Shifting to restorative practices reduced exclusionary discipline and its racial disparities while improving climate and achievement¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Accumulating evidence indicates restorative practices, with robust supports for adults, reduce exclusionary discipline, yielding fewer and less racially disparate suspensions and expulsions and improving school climate, relationships, and achievement. → Hernández 2022 q2 i? A district continuum model reduced discipline disparities every year for each racial group and raised academic achievement across nearly every grade level. → Hernández 2022 (2)

Evidence¶

Hernández 2022¶

Hernández, L. E., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2022). Creating identity-safe schools and classrooms. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/165.102

q2 · i? · review · r1

The report's synthesis of restorative practices evaluations (citing RAND and WestEd reviews). It states the approach "reduces the use of exclusionary discipline" and improves climate and achievement; no effect sizes are printed.

"Accumulating evidence suggests that shifting to restorative practices, with robust supports to enable the adults to do so, reduces the use of exclusionary discipline, resulting in fewer and less racially disparate suspensions and expulsions, while making schools identity-safe and improving school climate, relationships, and academic achievement."

Hernández 2022 (2)¶

Hernández, L. E., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2022). Creating identity-safe schools and classrooms. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/165.102

q2 · i? · review · r1

A district-level example described in the report's restorative practices section: a continuum from proactive exchanges to restorative conferences. The report states disparities "were reduced every year for each racial group" with achievement gains.

"a continuum model including proactive restorative exchanges, affirmative statements, informal conferences, large group circles, and restorative conferences substantially changed school culture and outcomes rapidly in one major district, as disparities in school discipline were reduced every year for each racial group and gains were made in academic achievement across all subjects in nearly every grade level."

Studies bearing on this claim¶

Do restorative practices narrow racial and ethnic gaps in discipline and achievement? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 6 narrower claims that bear on it: 5 distinct studies (4 review, 1 associational), q2, 0 of 5 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Identity — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it

Related Claims¶

• School climate data supported changes to the three schools' discipline systems — related
• Exclusionary discipline harms students and disproportionately affects students of color, so tracking suspension data can promote positive interventions — related
• Restorative practices reduce exclusionary discipline and misbehavior and improve school climate, safety, and achievement, though implementation requires sustained investment — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• 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
• 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
• Schools implementing restorative justice report decreases in exclusionary discipline such as suspensions and expulsions — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Experts report reduced suspensions and expulsions and improved school climate as RJ implementation successes — related
• SEL programs cannot produce meaningful long-term growth in authoritarian, punitive, or exclusionary environments; restorative practices are needed — related
• School exclusionary policies paradoxically worsen dropout, delinquency, and achievement — related
• Students of color show fewer absences and less exclusionary discipline when taught by race-matched teachers — related
• Access to restorative practices is inequitable: schools with more Black and economically disadvantaged students show lower restorative practice utilization — 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
• After school-wide positive and restorative discipline training, Black-White and LGBTQ-straight differences in perceived bullying converged at one majority-minority school — related
• California's shift to restorative and social-emotional approaches coincided with a 33.6% decline in suspensions and 40.4% decline in expulsions (2011-2016) while schools became safer — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Denver Public Schools' restorative justice reforms coincided with falling suspension rates and a narrowed Black-White suspension gap — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• 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