This article questions whether social justice can live within the structural racism present in the field of evaluation. Structural racism refers to the totality of ways in which societies foster racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, health care, and criminal…

As many schools and school districts across the nation consider replacing traditional behavioral management strategies with restorative practices, this case asks the readers to consider the challenges a school leader may face when attempting to implement school-wide procedural change. In this case, a school leader faced with race-based discipline…

Exclusionary discipline is commonly employed in U. S. schools and disproportionately affects students of color. This article describes current approaches to discipline and contextualizes these approaches historically with particular attention to racial dynamics and violence. We identify the harmful effects of exclusionary discipline and describe…

Are students coming to your class lacking focus, having difficulty connecting with you and their peers, falling behind, or acting out when you instinctively feel they could do better? Do you sometimes feel like you don't have the capacity as a teacher or school leader to give students the support they need to learn and thrive? This book makes the…

The present article summarizes the assumptions, model, techniques, evidence, and diversity/social justice commitments of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT focused on six processes (acceptance, defusion, self, now, values, and action) that bear on a single overall target (psychological flexibility). The ACT model of behavior change has…

This paper presents a description of ongoing work of an Alberta school district that is working to support and enhance effective inclusive practices that reach and teach every student. The district is implementing a Pyramid of Supports model that is built upon four critical elements: a belief in social justice and the value of every child, a…

This brief is a companion to the policy brief entitled, "Discipline Policies, Successful Schools and Racial Justice," which reviewed the research on disciplinary exclusion from school and made several recommendations, including the following three for seeking policy change through legislation: (1) Federal and state policy should require…

In March of 2010, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan delivered a speech that highlighted racial disparities in school suspension and expulsion and that called for more rigorous civil rights enforcement in education. He suggested that students with disabilities and Black students, especially males, were suspended far more often than their White…