Disciplinary Policies and Practices
Below, you’ll find statistics and examples of how Restorative Justice Practices (RJPs) that are integrated into disciplinary policies are succeeding within K-12 education systems. This information can be beneficial in winning fellow teachers’ and administrators’ support to shift school disciplinary policies to be more focused on RJPs. The many schools that adhere to more of a zero-tolerance policy can greatly improve their school community and environment – in terms of safety, well-being, and even academic achievement - by integrating RJPs.
Resources
-Restorative Practices Whole-School Implementation Guide
The Whole-School Implementation Guide is a step by step manual to planning and implementing RJPs into school-wide programming. This guide is a valuable resource as it provides the curriculum for implementing the RJPs programming, including, a step by step overview, example staff meeting agendas, example team meeting agendas, school climate reflection tools, and supporting worksheets and documents. This guide helps to orient a path forward in adopting RJPs and makes what may seem like a daunting task, very possible.
Read this manual for bringing RJPs to your school: http://www.healthiersf.org/RestorativePractices/Resources/documents/SFUSD%20Whole%20School%20Implementation%20Guide%20final.pdf
-Ed White Middle School Restorative Discipline Evaluation: Implementation and Impact, 2012/2013, Sixth Grade
Findings can be found on pages 5-7 and recommendations for those looking to integrate RJPs into their school can be found on pages 7 and 8.
“The purpose of this evaluation study is to assess the process and outcomes of the first-year implementation of a school-wide restorative justice intervention for discipline. Instead of viewing misbehavior as a violation of rules and authority, Restorative Discipline seeks to change our views of student misconduct and in doing so impacts bullying and other infractions.” This study reports only on the 6th grade level at Ed White Middle School. Ed White Middle found that RJPs were positively received by participating teachers, students, and parents. The school also found that their suspension rate dropped by 44%, a huge success.
Read the study here: http://www.utexas.edu/research/cswr/rji/pdf/Ed-White-Evaluation-2012-2013.pdf
-Restorative Discipline: A Whole School Approach
This fact sheet presents statistics collected by Ed White Middle School on pre-RJPs implementation. It displays the disparities between students and their likelihood to be reprimanded or suspended based on ethnicity, gender, and other demographics. This source is useful as it allows for comparison of Ed White Middle School prior to adopting RJPs, as the source above is a report on the improvements Ed White Middle experienced after their first year of RJPs implementation. For any schools interested in adopting RJPs, this and the previous source will be extremely useful in displaying the benefits. This write up also provides an outline for Ed White Middle’s goals and approach when taking on the adoption of RJPs.
Read the report here: http://www.utexas.edu/research/cswr/rji/pdf/RD-Handout-TASSP-TEPSA-June-2014.pdf
-Santa Clara County RJP Success Stories
This is a success story reported by San Jose Mercury News that lists the improvements that Santa Clara County had, and continues to have, while implementing RJP. This article further details the changes that Santa Clara County made such as providing services to youth at risk in and outside of schools.
Read the story here: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_28074836/juvenile-justice-triumph-santa-clara-county-has-reduced
-Restorative Justice Initiative; End of Year Report
This powerpoint outlines the growth in the RJP programing in the Santa Fe Public School System. This summary provides a concise outline of what the RJPs in Santa Fe Public School’s programing look like and how they differ at each level of schooling; elementary, middle, and high school. This powerpoint also shows the positive effects of the RJP program on the school system and how the second year of implementation took off after the noted successes of the first year. For people interested in implementing RJP throughout an entire school system, this resource is extremely beneficial.
Read the report here: http://www.sfps.info/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1674
-Opening Up, Students Transform a Vicious Circle
A New York Times article on the positive changes school districts in Oakland, California are experiencing due to the use of RJPs. Using RJPs, schools are creating closer relationships between students and teachers and aim to reduce the amount of violence and conflicts in the classroom. By creating strong support groups, students feel they are able to express their emotions and feelings in a safe space and in a nonviolent way.
Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/education/restorative-justice-programs-take-root-in-schools.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
-Restorative Resources - Restorative Justice in Schools
This 10 minute video outlines the amazing positive impact that RJP programming is having in school systems across the country, focusing mostly on Santa Rosa School District. Students, teachers, and administrators share their experiences about the new program and how it transformed the way they view conflict resolution. Student/teacher/administration relationships are far less strained and these school systems have seen a dramatic decrease in suspensions and expulsions.
“What we do when we exclude students, is we push them out of school. I say that’s exactly when we need to hold on to them tighter.” -Portland School’s Administrator
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pYuA3o6WuU
-Restorative Justice in Schools - Gaby’s Story
This 3 minute video speaks to the positive impact that RJPs are having on individual high school students. This video shares the positivity of RJPs through the personal account of Gaby, a Roosevelt High School student, who uses RJPs with her classmates and teammates. She has seen it impact her life for the better and she is an inspiration to other high schoolers who are interested in RJPs being a part of their curriculum.
