procedure manual, BAT website, reporting form, and selected case notes. The results indicated that the faculty and staff on this campus have a positive perception of the BAT and the work that it does. While there were acknowledgements of areas in which the team could improve, overall, the community felt like the team was effective. Responses indicated that people understood the reporting process, and that the team followed up quickly on reports that it received, providing students with resources as needed. Most importantly, the community members saw the BAT as playing an important role in regard to campus safety, whether for record-keeping purposes or to help intervene and prevent violence from occurring. Finally, the implications based upon these findings are included, along with recommendations for future research. INDEX WORDS: Behavior assessment, Behavior intervention, Threat assessment, Campus safety 2 FACULTY AND STAFF PERSPECTIVES OF A BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT TEAM: A CASE STUDY EVALUATION by KERRY GREENSTEIN Bachelor of Arts, Rider University, 2003 Master of Education, University of Delaware, 2005 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION STATESBORO, GEORGIA 2014 3 © 2014 KERRY GREENSTEIN All Rights Reserved 4 FACULTY AND STAFF PERSPECTIVES OF A BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT TEAM: A CASE STUDY EVALUATION by KERRY GREENSTEIN Major Professor: Daniel Calhoun Committee: Meca Williams-Johnson Georj Lewis Electronic Version Approved: DECEMBER 2014 5 DEDICATION To my wife, my best friend, and my biggest supporter – Robyn. I also dedicate this to my beautiful little girl, Shayna. You two are my everything, and now I can focus on you again. 6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people I wish to thank for the guidance and support throughout this process. First, I would like to thank my parents for instilling in me the value of education and encouraging me to always strive for my dreams. I would not be the person I am today if not for you. Next, I would like to thank my committee for your assistance throughout this process. I have learned so much from each of you, and will forever appreciate the time and effort you have given to help me make this paper something I am proud of. Specifically, I would like to thank Dan Calhoun for answering my many questions and for your advice along the way. From babies to Disney trips to the purpose of the study, your input was always valued. To my friends and colleagues who have heard me talk about this paper non-stop, thank you! Your listening ear, and constant support were appreciated more than you know. Finally, to Robyn and Shayna. Robyn, I can not say thank you enough for keeping everything together when I needed to write. For cooking dinners, doing dishes, spending weekends without me, and especially for watching and taking care of Shayna so I could focus and get this done, thank you! Shayna, you are totally worth every minute I put this off in order to spend time with you. Thank you both for making me so happy, and giving me a reason to keep pushing through when times were tough. I love you! 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 15 A. Background ......................................................................................................... 17 1. Violence on College Campuses ..................................................................... 17 2. Threat Assessment ............................................................................................19 3. Early Implementations ......................................................................................22 4. Current Research on Implementations ..............................................................24 B. Problem Statement .............................................................................................. 26 C. Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................28 D. Research Questions ................................................................................................28 E. Significance of the Study........................................................................................29 F. Procedures...............................................................................................................30 G. Limitations .............................................................................................................32 H. Delimitations ..........................................................................................................33 I. Key Definitions ......................................................................................................33 J. Organization of the Study....................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................... 36 A. Literature Search ................................................................................................... 37 B. Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................... 38 C. Organization of the Literature Review .................................................................. 41 1. School Violence ................................................................................................41 2. Preventing School Violence ..............................................................................44 i. Zero Tolerance Policies .................................................................................44 8 ii. Profiling and Warning Signs ........................................................................45 iii. Mental Health Assessments ........................................................................47 iv. Other Options for Mitigation.......................................................................47 3. FBI Report and Safe School Initiative ..............................................................48 4. Threat Assessment in Schools ..........................................................................49 5. Campus Violence ..............................................................................................51 6. Mitigating Campus Violence ............................................................................52 i. The Clery Act ................................................................................................52 ii. Other Means of Mitigation ...........................................................................53