COMBATTING CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM: A STUDY IN LEVERAGING RESTORATIVE PRACTICES

This dissertation in practice examines the impact of implementing restorative chats with students in 7th and 8thgrades at a non-classroom-based public charter school in San Bernardino, CA, on students’ rates of chronic absenteeism. It focuses on implementing these restorative chats with students to create a positive change in their student engagement, which is defined as physical attendance and work completion for the purpose of this study. Inquiry cycles for this study consisted of volunteer staff participants, who are all considered to be in support staff roles, conducting restorative chats with struggling students to increase their attendance or work completion. Empathy interviews with each staff participant were conducted to gauge barriers they encountered in conducting the restorative chats with students and were used to identify themes across restorative chats to identify changes for future cycles. The findings of this study indicated that although the intended impact of reducing the school’s chronic absenteeism rate by 10% or more over the course of a semester was not met, some improvement in attendance and work completion rates were noted for students who participated in restorative chats. Additionally, the findings suggest the implementation of restorative chats must be done regularly and executed with fidelity and accountability to ensure a sustainable structure in the school system to be fully effective.