Centering Disabled Students of Color in Restorative Justice: A District-Level Analysis

• In Event: Building and Dreaming Intersectional Approaches to Restorative Justice: A Multi-Dimensional Examination

Abstract

Objectives
The implementation of RJ has resulted in a steep downturn in suspension rates in schools across the nation (Darling-Hammond, et al., 2020). However, little attention has been paid to the lived experience of students of Color with disabilities in schools that purport to practice RJ (Kervick et al., 2019). Also absent is any description of how schools and educators intentionally engage disabled youth in RJ practices. The present study aims to address the silence around (dis)ability within RJ by analyzing the extent to which school districts in the western region of the United States explicitly include students of Color with disabilities in their RJ programming.
Theoretical framework
Two theoretical frameworks guide our study: Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) and Restorative Justice in Education (RJE). DisCrit examines the intractable relationship of racism and ableism in co-constructing dominant notions of normalcy (Annamma et al., 2013). The seven tenets of DisCrit expose the often invisible ways in which racism and ableism work in tandem to produce compounding forms of oppression for multiply-marginalized people. The RJE framework (Evans & Vaandering, 2016) is the adaptation of RJ for schools, and provided our study with a frame for examining the extent to which the needs of disabled students of color are being considered and addressed through the implementation of school-based RJ practices.
Methods and Data Sources
We sampled all public districts in 5 US (California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada and Washington), to identify a state-representative percentage of students of Color (N=542). We employed a textual analysis of district websites. Data sources included: (1) district and school Restorative Justice Plans, (2) student and parent handbooks, (3) district and school disciplinary policies, (4) school board and district meeting notes, and (4) RJ professional development resources.
Results
Of the 542 school districts that met our enrollment criteria, around 50% made mention of RJ on their website, and of those, 35% had a robust description of a restorative justice approach. Few school districts made explicit mention of including students with disabilities in their RJ programming. However, when disabled students are included in the RJ plans, it is through the integration of Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS). Our analysis examines the dissonance between the emancipatory aims of race conscious approaches to RJ and the race evasive and behaviorist roots of PBIS (Calais & Green, 2022).
Scholarly Significance
In the nascent literature conceptualizing inclusive RJ programs, scholars emphasized the necessity of actively considering structural racism and ableism in the effort to achieve just and equitable outcomes (Kervick et al., 2019). Using DisCrit, our analysis exposes the theoretical disconnects between traditional special education approaches such as MTSS, PBIS, and RJ. As the predominant method of integrating disabled students into RJ practices, we hypothesize that in this approach disabled students of color would have less access to justice-oriented approaches to school discipline than their white and nondisabled counterparts. As such, this study highlights the essential need for scholars and practitioners to develop, implement and refine practices that design RJ programming with disabled students of color at the forefront.

Authors

• Molly Elizabeth Siuty, Temple University

• Shanté Stuart McQueen, Portland State University