Case Studies in Empowerment Evaluation: Restorative Practices Interventions in Educational Contexts

Background: Empowerment evaluation (EE) is a participant-led evaluation model that aligns with restorative justice (RJ) principles by centering the needs of the person or persons impacted. Purpose: This article shares two longitudinal case studies, one using a practical empowerment evaluation approach with six U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education (IHEs), and another using a transformative empowerment evaluation approach with a cohort of 8 K-12 educators. These cases illustrate the benefits and challenges of utilizing empowerment evaluation for restorative justice programs in educational settings. Setting: U.S. institutions of higher education (IHEs) and U.S. K-12 classrooms. Intervention: Empowerment evaluation as a method to evaluate restorative justice implementation in multiple K-16 contexts. Research Design: Two longitudinal qualitative case studies. Data Collection and Analysis: Restorative circle dialogues; individual interviews; data collected during webinars; and an e-gallery walk provided data. Transcripts from circles and individual interviews were reviewed and organized by key themes to illustrate the benefits and challenges of using empowerment evaluation. Findings: Empowerment evaluation can be conceptualized as a practical approach to evaluation, like formative evaluation, which aligns with the values of restorative justice, and focuses on program improvement. Transformative empowerment evaluation emphasizes liberation by empowering participants to step outside of typical roles, traditional structures, and assumed power relations. Due to the variation in these evaluation approaches, the case studies below vary in the emphasis placed on aspects of the evaluation process. Yet, both case studies highlighted participants’ needs for dedicated time for thinking and planning for restorative interventions; peer-to-peer support from colleagues from one’s own school or campus and from other campuses; sharing strategies for planting the “seeds” of restorative justice; and evaluation as an ongoing process of reflection and action.