Peer Mediation and Restorative Justice Strategies in School Mental Health

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Peer Mediation and Restorative Justice Strategies
in School Mental Health

• Jennifer Willis, LCSW-C, Catharine Weiss, Ph.D.
• Aya Ghunney, BS, Nancy Lever, Ph.D,
• University of Maryland School Mental Health
  Program
• Karyn Weeks, MA, NCC
• Baltimore City Public Schools
• School Health Interdisciplinary Program, August
  7, 2008

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Overview

• Welcome and Introductions
• Literature on suspensions
• Description of OSI project
• Description of Calverton Elementary/Middle School
• Outline of 1100 Peace
• Peer Mediation
• Making it Right
• School Climate Activities
• Program Outcomes
• Challenges
• Next Steps
• Q and A

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Welcome and Introductions

• Name
• Where you are from?
• What is your role?
• Why did you pick this session?

Welcome
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Why Reach Out to Suspended Students and Students
At-Risk for Suspensions?

• Suspended students are more likely to
• have learning disabilities
• be in foster care
• more likely to be living in poverty
• more likely from single parent homes
• be from a minority group
• have an emotional disability

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Maryland Data

• In the 2006-2007 school year
• 10.7 of students received in-school and
  out-of-school suspensions
• 61 African-American students were suspended
  compared to 31 of Caucasian students (population
  53 Caucasian, 37 African-American)
• 68 of suspended students were male
• The three most common causes for suspension were
  fighting, refusal to obey school policies, and
  insubordination

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Does Suspension Work?

• Johnny skips school regularly and likes to be
  with his friends who also are not attending
  school.
• Kim is disrespectful to her teachers and is often
  suspended for this.
• How will suspending these students help improve
  student outcomes and success?

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When Children are Not in School

• they are not learning and are far more likely
  to..
• become involved in fights
• carry weapons
• have sex
• smoke cigarettes
• use alcohol and drugs

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Open Society Institute (OSI) Baltimore

• Initiative to Improve Behavioral Interventions
  and Reduce Suspensions and Expulsions
• Expand Programs that
• Provide alternatives to school suspension and
  expulsion
• Communicate and model positive behavior to help
  students understand expectations
• Increase behavior management skills in school
  staff with the goal of improving school climate
• Reduce the negative impact of school exclusion by
  helping youth access educational services while
  they are prohibited from attending school
• Help ensure that youth can quickly and
  successfully re-enter school after suspension or
  expulsion

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Calverton Elementary/ Middle School Overview

• High risk Baltimore City school, Title 1
• 98 African American
• 1 of 5 schools in city labeled as persistently
  dangerous, 3.1 suspension rate for 2006-2007
• Approximately 10 habitually truant
• Perennially low student test scores

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Calverton Elementary/Middle School Setting

• Split into 3 academies
• Significant gang, drug, and violence issues in
  surrounding community
• History of high teacher turnover
• High student mobility
• Elementary school added in 2007-2008 school year
• All new administrative staff in 2008-2009

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Calverton Guidance Survey

• Survey of teachers (n17) in one academy
• 100 have students that need help handling
  problems without violence
• 70 have students they believe are quite
  depressed
• 41 need better classroom management skills
• 47 need better communication skills with
  students
• 76 have difficulty getting support from parents

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Year 1 Initiative Components

• Expanded School Mental Health services
• Staff professional development
• Staff support and consultation
• School climate activities
• Administrative outreach
• Evaluation

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Focus Group Feedback/Clinician Experience

• Continued high levels of suspension and
  expulsions (school remains on Persistently
  Dangerous List)
• Significant peer verbal and physical altercations
• Limited disciplinary alternatives for teachers
• Concerns about neighborhoods high drug activity,
  gang involvement, and violence
• Need to develop conflict resolution skills in
  staff and students
• Need to promote healthy and positive
  communication in the school community

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Peace
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Peer Mediation
School-wide Climate Activities
Making it Right

• Restorative Practices Social-Emotional Learning
  
• Social Learning Theory

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Developing Peer Mediation Program

• Review of existing peer mediation models and
  standards
• Naming the program
• Meetings with administrators and teachers over
  summer
• Training for clinician
• Recruiting Peace Ambassadors- staff participation
  in program
• Professional Development for staff

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Peer Mediators Selection

• Teacher nominations- 1st wave
• Successful students and those with potential
• Letters of interest and teacher selection- 2nd
  wave
• Attention to recruitment of diverse group of
  students
• Focus on strong attendance, uniform compliance,
  academic performance, willingness to be a
  positive role model
• Requirements of student follow through with
  paperwork and training commitments

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Mediator Training

• 1-day intensive training (6 hours)
• Fall and Spring
• Seasoned mediators involved in new student
  training
• Focus on
• Defining conflict
• Perspective and bias
• Skill building communication
• Teaching mediation steps
• Practice, practice, practice
• Commitment contract and expectations
• Weekly 1-hour meetings (1 hour)
• Monthly 1-hour breakfast meetings
• Support and Additional Training as Needed

