Three years into using a restorative practices model for addressing student misbehavior, officials in Indian Prairie School District 204 say they’re liking the results.
Restorative practices is a framework for responding to disciplinary issues not only with punishments, but also with proactive supports to create strong relationships and reparative learning to help students grow after their mistakes, said Nader Najjar, assistant superintendent for equity and innovation.
“It’s a way of doing school that emphasizes relationships, accountability, and high expectations,” Najjar said about a restorative practices model. “It’s a deeper sense of accountability.”
Strengths in giving students voice, accountability
Administrators shared an analysis of four core elements of restorative practices — belonging, voice, accountability, and expectations — with school board members during Monday’s meeting.
Data showed positive growth in two of these areas —voice and accountability — showing “adult systems and family trust are growing, while belonging and expectations are the next frontier,” according to a presentation given by Najjar and several other administrators.
‘Trending in the right direction’
Results the district analyzed came from the annual 5Essentials Survey, which Najjar described as a “state-validated tool” administered by the Illinois State Board of Education. Composite scores for questions related to voice and accountability showed slight increases in the 2024-25 school year compared to 2023-24, while those measuring the belonging and expectations categories fell slightly.
These questions measured things like whether students feel safe in classes (92% of District 204 students responded last year that they do, according to 5Essentials data) and whether they feel comfortable with their teachers (93% said they do).
“The theme we are seeing is things trending in the right direction for the most part,” school board member Catey Genc said.
Restorative practices to assist in growth, not eliminate discipline
Other data related to student discipline showed a similar mix of many positive steps and some small setbacks.
For example, the percentage of high school and middle school students who were suspended at least once last year decreased to 4.3% of high schoolers and 7% of middle schoolers — down from 4.8% and 7.6%, respectively — while the percentage of elementary students who served a suspension stayed about flat at 0.9% across both years.
Reports of disciplinary violations also decreased in some categories and increased in others, district data show. There were fewer reports of insubordination, disrespect, and disruption to learning in 2024-25 than in 2023-24, as well as nearly 1,000 fewer instances of truancy. But reports of technology violations and physical aggression rose slightly, and tardiness increased from 3,462 reports in 2023-24 to 4,453 last school year.
Still, school board members said it’s not only about how many misbehaviors are reported, but about how educators create positive relationships, then work with students after discipline occurs to help prevent future issues.
“It’s not eliminating the punishment,” school board member Mark Rising said. “It’s understanding the root cause and trying to help that student through it.”
Next steps in continuing restorative practices
Seeing the early indicators of growth in restorative practices leads to several next steps, administrators said.
The district hopes to focus on building a sense of belonging among students and staff and on setting clear expectations for academics, while balancing the level of challenge with a sense of support, Najjar said.
For teachers, this means “not only building those relationships, but using those relationships to warmly demand more from our students,” Najjar said.
The district also plans to begin using digital supports, such as a system that tracks online behavior and helps spot students at risk for making threats against safety or committing self-harm, said Brad Hillman, assistant superintendent for middle schools.
The district also will continue efforts to decrease the occurrence of behaviors that warrant suspensions.
“We really do try to keep kids in school, because that’s where we think they belong,” Hillman said — “with us.”
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