Thanks to a federal grant in 2015, the Pittsburgh Public Schools contracted the RAND Corp. to study how using “restorative practices” in 22 schools could improve student-teacher communication, reduce out-of-school suspensions and narrow the gap between suspension rates for Black students vs. White students, compared to another 22 schools that did not use the practices.
[pullquote]“We’ve been moving in this direction for some time—not just applying a ‘recommended outcome,’ we have hearings, collect information and try to keep things consistent but still allow for equity in individual circumstances.”
DARA WARE ALLEN, PhD
Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services[/pullquote]Though the final RAND analysis will not be completed until next spring, the district has announced that it is expanding the implementation of restorative practices to 10 more schools, and plans to deploy the program to all its schools by this time next year.
Following a district-wide training session Nov. 7, the new regimen will be implemented at Pittsburgh Crescent Early Childhood Center, Pittsburgh Lincoln PreK-5, Pittsburgh King PreK-8, Pittsburgh Manchester PreK-8, Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5, Pittsburgh Oliver Citywide Academy, Pittsburgh Perry High School, Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12, Pittsburgh Weil PreK-5, and Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12.
Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services Dara Ware Allen, PhD, who is overseeing the team that will roll out the expansion, said these 10 schools were chosen primarily, but not exclusively, because of existing feeder patterns.
“Faison was one of the original 22 schools in the study, so adding Lincoln and Westinghouse makes sure we have vertical alignment and a (programmatic) continuum from Kindergarten through 12th grade,” she told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “Some of the other schools asked to opt in early, and others we reached out to, based on data we have that indicated they would benefit from additional support.”
The move toward establishing restorative practices throughout the district was driven by the high rate of Black student suspensions vs. their White counterparts and the realization that, under then-existing procedures, there was no positive behavioral reinforcement; students left school for a number of days and came back—the initial conflict was never addressed or resolved and the student was further behind.
But Dr. Ware Allen said the practices implemented so far have also enabled a more proactive approach to discipline, and not just from administrators.
“Staff are reporting it is a way to get students to understand the harm they caused and their impact and allow everyone to understand what happened, why and how to make it right,” said Dr. Ware Allen. “We’ve also learned in some cases staff have been innovators, gotten training on their own and are taking it to a level with student advisory groups that provide voice and help with implementation. It’s also a way to get to know students proactively—student-to-student and teacher-to-student. It can also be used to differentiate way to deliver lessons.”
She said even in schools that do not have the full restorative practices regimen in place, partial analytics they have indicate progress is being made.
“RAND is giving us quarterly updates, so while we don’t have the complete report yet, suspensions are going down across the district and we’re seeing a narrowing of racial disproportionality in the vs control group schools,” she said. “We’re also seeing a decrease in recommendations for exclusionary discipline, fewer and less punitive responses to conduct and more interventionary work.”
Part of that, Dr. Ware Allen said, is the result of the new code of conduct implemented this year, which reduces the severity of sanctions for some offenses and modifies disciplinary application.
“We’ve been moving in this direction for some time—not just applying a ‘recommended outcome,’ we have hearings, collect information and try to keep things consistent but still allow for equity in individual circumstances,” she said.
“For instance, the new code of conduct does take instigation into account for fights. Overall it reduces number of days out—except where there’s a melee. And this is going on in the schools that don’t even have restorative practices yet.”
Dr. Ware Allen also said the district is creating an electronic data system to track conduct violations, actions and responses throughout all the schools, to maintain consistency and to implement improvements where needed.
In a Sept. 26 press release, the district said it plans to install restorative practices in 10 more schools in the spring, and is currently reviewing which those will be. The remaining district schools will all have the regimen in place by next fall.
“Through a system-wide multi-tiered system of support process, which includes the use of restorative practices coupled with positive behavioral interventions and supports, we can meet the needs of students both academically and behaviorally,” added Superintendent Dr. Anthony Hamlet.
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