Restorative justice, a nonpunitive alternative to traditional school discipline, emphasizes building and repairing relationships rather than punishing misbehavior. In addition to reducing reliance on suspension, restorative practices correlate with narrowed discipline gaps for minoritized student populations. It is essential for school leaders…

Purpose: This study facilitated restorative coordinators in co-constructing and proposing solutions to common problems in RJ implementation. Design/methodology/approach: This study used grounded theory to examine barriers to equitable restorative justice (RJ) implementation in the US. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with restorative…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences and knowledge that informed the decision-making of nine principals from a large midwestern urban district who shifted from implementing mainly exclusionary to restorative practices. Framed by Lederach's conflict transformation theory, the research question was: What knowledge and…

Whole school restorative practice (WSRP) calls for creating supportive, equitable schools, requiring broad systems change. This case study explores the journeys of three schools piloting WSRP in one Midwestern district and examines how school leaders designed and implemented within their school contexts. Schools were purposefully selected from…