Book Description

School discipline has been a widely discussed topic in American education for decades. Many programs have been instituted as a solution to the discipline needs; however, they fall short of addressing the root cause of the problem and historically have simply punished students through exclusionary discipline methods (Adams, 2000; Allman & Slate, 2011; Gonzalez 2012; Kupchik & Catlaw, 2015). Restorative practices, a system that is built on relationships and community, strives to target the same behaviors through a different approach. Instead of relying on punishments (such as detention, suspension, or expulsion) restorative practices brings both victim and offender together to share their perspective, repair harm, and move forward (McCluskey, Lloyd, Stead, et al., 2008; Morrison, 2007; Vaandering, 2014; Wachtel, 2016). This mixed methods historical case study investigated how one school district in the state of Connecticut implemented restorative practices and the administrator, and student perceptions on the impact, if any, restorative practices had on school climate. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 20 participants. In addition, independent samples t-tests were performed using district Comprehensive School Climate Inventory data over the 3 years post implementation of restorative practices to identify any statistically significant indicators of school climate as a potential result of implementing restorative practices. Interviews and focus groups revealed a strong sense of belonging and connection to the school and increased relationships, in addition to building student leadership in implementing restorative practices and a reduction in behavioral incidences that warrant exclusionary discipline measures; however, only one indicator for staff indicated statistical significance on the independent samples t-test. This research suggests that if schools begin to implement restorative practices, they can create a strong school climate and reduce the amount of ineffective exclusionary discipline consequences by shaping student behavior though connection to the school community and relationships.