Reconnecting Students and Parents to School: Results of a Restorative Conferencing Program for Students at Risk for Expulsion

• In Event: Public Schools, Restorative Justice, and Delinquency

Abstract

Starting in 2008, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) has offered restorative services for students recommended for expulsion, in partnership with Legal Rights Center, a community nonprofit law firm that provides neutral third party facilitation for restorative family conferences. In 2010, the University of Minnesota joined this partnership as an external evaluator, undertaking a multi-year evaluation to assess program effectiveness with regard to improving family communication, school connections, behavior, and school performance. The study design consisted of collecting pre-post surveys of students and parents (questions assessed behaviors, attitudes, perceptions, and program satisfaction) and school district records on offense type, school performance (attendance, credit accrual), and behavior (# of suspensions). Survey data demonstrate high levels of program satisfaction, and improvements in communication and school connections for both students and parents. For students who remained active within the school district, longitudinal analysis of school records indicated that participation in the restorative conference program disrupts school disengagement and/or dropout trajectories that otherwise may continue when schools suspend, transfer or expel students in response to serious behavioral incidents. Study results are promising, and lessons learned have important implications for youth development programming efforts and juvenile delinquency prevention.

Authors

• Barbara J. McMorris, University of Minnesota

• Kara Beckman, University of Minnesota

• Julie Young-Burns, Minneapolis Public Schools

• Michael Friedman, Legal Rights Center

• Sarah Davis, Legal Rights Center