RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN SCHOOL DISCIPLINE RAFAEL ALVARADO, KENDRA TAYLOR, & STEPHEN WORTHINGTON PENNSYLVANIA EDUCATION EQUITY PROJECT THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

STUDENT DISCIPLINE: IS THIS WORKING?

OVERVIEW Literature Review The School-to-Prison Pipeline Restorative Justice and Schools Our Research Research Questions Site of Study Methods Findings Implications

SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE: A BRIEF SUMMARY Increasing trend of tracking students out of educational institutions and into the juvenile and adult criminal justice system Disproportionately impacts minority students, particularly African Americans, and students with disabilities Increasing criminalization of the school environment, exclusionary punishment practices, and increased use of criminal justice technology in schools

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: A BRIEF SUMMARY

MOUNTAIN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT N AT ’ L C TR. FOR E DUC. S TATISTICS, Elementary / Secondary Information System,

MOUNTAIN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT Calculated from P A. DEP ’ T OF E DUC., Safe Schools Online,

MOUNTAIN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT Calculated from P A. DEP ’ T OF E DUC., Safe Schools Online, ols.state.pa.us/ ols.state.pa.us

DATA AND METHODS Research Questions: 1)How and why did MASD decide to adopt restorative justice reform—what were the barriers and what was the impetus? 2)How do the teachers perceive restorative justice and how are they implementing the reform? Qualitative interviews with teachers and administrators at two high schools Purposeful sampling strategy Open-coding

FINDINGS: EMERGENT THEMES Defining Restorative Practices Stories of Restorative Practices Support During Implementation Challenges to Implementation Race/SES

THEME: DEFINING OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE Disciplinary Reform Pedagogical Reform Restorative Practices Cultural Reform

THEME: DEFINING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE Misconduct Repercussions (Immediate and Communal) Reestablish Relationships Alter Disciplinary Trends

THEME: DEFINING RESTORATIVE PRACTICES “So my understanding of how restorative practice is working, at least in my eyes, is that it is meant to be preventive, because if we develop relationships we should have less problems, and it’s [also] done after the problem to restore relationships.” –science teacher

THEME: DEFINING RESTORATIVE PRACTICES To (punitive) With (restorative) Not ( neglectful ) For (permissive) Social Discipline Window Support ControlControl ControlControl

THEME: STORIES OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICE “She’s very rigid, and set in her ways. She was sobbing, crying, telling the student how it made her feel when he was interrupting her in class. That it really belittled her, and it made her feel like she had no control over her class. And it made her feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. It made her feel like she wasn’t a good teacher. I mean she just did everything—it was great, it was great. I have the chills. Because it was…and this student, I don’t think he’s ever seen a teacher cry. You know, he was… He was shocked. And he really was like, ‘Wow, miss, I’m really sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t know that you felt that way.’ Now that is a big win. Just writing a referral and making him stay after school for detention is not teaching him what his actions did. How his actions made her feel. And that way he’ll think twice about acting that way again. Maybe not. But to me it’s much better to at least let him see how his actions affect others. And I think it was revealing for her, too. She didn’t realize she was going to get that way. You know, she started off a little stern, and before you know it we had to get the tissues, and the make-up she had to redo. It was great! It really was.” -Social Emotional Support Teacher

THEME: SUPPORT DURING IMPLEMENTATION “Our new superintendent had been a restorative principal at a previous school in our area—it was a smaller high school, much smaller—and implemented restorative practices on a school- wide basis there. So he had a lot of familiarity with restorative [practices]…” –special education teacher

THEME: SUPPORT DURING IMPLEMENTATION

THEME: SUPPORT DURING IMPLEMENTATION “I don’t know if it’s me but I think the fact that the board knows we’re doing this, the board doesn’t get involved now with a lot of the discipline.” –director of student services

THEME: CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTATION “Teachers are ‘initiatived’ out.... For a lot of teachers, this [RP] is just another one of those initiatives.” – special education teacher “Everybody does [a new program], and then two, three years later they don’t mention it anymore. There’s a new thing! ” – health/PE teacher Some teachers “are just waiting for the next thing to come down the pipe.” – health/PE teacher

THEME: CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTATION Some teachers “don’t see the accountability piece” – special education teacher Interviewees saw RP as compatible with and supplemental to traditional discipline. RP “helps prevent bad behavior, once bad behavior happens it has to be disciplined ” – science teacher RP should not affect punishment but should show “we care enough to know why [students misbehave] and help [students] figure out how to not go further with it.” – history teacher

THEME: RACE/SES Teachers wanted to portray the “diversity” in their schools, but they did not feel comfortable characterizing the diversity in racial terms Language around socioeconomic status used as a proxy to discuss racial diversity Cultural Expectations for different racial groups Divisions in the school among who did and did not explicitly discuss race Avoidance of Explicit Race Talk

IMPLICATIONS Defining Restorative Practices Stories of Restorative Practices Support During Implementation Challenges to Implementation Race/SES

IMPLICATIONS It may be a strength of the reform in that it can be interpreted and adapted in ways that teachers connect with and individualize for their classrooms The district must find a way to address, however, the substantial proportion of teachers who do not buy-in to the reform Need for consistent opportunities for professional development in restorative practices Need for opportunities for trainings that address implicit biases with a focus on discipline, also discussions within the district with teachers about racial discipline disparities

THANK YOU! Questions? Comments?