Schools

From the Oakland LocalThe Oakland Local has this thorough piece, "Oakland leads ways as restorative justice techniques enter education mainstream". It begins:

Jacob Mathis was a classic underachiever and troubled child.

The 15 year old’s grade point average was just 0.77 and by

You can read Ted Wachtel's first blog post at Huffington Post, titled "There Are Proven Tools to Make Schools Safe, We Just Have to Use Them." Be sure to comment and share!

photo by Eddie~S at Flickr Creative Commons

The following is a letter by IIRP president Ted Wachtel to the editor of EdWeek which was published on June 5, 2012 (subscription required).

To the Editor:

Bullying in schools is a deadly serious issue. It certainly warrants the copious media attention it
has been receiving lately, including

For your reading pleasure, we now have the following titles available in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks and Barnes & Noble Nook formats, for instant delivery and all priced at just under ten US dollars.

The Restorative Practices Handbook An  introduction and guide to restorative practices covering practical techniques, tips and strategies, implementation guidelines and real-world stories of restorative practices in action. 

from the Patiot-News fileThis story from the Harrisburg Patriot-News by M. Diane McCormick discusses Susquehanna Township's decision to adopt IIRP's Whole School Change Program and quotes IIRP trainer Steve Korr:

In a climate marked by parents’ vocal concerns about bullying and school discipline, Susquehanna Township School District adopted a program meant to build personal connections

Getty Images, posted at Time.comAn article called "Do 'Zero Tolerance' School Discipline Policies Go Too Far?" by Sarah Carr of the Hechinger Report appeared at Time.com last week. On page 4 of the 6 page story there was this discussion about City Springs Elementary-Middle School in Baltimore, Maryland, where IIRP

The San Francisco Unified School District Restorative Practices Team recently issued a newsletter looking at their experience changing school climate with restorative practices. Included are some statistics of the number of people they've trained along with staff testimonials. Included is a short interview with principal Paul Jacobsen at Rosa Parks Elementary School, which is currently in Year One implementation as a Restorative Practices Demonstration School.

A new book from ASCD Publications, How to Create a Culture of Achievement in Your School and Classroom, by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey and Ian Pumpian, includes a section on restorative practices, largely informed by the IIRP book, The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians and Administrators.

From Minnesota Department of Education describes how principals use restorative discipline practices | Twin Cities Daily Planet comes this rather striking statement about a survey conducted in the state:

"The survey was completed by 417 Minnesota principals, of whom 66 percent reported using restorative methods in response to some behavior problems."

And then there this quote by Nancy Riestenberg:

“Students have to be held accountable for making mistakes,” Riestenberg said. “If you don’t give them the opportunity to wipe up their own milk that they spilled, you’re robbing them of the responsibility to learn that they can make a mistake, and they can fix it.”

She said suspensions can actually increase incidences of bullying. They can lead to lowered academic achievement and decreased attendance. “The

"Absolutely no horsing around in MY art room..." Photo by Angela @ My Daily Struggle, Flickr Creative CommonsAn article May 8, 2012 in the Connecticut Post by Brittany Lyte is titled "A racial divide in school discipline: Blacks, Hispanics suspended at a higher rate." Page 1 of the story discusses ...

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Photo by Matthew Sherwood for the Toronto StarCatherine Porter has a great column on the front page of the Toronto Star the other day, the city's highest circulation newspaper which also circulates throughout Canada. The piece opens with a moving anecdote:

A week ago, two friends at Weston Collegiate Institute had an argument.

One was a slip of a boy in Grade 9, his plaid shirt buttoned right to the Adam’s apple. The other was an 18-year-old giant —

Inquirer staff celebrate their Pulitzer Prize for public service. (MICHAEL BRYANT / Inquirer Staff Photographer)The Philadelphia Inquirer has won a Pulitzer Prize for its seven-part series last year, "Assault on Learning." The article "revealed that violence in city schools was widespread and underreported, with 30,000 serious incidents over the last five school years. Those findings were later corroborated by a Philadelphia School District panel on safety, spurred an overhaul of incident reporting in

Van Brunt Elementary and Middle School Faculty"There are no bullies in Horicon, only students who have made bad choices. Taking a positive and proactive approach to improve the school environment, the Horicon Van Brunt Elementary and Middle School has changed its approach when responding to students who have made bad choices--and reduced disciplinary referrals by over 60 percent since 2009."

This is the lead in of an article co-authored by Robert D. Rettmann and Patrice Vossekuil, IIRP's Wisconsin affiliate. The article

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania public school students have launched the "Safe to Count on Me Campaign." Their kickoff rally is scheduled for 3pm on April 25, 2012 at Norris Square Park (Howard & Diamond Streets) in Philadelphia. Confirmed guests speakers include:

· Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter
· Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez
· State Representative Tony Payton
· Student Advocates from Youth United For Change

Here are some selections from an op-ed piece that ran in the San Francisco Examiner yesterday, written by Carlos Garcia, superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).

It is our responsibility to provide a safe place for learning. One key to safety is fostering and maintaining caring relationships.

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Mark Finnis, of Hull Centre for Restorative Practice, an IIRP affiliateAccording to the netnewsledger.com, on March 26, 2012, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada hosted:

...a conference on restorative practices [that] brought together community leaders from education, enforcement, health, justice and youth services. Participants learned about what it means to be restorative and how to build a positive culture in our

The Philadelphia Student Union produces On Blast, an audio podcast, and this week they posted some clips from an event sponsored by the Campaign for Nonviolent Schools on Martin Luther King Day (which I mentioned hereback in January). IIRP's Steve Korr was a panelist and can be heard near the beginning of this clip talking about restorative practices as a leadership model. Listen to the entire recording, which is just a few minutes and contains some powerful voices about what students

Photo by Michael Macor for the San Francisco Chronicle. Pictured here is Principal Jacobson of Rosa Parks Elementary with students. He wears a lanyard with IIRP's Restorative Questions card ready for use!Here's a lovely article by Jill Tucker at SFGate.com (home of the San Francisco Chronicle). San Francisco seems to be having a serious discussion in the print media about alternative discipline approaches in schools, in particular restorative

The Raven Foundation's online call-in radio program, Playing for Keeps on Talkshoe.com, has invited IIRP President Ted Wachtel to be a guest on its March 30 call-in radio/web program. The hosts are Adam Ericksen and award winning Peace Journalist Bob Koehler, who has written recently about restorative practices in the Chicago Tribune and ...

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Photo by Emmanuel Yusuf, Huffington PostHere are two articles about on the ground responses by student groups calling for new approaches to school discipline that will not disproportionately harm minority students.

Youth United for Change in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania held a press conference March 12, to discuss their response to the Office of Civil Rights national data that "show huge racial disparities in suspension, expulsion, and school-based arrest rates at public schools."