Restorative practices reduce exclusionary discipline and misbehavior and improve school climate, safety, and achievement, though implementation requires sustained investment¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Studies of restorative practice programs consistently find they reduce exclusionary discipline, decrease student misbehavior, and improve school climate. → dePaoli 2023 q3 i? A 2023 California middle school study found increased restorative practices improved climate, safety, wellness, behavior, and achievement, with decreased suspensions and higher ELA and math scores, and Black students benefited the most. → dePaoli 2023 (2)

Evidence¶

dePaoli 2023¶

dePaoli, J., & McCombs, J. (2023). Safe schools, thriving students: Evidence-based strategies for creating safe and supportive schools. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/701.445

q3 · i? · review · r?

The review reports this consistent pattern across studies of restorative practice programs, noting 60% of schools reported using some form of restorative practices in 2019–20.

"Studies of restorative practice programs consistently find that they reduce the use of exclusionary discipline, decrease rates of student misbehavior, and improve school climate."

dePaoli 2023 (2)¶

dePaoli, J., & McCombs, J. (2023). Safe schools, thriving students: Evidence-based strategies for creating safe and supportive schools. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/701.445

q3 · i? · review · r?

The review reports a 2023 study across California middle schools finding schoolwide improvements to climate, safety, wellness, behavior, and achievement where restorative practices increased, with "Black students benefited the most."

"for students, increased exposure to restorative practices was associated with decreased probability and duration of suspension and higher English language arts and mathematics assessment scores. While all students benefited from restorative practices, Black students benefited the most."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• School climate data supported changes to the three schools' discipline systems — related
• Academic benefits of restorative practice exposure are stronger for Black and Latino/a students than for White students, suggesting practices can reduce racial gaps — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Student exposure to restorative practices improves standardized test performance and reduces suspension probability and duration — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Experts report reduced suspensions and expulsions and improved school climate as RJ implementation successes — related
• Schools implementing restorative justice report decreases in exclusionary discipline such as suspensions and expulsions — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Shifting to restorative practices reduced exclusionary discipline and its racial disparities while improving climate and achievement — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Teachers who implemented restorative justice frequently had better student relationships and issued fewer referrals, with preliminary indications of reduced racial discipline gaps that were not fully eliminated — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Frequent RJ use by teachers shows preliminary indications of reducing the racial discipline gap, though disparities persist — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Schools with school resource officers may have higher rates of exclusionary discipline, including a reported 21 percent increase in incidents — related
• Schools that increased restorative practice utilization saw declines in misbehavior, gang membership, victimization, depressive symptoms, and substance abuse, and improvements in GPA and climate — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Exclusionary discipline is ineffective at improving school safety and harms both suspended students and their non-suspended peers — related
• SEL programs cannot produce meaningful long-term growth in authoritarian, punitive, or exclusionary environments; restorative practices are needed — related
• Implementing restorative justice in schools requires staff time, buy-in, training, and resources beyond traditional sanctions, with full climate shifts estimated to take three to five years — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Access to restorative practices is inequitable: schools with more Black and economically disadvantaged students show lower restorative practice utilization — related
• Strategies not linked to a problem behavior's specific context are associated with increases in the occurrence of that behavior — related
• Programs offering the highest levels of active student participation are those aimed at generally improving the school environment (Restorative Justice and SEHER), suggesting broad, systemic scope favors student decision-making roles — related