An Examination Of Restorative Justice In The School Setting

This study explored the effects of restorative justice, which is the practice of repairing harm between offenders and victims, in the elementary, middle, and high school setting. Restorative justice emphasizes accountability and making amends, and involves facilitating meetings between victims, offenders, and, for purposes of this study, administrators, teachers, and staff. The purpose of the current study was to investigate these restorative practices with a specific restorative model, Discipline that Restores (DTR), as a baseline foundation. This study focused specifically on economically disadvantaged classrooms in three west coast public school settings to better understand restorative justice effects on grade point average, number of discipline referrals written, faculty attitudes, and school climate. The research pointed to a potential increase in grade point average for students who received multiple discipline referrals when using DTR. By studying trends in grade point average, number of discipline referrals, school climate, and staff attitudes, the researcher gleaned information that will help administrators, teachers, and staff understand the effects of implementing this restorative justice model in the school setting