A Cluster-Randomized Trial of Restorative Practices: An Illustration to Spur High-Quality Research and Evaluation

Abstract

Restorative Practices in schools lack rigorous evaluation studies. As an example of rigorous school-based research, this paper describes the first randomized control trial of restorative practices to date, the Study of Restorative Practices. It is a 5-year, cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Restorative Practices Intervention (RPI) in 14 middle schools in Maine to assess whether RPI impacts both positive developmental outcomes and problem behaviors and whether the effects persist during the transition from middle to high school. The two-year RPI intervention began in the 2014-2015 school year. The study's rationale and theoretical concerns are discussed along with methodological concerns including teacher professional development. The theoretical rationale and description of the methods from this study may be useful to others conducting rigorous research and evaluation in this area.

Keywords: positive youth development; randomized control trial; restorative justice.

Figure 1

Restorative Practices Intervention Theoretical Model. This figure illustrates theoretical model that guided the design of the Restorative Practices Intervention explicitly showing the linkages between the psychology of affect and the ecological systems students reside in.

Figure 2

Study Conceptual Model. This figure illustrates the conceptual model used to guide the study design and describes the data collection for each aspect of the model (e.g., student level, school level, etc.).