Benefits of Restorative Justice Practices in SDUSD

References: References: San Diego Unified School District. (2014). Positve Behavior Support Strategies Board Presentation. San Diego Unified: A restorative district. A new way to envision the future. Retrieved from http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/sandi/Board.nsf/files/9MCUMX737763/$file/Restorative%20District%20-%20Positive%20Behavior%20Strategies%20Presentation,%207-29-14.pdf In 2012, the U.S. Department of Education civil rights office (2014) found that African-American and Latino students were “suspended and expelled at higher rates than their white counterparts nationwide.” Similar findings of this disparity with suspensions and expulsions with minority students as compared to Caucasian students were reported by SDUSD in 2014 (Magee, 2014, p.E4). The San Diego Union Tribune reported that when behavior issues would arise, common practice for administrators were to default to punitive consequences such as detention, Saturday school, suspension, or in severe cases, expulsion. To address this alarming disparity among minority student discipline rates, SDUSD piloted a restorative justice program in 2014 (Magee, 2014, p.E4). Now that this program is in its second year of implementation, SDUSD reports that restorative justice practices have resulted in a decrease of suspensions and expulsion rates by approximately 60% (San Diego Unified School District, 2016a). SDUSD board policy F-2100 has proactively minimized conflict on school campuses by seeking positive behavior intervention supports (PBIS) and building strong community relationships. To be successful, there are four guiding principles that make restorative justice an equitable practice. First, accountability for a student is meaningful because they are part of the reparation process. Second, it is important to take in consideration of how to repair the harm caused by the student. Third, restorative justice ensures that there is a sense of healing achieved for the student harmed and the community. And the fourth guiding principle is how the student responsible will be positively reintegrated into the community(San Diego Unified School District, 2016a). Restorative justice practices have proven to be an effective program within our district that promotes equity amongst our diverse student population (Magee, 2014, p.E4). I think this is an exciting program that is vital to our district!

Arts Education in K-12 Schools

We have been having interesting discussions in my EDAD 601 Introduction to Leadership, Vision, and Change course around the benefits of arts education in K-12 schools. I enjoy these discussions because cohort members share their unique perspective and experience from their own school district. From these discussions, I have learned that some teachers believe it is a necessity to have these types of programs to provide a broad base knowledge for students. Unfortunately, many teachers from smaller school districts shared that they do not have the support from their leadership team to fund these programs. Often these are the programs that are first to be cut when funding is limited. It is sad to see how some School Leaders can not find the funding sources to support art programs. Is it that they do not believe in the benefits? Do they feel their priorities and funding would be better invested in academic subjects such as English Language Arts or mathematics? With school districts making the shift to the Common Core Standards, I see the pressure that is put upon School Leaders to have their schools perform at a higher level. A focus on increasing funding for ELA and mathematics seems like the reasonable answer. However, when I researched what my school district stance was regarding arts education, I was pleasantly surprised to see our Superintendent and her leadership team in support of arts education. The short video clip below is a great snapshot of the high value put upon arts education in the San Diego Unified School District. Hearing this support coming straight from our Superintendent made me realize the importance of having a strong leader during challenging times of a budget crisis. More importantly, I like how she emphasized the collaborative work accomplished with leadership team to provide a broad and challenging curriculum that includes arts education.

Title 1 Arts: San Diego Unified School District Learning Through The Arts Case Study from Jesse Kerman on Vimeo.

Collaboration and Leadership

I had the opportunity to meet up with 2 of my former colleagues and a former student that graduated in 2009. It was amazing to reunite with our student and hear all about her success since graduating from high school. My former colleague was putting together a district wide professional development about the unique collaboration, supports and services we developed at our site to help our students succeed. Listening to our student talk about her struggles with academics and how she found support from her teachers made the difference for her. She understood the importance of earning a high school diploma and she overcame her academic challenges by keeping focused and asking for help from her teachers when she did feel lost or overwhelmed.

It made me reflect back to our time as teachers at that site and the type of leadership our Administration promoted. We had supportive administrators that encouraged our special education department to collaborate and utilize our resources on campus. As teachers, we brainstormed how best to provide appropriate services that would benefit our students and also ensure staff would not burn out. This collaborative style helped us create a positive learning environment for all. The most interesting part of this student interview was when my colleague shared with her the work we did "behind the scenes" to ensure that our student was successful. We collaboratively planned her schedule and matched her with teachers that would be supportive yet still have high expectations of her. We also discussed the on going communication among teachers outside of the classroom about her progress. And when she wasn't doing so well, we had to re-group and re-strategize the best way to get her back on track. All this planning, collaborating, and ensuring we were providing the most appropriate supports happened because the leadership of our administration promoted and embodied a message of collaboration. Our administration empowered us as teachers to be creative and work together to achieve success for all of our students. Hearing our student share about her positive learning experience made me realize that we accomplished our school vision of success!