Two RAND Corp. studies recently evaluated the use of restorative practices to strengthen relationships between students and teachers to build that connection to school. These include teachers and other adult staff soliciting thoughts and ideas from students when making decisions, such as developing classroom norms; expressing their feelings in response to students’ behavior; encouraging students to express and respect their and others’ feelings; addressing not just bad behavior but also the underlying causes; and focusing on healing the hurt associated with negative behavior. Many of these practices occur while students and teachers sit together in a circle, so everyone is face to face.
Collectively, the two research teams looked at the impact of using these practices on school climate, suspension rates, classroom climate, peer relationships, connection to school and academics. In both studies, schools that received the intervention were chosen randomly, which is the gold standard for research. These two studies are the first to use random assignment of schools to assess the impacts of restorative practices. The first study identified no differences between the schools that were implementing restorative practices and those that were not. The second study identified stronger school climates and lower suspension rates but worsened classroom climates and academic outcomes.
Both research teams also found that implementation quality varied and that teachers and staff wanted more support for implementation than the interventions provided. The ability to use restorative practices is honed over time through practice and regular feedback from experts, expensive supports that schools might not be able to afford or prioritize. Teachers and staff in the studies also wanted clearer expectations for what they should be doing and how often they should be doing it, which can be a challenge when an intervention is intended to change behaviors to improve relationships, and for which there is not a simple checklist. Leadership training for administrators and staff to learn how to collaboratively implement the intervention across their school was optional, which led some schools to opt in and some to opt out. Given the barriers that schools experience when implementing schoolwide interventions (staff turnover, school schedules, competing demands), districts could consider making this type of training mandatory, since involvement of school leadership is critical to overcome these structural barriers.
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Joie Acosta is a senior behavioral scientist, Catherine Augustine is a senior policy researcher, Matthew Chinman is a senior behavioral scientist and John Engberg is a senior economist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.
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