The Role of Restorative Practices in Building Community, Increasing Student Learning and Reducing Racially Disparate Discipline in Secondary Schools

The highly negative outcomes of persistent racially disparate discipline for students and communities of color are well documented and wide-ranging. In response many districts are instituting Restorative Practices in order to reduce the racial discipline gap and mediate negative outcomes for communities. Research of these districts shows a reduction in suspension rates for all students although a racial gap persists. In order to maximize the potential positive benefits of Restorative Practices teachers, administrators and facilitators must fully and properly implement Restorative Practices. To do so will require support through clear, personalized and tangible Restorative resources. This project involved the production of a highly personalized and resource-rich website for use by educators, administrators and facilitators to fully implement Restorative Practices in the classroom. It includes a short orientation in the history of the Restorative Justice Movement from indignous governments to the criminal justice system to the classroom, a series of personal blogs detailing one educator\u27s experiences and techniques in instituting Restorative Practices in a diverse, urban secondary classroom and links to other internet-based Restorative resources and lesson plans. The goal of the project is to support the full implementation of Restorative Practices in the classroom so that the negative harms perpetuated by racially disparate academic discipline may be reduced