Randomized controlled studies
Study of the IIRP Whole-School Change (formerly SaferSanerSchools) program in 22 Pittsburgh Public Schools by the RAND Corporation with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice Comprehensive School Safety Initiative:
- Research brief: Restorative practices help reduce student suspensions (Full report)
- Pittsburgh Public Schools optimistic about reducing student suspensions (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Research shows restorative practices improves school climate, reduces student suspensions and discipline disparitiesResearch shows restorative practices improves school climate, reduces student suspensions and discipline disparities (IIRP News)
Other randomized controlled studies of Whole-School Change:
- 14 Maine schools by the RAND Corporation with funding from the National Institutes of Health
- 15 urban schools nationwide by Johns Hopkins University with funding from Atlantic Philanthropies
The Lancet (UK)
- Effects of the Learning Together intervention on bullying and aggression in English secondary schools: A cluster randomised controlled trial (Chris Bonnell, Elizabeth Allen, et al., 2018)
Other key research and reviews
Research conducted by Anne Gregory, Ph.D., et al. (Rutgers University)
- Implementing restorative justice in schools: Lessons learned from restorative justice practitioners in four Brooklyn schools (2016, Brooklyn Community Foundation)
- The promise of restorative practices to transform teacher-student relationships and achieve equity in school discipline (2014): key findings
- Authoritative school discipline: High school practices associated with lower bullying and victimization (2010)
- Restorative interventions and school discipline sanctions in a large urban school district (Yolanda Anyon, Anne Gregory, et al., 2016)
WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center
- Can restorative practices bridge racial disparities in schools?: Evidence from the California Healthy Kids Survey (Research Brief, July 2021)
- Effectiveness of restorative justice in US K-12 schools: A review of quantitative research (Contemporary School Psychology, 2020)
- What further research is needed on restorative justice in schools? (May 2015)
- Restorative justice in U.S. schools: Summary findings from interviews with experts (October 2015)
- Restorative justice in U.S. schools: Practitioners’ perspectives (January 2016)
- Restorative justice in U.S. schools: An updated research review (March 2019)
Improving school climate: Promising outcomes across the country (The IIRP Graduate School)
- Download Improving school climate: Evidence from schools implementing restorative practices (2014)
- See also Findings from schools implementing restorative practices (2009)
Evaluation of a restorative milieu (Paul McCold, Ph.D., the IIRP Graduate School)
- Evaluation outcome technical report for 1999-2001
- Report for the 2001-2003 cohort
- Report for the 2003-2006 cohort
Other studies
- Using restorative practices to reduce racially disproportionate school suspensions: The barriers school leaders should consider during the first year of implementation (Joseph, A. A., Hnilica, R., & Hansen, M., 2021)
- A systemic evaluation of restorative justice practices: School violence prevention and response (Journal of School Violence, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside, June 2020)
- Restorative practices implementation report: Summary of findings (Institute for Education Policy, Johns Hopkins School of Education, 2018)
- Outcomes of a restorative circles program in a high school setting (Mikhail Lyubansky, 2016)