Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
Abstract
Several high-profile, multiple-victim school shootings between 1996 and 1999 dramatically shook the public's perception of the safety of our schools. In response to public concern, the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) developed a district-wide policy for responding to threats of violence and implemented the Dallas Threat of Violence Risk Assessment (DTVRA). The DTVRA is designed to help school personnel assess the likelihood of a student following through with a threat and to provide guidance for appropriate interventions for students who threaten violence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the inter-rater reliability and construct-related validity of the DTVRA. Ratings from 35 newly-hired school counselors on four fictional case scenarios were used. Ratings from 5 pairs of counselors yielded 17 out of 20 statistically significant correlations, and average percent agreement on individual items was relatively high across the case scenarios. A complex case rated high-risk due to the presence of several high-risk behaviors was used to evaluate inter-rater agreement of attack-related behaviors. Analysis of ratings on this case scenario showed mixed results. In support of the instrument's content-related validity, results showed that raters were able to differentiate between low-, medium-, and high-risk cases using the DTVRA. Limitations of this study and implications for practice are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Van, Dyke Russell, "Reliability And Validity Of The Dallas Threat Of Violence Risk Assessment" (2008). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1048.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/1048