A colleague recently sent me a Hechinger Report column titled The Promise of Restorative Justice Starts to Falter Under Rigorous Research. In this May 6, 2019 piece, Columnist, Jill Barshay offers insights into some rigorous studies The RAND Corporation recently published on RJ in schools. The column suggests these studies of randomly selected schools in Pittsburgh and Maine indicate that RJ is not a magic potion that heals all schools and creates perfect students.
This should surprise no one. Education and child- and youth-development have never been one-size-fits-all, and no system or instructional model works for every child every time. Overwhelming data reveal that zero tolerance doesn’t work for every student, and actually causes serious harm to many whom society marginalizes in other ways.
Ms. Barshay and others spend significant space pointing out where RJ falls short of a magical cure. Yet the executive summary of the Pittsburgh study, funded by the US Department of Justice’s National Institute for Justice, reveals significant positive findings. The Maine study, funded by the US Department of Health and Human Service’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, also shows great promise.
In fact, researchers in Maine had a hard time measuring RJ’s impact because so many educators in the control group spontaneously adopted restorative practices and applied the restorative philosophy in their classrooms. As educators continue to shift their paradigm from discipline that punishes to discipline that heals, academics will find it difficult to isolate any single aspect of restorative justice for measurement. It is becoming the way schools do business, and this is a great thing for students and for the future of our society.
As the restorative paradigm spreads, studies will multiply and columns will expand. Take the time to read the studies from a “glass half full” perspective rather than accepting a writer’s negative focus. It’s up to us to acknowledge the challenges and also to share the great stories and positive impacts RJ is generating in lives around the world. This way we can encourage its adoption in learning communities and in the lives they shape.