Administrators

Articles exploring the inclusion of restorative practices in the school environment including statement of good practice.

Nova Scotia spends $500K on 'restorative justice' bullying program in schools

from the article by Kris Sims in Sun News: Nova Scotia is spending $500,000 to expand anti-bullying campaigns in schools, hoping "restorative justice" methods modelled after native sentencing circles can curb the problem in the province. "Students will largely avoid the stigma of being 'sent to the office' or being suspended. We should not underestimate the negative side-effects of a child's experience at school if that experience involves multiple trips to the principal's office or suspensions from school," reads a government handout on the approach.

'Restorative practices': Discipline but different

from the article by Nirvi Shah in Education Week: At City Springs and many other schools across the country, restorative practices are about holding students accountable and getting them to right a wrong. The approach is getting more notice than ever as criticism grows of zero-tolerance disciplinary policies that often require out-of-school suspension and expulsion. Educators are turning to restorative practices, peer courts in middle and high schools, and related efforts in the hopes of changing students' bad behaviors rather than simply kicking them out of school as punishment and risking disconnecting them from school altogether. "It's about building relationships and having [students] do what you want them to do because they want to do it—not because they're afraid of what the consequences are," said Rhonda Richetta, the principal of City Springs, which has 624 students. "We really want kids to change."

Investigating the implementation of restorative justice practices through circle time

from the article at Student Wellbeing Action Partnership; This project was undertaken at a Catholic single sex school. The school has a strong emphasis on student wellbeing and is continually looking at ways to improve the various programs offered and strategies employed at the whole school through a preventative approach to student management. Using restorative justice as opposed to retributive justice has grown significantly in schools recently. The values that underpin restorative justice complement very well the underlying values of our school. The choice to focus on circle time was based on a personal interest fostered by research and something that was achievable within the context of the project. In my current leadership position I am also responsible for reviewing, developing and implementing student wellbeing policies so I found myself in the ideal position to develop and deliver a worthwhile project.

Dalhousie offers restorative justice option for students

from the article on updatednews.ca: Dalhousie University students who end up in trouble with the law now have a way to try to right the wrong without having to go to court. The University, police and the province’s Justice Department have set up a restorative justice program just for students of the school. It’s the first program of its kind for university students in Canada.

Restorative city push picks up pace

from the article by Anne-Marie Emerson in the Wanganui Chronicle: "The restorative city idea grew out of the very successful Whanganui Restorative Justice service operated by the same trustees for the last 12 years. That service allows restoration to occur by bringing offender, victim and their families together to address what has happened in a way that meets everyone's needs, especially the victim."

Parent-to-parent guide: Restorative justice in Chicago Public Schools

from the booklet by the Parents of POWER-PAC: For too many of our children, “school discipline” has meant getting suspended or expelled—starting as young as kindergarten—being arrested, even in grade school—and ending up on the streets or in jail— without an education. We are Chicago Public School parents, from many different neighborhoods and backgrounds, raising kids of all ages. We work together in POWER-PAC, and built our “Elementary Justice Campaign: Stopping the School-to-Prison Pipeline” because we’ve felt at times that school discipline works against—not with—our children and families.

Restorative justice and its effects on (racially disparate) punitive school discipline

from the paper by David Simpson: ....Finally, I investigated whether the implementation of Restorative Justice significantly reduced racial disproportionality in school discipline vis-à-vis African American students. In particular, I analyzed whether the disparity in black suspension percentage as compared to white suspension percentage—measured by the difference between black suspension percentage and white suspension percentage)—was reduced by a greater amount in schools that implemented Restorative Justice than in those that did not. I confined my analysis on this point to only those schools that had white as well as black enrollment of over 20 students. I did so because otherwise small fluctuations in total suspension numbers and/or enrollment numbers would have improperly skewed my results.

School's disciplinary message: We want you here

from Anne Stuhldreher's article in the San Francisco Chronicle: The head of security at Richmond High School is Darryl Robinson. But everyone there knows him as "Coach D." When he started 15 years ago, fights broke out nonstop. Students roamed the halls. And things didn't improve much over the years. Robinson remembers standing in front of a classroom and asking how many students had ever seen someone get killed. "Every hand in the room shot up," he said.

Study: Zero tolerance policies may have negative health implications for students

from the article by James Swift in Juvenile Justice Information Exchange: A new report based on research of three California school districts suggests that school children exposed to so called, “zero tolerance” policies may be taking a toll on their mental health and wellbeing.

