This guideline was developed as a resource for school staff and other individuals to facilitate the implementation of a restorative approach to discipline with an end goal of transforming school culture. An Overview of Study Results is also available to download.
 

Restorative justice is an evidence-based practice used to reduce expulsions, suspensions, and disciplinary referrals. It focuses on righting a wrong committed, repairing harm done, and placing value on restoring relationships (Restorative Practices Working Group, 2014). Schools can apply restorative justice in different ways, such as talking or community circles, youth courts, peer mediation programs, or classroom meetings (Knight & Wadhwa, 2014).
 

Social-emotional development in early childhood supports the growth of children’s social-emotional competence. This includes their experience, expression, management of emotions, and their ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others. Social-emotional skills developed during early childhood have been shown to make significant contributions to children’s continued academic success.
 

In addition to the above, this informational graphic document shows additional research, suggested school action plan, and local resources for school districts in Texas.

This informational graphic document shows a comparison of Student Ethnicity in Title 1 vs. Non-Title 1 high schools and provides recommendations for success.

Teachers who participated in a resilience program for themselves and received training to teach social-emotional skills have shown to help students increase their self-management skills. This document shows the research and how to get started with HCDE Research and Evaluation Institute to plan, implement, and evaluate SEL. In addition, a newer version is available to download.

The Texas Education Agency’s disciplinary data for Region 4 revealed that in 2015-2016, 4,824 students have faced disciplinary actions for controlled substance/drugs and 436 students for alcohol violations. This document provides research and recommendations for Recovery Schools and promising practices.