School-Wide Implementation of Restorative Justices: Lessons Learned from Three Schools

Purpose:  In light of growing research demonstrating the limits of punitive, “zero tolerance” approaches to school discipline, scholars, and community stakeholders have increasingly advocated for the use of restorative justice (RJ) approaches to resolving student misconduct. Instead of excluding misbehaving students through suspension or expulsion, the RJ process brings victims and offenders together to acknowledge harm, repair relationships, and restore community. RJ has been shown to reduce office referrals and suspensions in domestic and international contexts. While many schools acknowledge the benefits of RJ for students’ academic and social-emotional growth their students, little is known about how to scale this approach up to the school-level and integrate RJ practices throughout the building, from the classroom to the disciplinarian’s office. Motivated by this gap, this study examined factors essential to the implementation of school-wide RJ approaches to improving student behavior and school climate

Methods: Three schools from a large urban school district were purposively identified by a panel of local educators, district administrators, and community leaders based on the following criteria:  history of implementing RJ; a diverse and high-need student body; and, reductions in out-of-school suspensions and improvements in academic achievement after the introduction of RJ. All served greater than 74% students of color, and 87% or more of students were eligible for free and reduced lunch. Principal interview and staff focus groups were conducted at each school using semi-structured protocols eliciting narrative information about why participants felt their school was successful in implementing RJ school-wide. Interviews were transcribed and coded using a computer assisted qualitative software program. Inductive and deductive analytical techniques were employed, first drawing on key concepts from a literature review, then adding codes as themes emerged in the transcripts. Codes were assessed for inter-rater reliability across two researchers using Cohen’s Kappa (k > .80).  

Findings: Data analysis revealed four factors that led to the successful implementation of school-wide restorative discipline practices at these schools. The first highlighted the importance of principals’ commitment to the philosophy that students should remain in class when at all possible.  Analyses illustrated that the principal’s dedication to restorative approaches to discipline even in the face of resistance was essential at all three sites. Second, capacity to implement RJ throughout the school was supported by intensive and ongoing universal professional development, supplemented by individual coaching. Third, staff buy-in was facilitated by opportunities for staff to participate in discipline policy-making and hiring of new staff that were already aligned with RJ values. Finally, the presence of a full-time RJ coordinator at each site was understood as a critical step towards taking the practice school-wide.

Conclusions and Implications: Effective implementation appeared to have been facilitated by administrators who were philosophically committed to restorative practices and who engaged teachers in the implementation process, as well as ongoing training for school staff, and a position dedicated to supporting RJ. Findings resonate with other studies of educational reforms; in particular indicating the importance of attending to leadership and capacity development when implementing school-wide approaches.