NCHERM-CR announces summit on the application of restorative justice practices to cases of campus sexual misconduct

from the press release of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management The NCHERM-CR, the Conflict Resolution Practice Group of The National Center for Higher Education Risk Management ( www.ncherm.org ), will be hosting a two-day invitational Summit on the use of restorative justice practices in student-on-student sexual misconduct cases. This Summit is being convened to explore ways in which forms of conflict resolution, and especially restorative justice practices, may be utilized lawfully, productively and beneficially to improve on the traditional approaches used in student disciplinary proceedings.

Crime and entertainment at Franklin High

from the article by Rick Holmes in MetroWest Daily News: When outrage-inducing incidents become media sensations, the authorities respond with the tools they have available. Educators point to politically popular “zero tolerance” policies. ....Police charge the thugs with whatever laws they can find — even unlawful wire tapping — and set the wheels of justice turning. There will be lawyers and hearings and plea bargains, fines and probably time behind bars.

Restorative justice in higher education: A compilation of formats and best practices

from the guide by Justine Darling: ....There are many restorative tools and processes that can be used in the university setting. This guide is specific to Judicial and Residential Life processes within Institutions of Higher Education. Addressed below are the five most common methods of implementation that are used at the 9 colleges and universities in this study. The goal of all 5 Restorative Processes is for the respondent to acknowledge responsibility, identify harm and obligations, and develop a restorative plan agreed upon by the person responsible and impacted parties. Language used in Restorative Judicial Processes is different than the language used in Traditional Judicial Processes so that stigmatization is less likely to occur.

High Hopes Campaign releases a new report about restorative justice

from an article on www.suspensionstories.com: ....This week, the Campaign released a new report, From Policy to Standard Practice: Restorative Justice in Chicago Public Schools,” which illustrates that restorative justice practices improve school attendance, student achievement, school safety and culture. The key recommendations call for CPS to:

Chicago Public School students face racial discipline gap: Education Department

from the entry by Joy Resmovits on huffingtonpost.com In Chicago public schools, black students receive harsher punishments for in-school infractions than white students, a fact that mirrors a nationwide trend, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education Tuesday. The report paints a startling picture of racial disparities in how students are disciplined in schools across the country.

Campaign on way to counter cyberbullies

from Anthony Loncaric's article in Brimbank Weekly: Parents living in the north-west are calling for more support to deal with cyberbullying as the state government prepares a new advertising campaign to encourage young people to speak up. Education Minister Martin Dixon said the campaign would be similar to the hard-hitting advertisements aimed at reducing the road toll.

Applying a restorative justice approach to student conduct

from the article by Daniel Fusch in Academic Impressions: ....Taking an RJ approach requires a philosophical shift for the student conduct office – it entails new sets of questions for student conduct hearings and an alert ear for cases in which there is the possibility to restore harm that’s been done, rather than simply (or only) penalize. ....To learn more about how to make a restorative justice program most successful, we interviewed two officials from Colorado State University, which has frequently been recognized for its restorative justice and other student conduct programs. The two officials are Paul Osincup and Melissa Emerson, the associate and assistant directors of conflict resolution and student conduct services at CSU. Paul Osincup holds student conduct hearings; Melissa Emerson manages the restorative justice process once a student has been referred as a likely RJ candidate.

More action needed to bolster good behavior

from the article by Alan J. Borsuk in the Journel Sentinel: I don't know exactly what happened during a funeral at a church at N. 53rd and W. Burleigh streets last Tuesday, but I know it was bad. I know a lot more about what happened in the library at Bradley Tech High School the next morning, and I know it was good.

UC explores restorative justice in improving campus climate

from Harry Mok's article in UC Newsroom: A residence hall fire alarm is pulled as a drunken prank in the middle of the night. A fellow resident, who happens to be gay, witnesses it and confronts the culprit as the building is evacuated. In the exchange of words, the prankster utters a pejorative term for a homosexual man in a profanity-laced tirade. Fortunately, the situation was just part of a role-playing exercise. Twenty-three student affairs staff members, from all 10 University of California campuses, took part in training for restorative justice, a conflict resolution process that UC is considering for use when dealing with incidents of intolerance or hate, particularly for conduct that, while offensive, may not violate any laws or policies.

Editorial: Losing tolerance over zero-tolerance policies

from the Denver Post: Few events have shaped school discipline policies the way the 1999 Columbine High School massacre has — not just in Colorado but around the nation. Zero tolerance became a catchphrase for "doing-everything-possible-to-make-sure-this-never-happens-again."

Chicago Heights school helps launch anti-violence initiative

from the article by Jessica Villarreal in the Southtown Star: A number of characters were involved in a troubling incident at school. Their names fit their roles in the anger-sparked altercation: China Doll, Joe Swag, Bob Lame. But while the story that was acted out recently in a courtroom at the Daley Center in downtown Chicago was fictional, the program behind it is real and has a serious goal: reducing youth violence in the Chicago area.