Many schools use exclusionary discipline--such as suspensions and expulsions--to deter students from misbehaving and to protect students from the harms associated with exposure to student misbehavior. Research indicates that, while often implemented with good intentions, exclusionary discipline increases (rather than deters) misbehavior and risks…

Introduction: School mediation training is important because it teaches students to resolve differences in a non-violent way. Despite the benefits it offers, research on the subject is scarce and the background is mostly focused on theoretically understanding the conflict to develop specific techniques and tools that are useful for peer students,…

Across the country, many schools have adopted restorative practices in an effort to improve school climate and student outcomes while reducing exclusionary discipline. Restorative practices are designed to proactively build community, improve relationships, and help students amend harm when conflict occurs. Using 6 years of student survey data and…

School coexistence is an educational challenge and the implementation of mediation is an essential tool for managing conflicts and improving interpersonal relationships. However, there are few studies that show its impact and even fewer that take into account students' perceptions. In this ex post facto research, we are interested in finding out…

Introduction: In recent years many schools have introduced peer mediation as a method to improve coexistence. However, little has been done in the way of empirical evaluation of school mediation services. The aim of this research, therefore, was to understand the benefits of mediation from an educational and transformational perspective, by…

Seven schools in an economically challenged area of an urban school district in central California implemented mentored peer mediation programs under the guidance of a university-K-12 partnership project, Mediator Mentors. Individual student outcomes for social-cognitive dispositions, perceptions of school climate, conflict strategy choices, and…

Previous research examined various factors of program design, specific program curriculum, and student and faculty attitudes, but repeated studies and methodology questions have been raised with some of the research. Much of the research in the field has examined specific program effectiveness where the researcher is the author of the program or…

Schools are responsible for civic education and for educating the students so they may live together. This means that they need to develop educative processes that take into account the social and affective dimension of the classroom, such as improvements in the atmosphere at school and the quality of teacher-student relationships. Practical…

A literature review was conducted to understand how mediators and faculty view a Peer Mediation Program (PMP). The review identified four subgroups: mediators, teachers, administrators, and school counselors as well as their views on the success or lack of success of PMPs. The research also reflects how to best engage stakeholders in the mediation…