Rooted in relational philosophies, restorative practices (RP) in schools are initiatives that seek to provide alternatives to exclusionary discipline. Restorative conferences (RC), in particular, aim to repair harm and reintegrate youth following a conflict. Despite abundant theorizing about conference benefits and hypothesized mechanisms of change, there is not enough evidence to support these claims. This study addresses knowledge gaps about RC acceptability, student perspectives on successful conference characteristics, and the socio-demographics of RC participants. Furthermore, this study examined students (e.g., conference participants vs. suspended students) to understand the degree to which RCs are linked to positive correlates of school climate and to explore the potential of conferences to serve as protective mechanisms. This mixed-methods study drew on survey data from 1,259 students from 9 schools in a large U.S. Northeastern school district serving students from low-income neighborhoods in 2018-2019. Students were categorized into four groups based on whether they experienced (1) suspension without RC participation, (2) RC participation without suspension, (3) both RC participation and suspension, and (4) neither RC participation nor suspension. Aligned with study hypotheses, there were no differences between non-disciplined students and RC participants' perceptions of adult and peer support, fair treatment across race/ethnicity, and self-reported social-emotional skills. This suggests that RCs may encompass elements of a non-stigmatizing, harm-reduction model, in which students contending with less serious conflict remain connected to adults and perceive fair treatment similarly to their non-disciplined counterparts. Yet, non-suspended RC participants were only slightly higher than suspended students' perceived adult support and fairness, trending toward a significant difference. Notably, the groups did not differ on perceived peer support or self-reported social-emotional competencies. Finally, suspended students with RCs, relative to suspended students without RCs, did not report higher positive perceptions of school climate and social-emotional competencies. Thus, these findings suggest that RCs were not associated with a compensatory or sufficiently reparative process for students experiencing the adversity of exclusionary discipline. In a similar vein, although most students' qualitative responses about RCs were positive, a substantive group held mixed perceptions, indicating that students see both benefits in conferences and room for improvement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]