Can Restorative Practices Bridge Racial Disparities in Schools? Evidence from the California Healthy Kids Survey
Sean Darling-Hammond, Lauren Trout, Trevor Fronius, & Rebeca Cerna; WestEd
This research brief investigates whether increasing student exposure to restorative practices can help reduce racial discipline and achievement gaps, with a review of a large sample of secondary students who completed the California Healthy Kids Survey between the 2013/14 and 2018/19 school years.
The analysis found that, across racial groups, students who had larger exposure to restorative practices saw less exposure to exclusionary discipline and better academic outcomes. Models also suggested that expanding restorative practices could bridge Black-White discipline disparities.