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Abstract
Researchers aimed to determine the impacts of restorative justice practices on Westview Middle School students and teachers. The researchers examined student academic achievement, attendance, and discipline infractions among all students over a 3-year period. In addition, the researchers of this study examined these variables for a group of targeted students who were labeled as having the highest discipline infractions in the school. The researchers of this study also examined teacher perceptions of the impact of restorative justice practices in three specific areas (healing, cooperation, and restoration) and how these perceptions changed between pre-professional development and post-professional development. The teacher perceptions were also examined through a qualitative component where the researchers asked open-ended questions as a part of the pre- and post-professional development questionnaire as well as conducting staff interviews.
Results yielded several statistically significant findings. Specifically, there were increases in math (between Year 1 and Year 3, and Year 2 and Year 3), some decrease in English language arts (between Year 1 and Year 2), a large increase in English language arts (between Year 2 and Year 3), improvement in attendance, and improvement in discipline. However, these findings were not as consistent among targeted students. Teacher beliefs regarding restorative justice changed over time only for the factor of cooperation, in which the shift indicated a disagreement with actions related to cooperation after professional development. Qualitative data indicated that teachers felt prepared to lead proactive restorative circles to build community but did not feel comfortable leading reactive practices such as restorative conversations to address misbehaviors. Overall, teachers agreed that restorative justice practices had a positive impact on the school, and they felt that they were an integral part of these practices. The findings provide a clearer picture of the impact of restorative justice practices on students as well as teachers.
