School districts historically approached conflict-resolution from a zero-sum perspective: suspend students seen as disruptive and potentially harm them, or avoid suspensions and harm their classmates. Restorative practices (RP) -- focused on reparation and shared ownership of disciplinary justice -- are designed to avoid this trade-off by…

Youth returning to traditional school settings from non-traditional settings, such as alternative schools, face significant barriers to successful transition. After conducting several student focus groups with students at West40--a center in Illinois that supports students who are considered "at risk" for dropping out or have been…

Though there is extensive research on the health outcomes of individuals who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), society at large has not embraced this ground-breaking research and many still believe that the use of harsh punishment for students provides the same intended result as a discipline approach that teaches coping…

Minority students and students with disabilities are disciplined disproportionately from their peers. Discipline has led to many negative consequences in the lives of youth in the United States, including the school-to-prison pipeline. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance encouraging school districts to develop policies that…

Champaign, Illinois, is a medium-sized city of over 80,000 people located 135 miles south of Chicago, known by many in the state for being home to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Champaign Community Unit School District #4 (Champaign Schools) serves roughly 10,000 students in Champaign and neighboring towns of Savoy and Bondville.…

This report provides a comprehensive review of the literature on restorative justice in U.S. schools. The review captures key issues, describes models of restorative justice, and summarizes results from studies conducted in the field. The review was conducted on research reports and other relevant literature published, or made publicly available,…

Traditional approaches to character education have been viewed by many educators as an attempt to establish self control within students to habituate them to prescribed behaviour and as nothing more than a "bits-and-pieces" approach to moral education. While this is accurate for many character education programmes, integrated…

Unsupported fears of youth violence in schools has led to an expansion of school-based policing and zero tolerance discipline. The historical reality is that America's public schools are very safe, even when located in high crime neighborhoods. Yet, school discipline is becoming increasingly punitive, moving from the schoolhouse to the courthouse.…

For the past 15 years, zero-tolerance policies for violence in schools have been the driving force behind many school discipline policies around the country. But the disciplinary landscape is starting to change in a growing number of schools, especially those in urban districts, where administrators have taken their cues from high-profile reports…

A study examined natural dialogue between high school disciplinarians (principals, deans, assistant principals) and students in disciplinary situations. Four disciplinarians (two men and two women--two assistant principals, one principal, and one dean) representing three schools in central Illinois audiotaped as few or as many complete dialogues…

Two rural elementary schools in southern Illinois were chosen from a larger study on the basis of low rates of student violence and bullying behaviors. Features of the schools' supportive and safe environments are compared to those described in theories of engaged pedagogy. A whole-school approach created an atmosphere of caring and shared…

This report describes a program to establish a positive school climate. The targeted population consisted of elementary students in a low socioeconomic area. The problems of poor interpersonal skills and inappropriate social behaviors were documented through structured observations, surveys, and school records. Analysis of probable cause data…

The book takes a nostalgic look at one-room schools in the United States Midwest, especially in Illinois, and traces their history from about 1825 to the present. Three chapters present the development of the one-room school from 1825 to the Civil War, from after the Civil War to around 1920, and from 1920 through the Depression and the Second…