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Continuous Student Engagement

• T-shirts and pins
• Leadership opportunities
• Weekly volunteering/ service learning hours
• Role in school wide initiatives (i.e. community
  grants, gardening, holiday events)

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Mediation Procedures

• Add flowchart revised for conference

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Mediation Steps

• Introduction
• Listening
• Problem Solving
• Choosing a Solution
• Conclusion

• Activity Role-play Mediation

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Making It Right Groups

• Piloted in one academy
• More direct outreach to most at-risk students
• Opportunity to participate upon return from
  suspension, not currently an alternative to
  suspension

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Making It Right Groups

• Structured one-time group format
• Discussion of problem
• Who was affected
• Who was responsible
• What could change
• Drawing up a follow-up plan
• Co-led by Maryland clinician and school guidance
  counselor
• Pre/Post Evaluation

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School-Wide Climate Activities

• Staff professional development
• Peace Ambassadors
• Monthly meetings
• Peacekeeper of the Month/Peacemobile/ Bulletin
  board
• Special events- e.g. High Five Day, Poetry
  contests
• Butterfly Garden

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Peer Mediation Outcomes

• 15 mediators trained over year
• 62 formal program referrals received from
  students and school staff
• 46 mediations conducted
• 42 student to student, 2 student to teacher
• Reasons for nonparticipation
• Resolved previously
• Not interested in participating
• Referred to house office
• Lack of guardian consent

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Peer Mediation Outcomes

• Pre- and post- analyses of 3 paired questions to
  assess mediation impact
• whether the problem could be/was worked out
  through mediation
• whether the participant felt they could/did help
  to find a peaceful solution
• whether they would/had the chance to tell their
  side of the story and share their opinions
• Mediation participants had positive attitudes
  about mediation at pre and post. No significant
  differences.
• The post-evaluation had three additional
  questions
• participants satisfaction with the outcome of the
  mediation
• the likelihood they would recommend the program
  to their friends
• whether learned skills they could use again
• Ratings indicated generally very positive
  experience with mediation

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Peer Mediation Outcomes (Post)
Percentage
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Peer Mediation Outcomes
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Making It Right Outcomes

• 7 MIR groups held
• 27 students participated
• Reasons for nonparticipation
• Lack of guardian consent
• Absence/tardiness
• Not interested in participating
• Returned late from suspension

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Making It Right Outcomes

• Pre- and post- evaluations were made up of 5
  matched questions
• whether they felt would have/had a chance to tell
  their side of the story and share their opinions
• whether their choices resulted in their getting
  suspended
• whether other people were responsible for their
  getting suspended
• whether they could make changes in their behavior
  to prevent future suspensions
• whether they had a plan to improve their behavior
  in school (pre) whether the group helped them
  make this plan (post)
• The post evaluation included two additional
  questions
• whether learned skills they could use again
• likelihood they would recommend the program to
  their friends

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Making It Right Outcomes

• A paired sample t-test indicated that there was
  no significant difference between pre- and post-
  MIR evaluations for four of the five questions
• There was a significant difference regarding
  making a plan for improving their behavior
  (plt.05)
• Overall, students had positive attitudes pre and
  post

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Making It Right Outcomes (Post)
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General Implementation Challenges(Jones, 2001
PBIS, 2008, Theberge Karan, 2004).

• Takes 2-5 years for a program to become rooted in
  a school
• Success dependent on change in system from
  authoritative to collaborative
• Success dependent on very strong administrator
  buy-in and visible support
• Consistent staff buy-in and follow-through with
  modeling conflict resolution skills
• Framing of program activities as confidential and
  as a positive rather than punishment
• Resources need to be easily accessible

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1100 Peace Challenges

• Obtaining guardian consent
• Limited referrals
• Staff handling conflict on own
• Need for increased program visibility/
  school-wide communication
• Need for increased administrative support
• Timing of mediations
• Concern about some of the mediators
• Communication around
• Identifying suspended students
• Knowing when students would return from
  suspension
• Presenting program to youth and families at time
  of suspension

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Year 3 Next Steps

• Addressing staff concerns
• Time-limited mediator contracts
• Modification of mediator schedules and peace team
  meetings
• Timing of mediations
• Mediation follow-ups- 1 week and 1 month
• Increased program outreach to administrators
• Heighten program visibility- bulletin board,
  classroom shout-outs
• Improved tracking of students and better access
  to data to inform evaluation and program
  decisions
• Increased program involvement by elementary
  school
• Enhanced school staff leadership in 1100 Peace

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Peer Mediation Resources

• Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and
  Conflict Management
• http//disputeresolution.ohio.gov/
• School Mediation Associates
• http//www.schoolmediation.com/
• Association for Conflict Resolution
• http//www.acrnet.org/
• www.schoolmentalhealth.org

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Restorative Practice Resources

• National Center for Mental Health Promotion and
  Youth Violence Prevention http//www.promotepreven
  t.org/resources/briefs/restorative20justice.html
• Restorative Justice Online
• http//www.restorativejustice.org

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