Last school year — the program’s first year — Gibson says, kids weren’t ready to talk things out. “Last year there was a lot of different conflicts, a lot of fights.”
This year, he says, they’re more willing to “circle up.”…
The school tried this alternative discipline approach a few years ago. But problems with teacher buy-in, training and turnover killed it before it got off the ground.
And it’s still a big work in progress, says Principal Sam Pasarow. “I believe our staff is struggling with restorative justice because they might feel at times a consequence didn’t come down on a student when it should have.” …
They say the data show chronic absence is down dramatically and graduation rates are up at restorative-justice schools, and that at two sites last year the disproportionate discipline of African-American students was eliminated.
Several other urban districts are trying some version of the approach, among them: Chicago; Minneapolis; Palm Beach County, Fla.; and Denver.
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