Listen to her story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0i-Iwf3yBE
If you have more resources to suggest to add to our page, please send them to us here!
Resources
-Restorative Practices Whole-School Implementation Guide
The Whole-School Implementation Guide is a step by step manual to planning and implementing RJPs into school-wide programming. This guide is a valuable resource as it provides the curriculum for implementing the RJPs programming, including, a step by step overview, example staff meeting agendas, example team meeting agendas, school climate reflection tools, and supporting worksheets and documents. This guide helps to orient a path forward in adopting RJPs and makes what may seem like a daunting task, very possible.
Read this manual for bringing RJPs to your school: http://www.healthiersf.org/RestorativePractices/Resources/documents/SFUSD%20Whole%20School%20Implementation%20Guide%20final.pdf
-Ed White Middle School Restorative Discipline Evaluation: Implementation and Impact, 2012/2013, Sixth Grade
Findings can be found on pages 5-7 and recommendations for those looking to integrate RJPs into their school can be found on pages 7 and 8.
“The purpose of this evaluation study is to assess the process and outcomes of the first-year implementation of a school-wide restorative justice intervention for discipline. Instead of viewing misbehavior as a violation of rules and authority, Restorative Discipline seeks to change our views of student misconduct and in doing so impacts bullying and other infractions.” This study reports only on the 6th grade level at Ed White Middle School. Ed White Middle found that RJPs were positively received by participating teachers, students, and parents. The school also found that their suspension rate dropped by 44%, a huge success.
Read the study here: http://www.utexas.edu/research/cswr/rji/pdf/Ed-White-Evaluation-2012-2013.pdf
-Restorative Discipline: A Whole School Approach
This fact sheet presents statistics collected by Ed White Middle School on pre-RJPs implementation. It displays the disparities between students and their likelihood to be reprimanded or suspended based on ethnicity, gender, and other demographics. This source is useful as it allows for comparison of Ed White Middle School prior to adopting RJPs, as the source above is a report on the improvements Ed White Middle experienced after their first year of RJPs implementation. For any schools interested in adopting RJPs, this and the previous source will be extremely useful in displaying the benefits. This write up also provides an outline for Ed White Middle’s goals and approach when taking on the adoption of RJPs.
Read the report here: http://www.utexas.edu/research/cswr/rji/pdf/RD-Handout-TASSP-TEPSA-June-2014.pdf
-Santa Clara County RJP Success Stories
This is a success story reported by San Jose Mercury News that lists the improvements that Santa Clara County had, and continues to have, while implementing RJP. This article further details the changes that Santa Clara County made such as providing services to youth at risk in and outside of schools.
Read the story here: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_28074836/juvenile-justice-triumph-santa-clara-county-has-reduced
-Restorative Justice Initiative; End of Year Report
This powerpoint outlines the growth in the RJP programing in the Santa Fe Public School System. This summary provides a concise outline of what the RJPs in Santa Fe Public School’s programing look like and how they differ at each level of schooling; elementary, middle, and high school. This powerpoint also shows the positive effects of the RJP program on the school system and how the second year of implementation took off after the noted successes of the first year. For people interested in implementing RJP throughout an entire school system, this resource is extremely beneficial.
Read the report here: http://www.sfps.info/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1674
-Opening Up, Students Transform a Vicious Circle
A New York Times article on the positive changes school districts in Oakland, California are experiencing due to the use of RJPs. Using RJPs, schools are creating closer relationships between students and teachers and aim to reduce the amount of violence and conflicts in the classroom. By creating strong support groups, students feel they are able to express their emotions and feelings in a safe space and in a nonviolent way.
Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/education/restorative-justice-programs-take-root-in-schools.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
-Restorative Resources - Restorative Justice in Schools
This 10 minute video outlines the amazing positive impact that RJP programming is having in school systems across the country, focusing mostly on Santa Rosa School District. Students, teachers, and administrators share their experiences about the new program and how it transformed the way they view conflict resolution. Student/teacher/administration relationships are far less strained and these school systems have seen a dramatic decrease in suspensions and expulsions.
“What we do when we exclude students, is we push them out of school. I say that’s exactly when we need to hold on to them tighter.” -Portland School’s Administrator
Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pYuA3o6WuU
-Restorative Justice in Schools - Gaby’s Story
This 3 minute video speaks to the positive impact that RJPs are having on individual high school students. This video shares the positivity of RJPs through the personal account of Gaby, a Roosevelt High School student, who uses RJPs with her classmates and teammates. She has seen it impact her life for the better and she is an inspiration to other high schoolers who are interested in RJPs being a part of their curriculum.
Listen to her story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0i-Iwf3yBE
If you have more resources to suggest to add to our page, please send them to us here!