The Impact of Restorative Practices with Diplomas Now on School Climate and Teachers’ Turnover Intentions: Evidence from a Cluster Multi-Site Randomized Control Trial

Abstract

High teacher turnover rates and shortages of quality teachers plague many large, urban U.S. school districts disadvantaging their students who often already come from traditionally underserved populations and communities. Restorative Practices is a quickly growing whole school approach to community building and discipline, but little is known about how it impacts teachers and their career decisions. This study specifically investigates whether assignment to Restorative Practices (in combination with Diplomas Now, RP w/DN) improves school climate and increases teachers’ reported intentions to remain at their school? To answer this question, we analyzed data from a multi-site, cluster randomized control trial of in 25 schools from seven large cities across the United States. Our intent-to-treat analyses find that RP w/DN has a significantly positive effect on school climate (ES = .15, .27). Impacts on teachers’ turnover intentions were non-significant, but it significantly reduced perceptions of problematic teacher absenteeism (a related, exploratory outcome). Overall, the findings from this study suggest that Restorative Practices as a policy can improve school climate, but its relationship with teachers’ career decisions is more complicated.