I spent all of the last school year investigating alternative approaches to student discipline as part of the Seattle Times’ Education Lab project, and found two efforts that show promise. But neither is an out-of-the-box miracle. Both demand intensive teacher-training. Even more challenging, both require that adults alter the ways they view their role within a school.
The first route is restorative justice, an oft-discussed, easily-mishandled approach that works best with middle- and high-school kids because it places considerable onus on students to explain their behavior and participate in devising appropriate sanctions. In other words, it requires that they take responsibility. (Unlike suspension, arrest or detention, which simply level punishment, leaving students somewhat passive in the process.)
Talking is at the core of restorative justice. Everyone involved in an incident must sit together and hash through what was going on in the minds of each participant. The aim is to broaden perspectives, increase empathy and restore damaged relationships (or create them where none existed).
“There’s definitely a new level of vulnerability for the teacher,” said Matthew Imperato, who coaches educators in San Francisco on using restorative justice. “They have to give up a little bit of their power.”
San Francisco reports some encouraging results. Denver, which has been using restorative justice since 2006, says it appears to correlate with an increase in academic achievement. But restorative justice demands significant teacher buy-in and training, which can be pricey. San Francisco spends nearly $1 million annually on it. Districts that have treated it as an on-the-side option, as happened in Los Angeles, have seen underwhelming response.
For younger students, trauma-informed instruction can be very successful — particularly in high-poverty schools. Trauma training centers on brain science, helping educators understand the neurological results of growing up around divorce, poverty, substance abuse or domestic violence. In Spokane, WA, researchers estimated that 45 percent of the district’s population faced such realities. It’s everywhere. And understanding the ways that everyday trauma affects behavior goes a long way toward easing the sense of personal attack many teachers feel when dealing with student misbehavior.
“It’s as if their hair’s on fire, and you’re asking them to write their name,” said third-grade teacher Kristy Wilkinson.
Most interesting of all is a study out of Kentucky that found decreased student performance — even among well-behaved kids — in schools that take a particularly punitive approach to managing behavior. Researcher Brea Perry says this appears to create “a psychological wedge” between students and their teachers.“It creates a problem with bonds,” she said. “So kids don’t buy into school.”
