Paying reparations to Black Americans has long been contentiously debated. This article addresses an unexamined pillar of this debate: the United States has a long-standing social norm that if an individual or community has suffered a harm, it is considered right for the federal government to provide some measure of what we term "reparatory…

Exclusionary discipline practices are frequently utilized in schools despite decades of research indicating their ineffectiveness (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008; Losen & Skiba, 2010; Muñiz, 2021). Research shows that removing students from the classroom does not change student behavior, is administered…

The purpose of this study was to provide a measurement of the relationship between implementing Restorative Practices and Office Referrals. The background of this study was primarily rooted in the researcher's role in discipline and the restorative practices training the researcher was involved in. This training subsequently became the primary…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Strengthening School Safety." Contents include: (1) The Facts about…

Exclusionary discipline practices (EDPs), including suspensions and expulsions, are used in public schools, from kindergarten to 12th grade (K-12). Excessive use of EDP can have a negative impact as students face delays in completion of their academic work. The problem of increasing use of EDPs at a suburban public school district located in a…

Restorative justice (RJ) is a philosophy and set of practices that center harms and needs. Within a classroom setting, an RJ pedagogical approach invites a process of shared learning that attends to critical issues of equity, power, and voice. Utilizing an autoethnographic approach, this manuscript includes critical reflections from three faculty…

Since the early 1990s, American schools adopted exclusionary sanctions such as zero-tolerance policies (ZTP) to reduce student misbehavior as well as to sustain school safety. Due to the punitive nature of ZTP, some schools have sought alternative discipline models, like the restorative practices, to manage student infraction. This mixed methods…

The use of restorative practices to address college student behavior is a growing trend, but one about which few studies exist. While literature suggests how implementation of restorative practices can happen in the K-12 education setting, little is known about how student conduct practitioners should go about modifying their practices, policies,…

The number of disruptive incidents has remained the same in the study site district with three elementary schools in a low socioeconomic area in a southeastern state despite the implementation of restorative practices. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore teachers' perspectives on challenges and best practices when…

The problem that this Education Leadership Portfolio (ELP) sought to address was the traditional conduct resolution (TCR) process at the University of Delaware (UD) provides too few options to resolve conduct and conflict issues that promote learning and personal growth for students who do not pose a potential threat to those involved or the UD…

The COVID-19 school shutdown took students out of the school building and into the virtual classroom. With this, students lost opportunities to connect with their peers and school members. With students reentering the schools, there is a great need for structures built within the school day for community building. Restorative circles are safe…

In this brief, we outline the five components of the ISLA model, as well as steps that school and district teams can take to begin implementing these practices within their positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework. Key Takeaways: (1) The ISLA model was created to support teachers, staff, and students by focusing on…

Most schools have a code of conduct that guides their expectations for student behaviors. While schools' policies around discipline are believed to help deter further negative behavioral incidents, restorative practices is a field of study that strives to proactively build community and social coherence rather than exclusionary consequences…

This edited volume examines the causes, consequences, and costs of workplace incivility in P-12 education and provides practical strategies for leaders to prevent toxicity in their schools and districts. The resource provides a broad range of thought-provoking and practical contributions that situate incivility within the current sociopolitical…

The purpose of this convergent parallel design, mixed methods case study, was to discover the perception of students and teachers of the effectiveness of using school-wide restorative practices for students at the middle school level, grades six through eight, at one middle school site. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was the Theoretical Framework…