A Qualitative Descriptive Study on Secondary School Administrators’ Perception of Restorative Practices and the Impact of Restorative Practice Program

<p>Zero tolerance behavior management policies in secondary schools contribute to high student suspension and dropout rates. Zero tolerance policies do not provide an alternative solution to correct undesired behaviors and do virtually nothing to target a solution to reduce suspensions and student dropout. The purpose of this qualitative research was to gain insight into secondary school administrators’ perceptions of restorative practices and the impact of restorative practice programs. The researcher analyzed participating administrators’ perspectives regarding their behavioral management beliefs towards restorative practices and practices through interviews and open-ended questionnaires. Five school administrators with some familiarity with the concept of restorative practices were sampled from a school district within the state of Georgia in the United States. Data for this study were collected using open-ended questionnaires and interviews. After the thematic analysis, seven themes emerged including, adaptive behavior management and restorative engagement, comprehensive student support and behavior management framework, challenges in implementing restorative practices and zero tolerance policies in education, transformative student engagement, students embrace restorative practices amidst uncertainty, community connection and accountability, and empowering ownership, peer support, and personal growth. Administrators viewed effective restorative programs as incorporating comprehensive adaptive frameworks tailored to address individual needs. Therefore, schools implementing restorative practices should ensure they have a comprehensive, multi-pronged framework in place utilizing a variety of restorative tools and coordinated protocols. The researcher recommends conducting mixed-methods or larger scale quantitative studies to expand on these exploratory findings</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teacher Education

Year dc:date.available

2024

Author dc:creator

• Murray, Antron

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Erinn Bentley
• Dr. Toni Franklin
• Dr. Kristie Smith

• Education

Language dc:language

english

Repository record dc:identifier

https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/540

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:csuepress.columbusstate.edu:theses_dissertations-1542