CORE DECISIONS 2
Goals and Standards
When creating a curriculum change plan everyone involved must first understand the
meaning of curriculum goals and curriculum standards. “A curriculum goal is a purpose or end
stated in general terms without criteria of achievement” (Gordon et al., 2019, p.161). These
curriculum goals are based from data retrieved from needs based assessments of students, the
educational aims, and the philosophy that supports the goals (Gordon et al., 2019). In general the
main objective of a curriculum goal is to provide access to every child. After effective
curriculum goals are developed the curriculum standards are originated. Standards are the
expectations of the goals, in other words, the end goal. Gordon et al., (2019) stated that the
standards are the assessments, however, what is used to teach the students to be prepared for the
assessments is up to the leaders and teachers.
My curriculum change plan will involve developing a restorative justice practice
curriculum in a middle school. First, I will explain the philosophy and importance of
implementing this change and the three curriculum goals supporting the change. Vaandering
(2014) explains that restorative justice practices in schools are building relationships, being
proactive instilling a building peace through a democratic pedagogy. In other words, it’s an
approach in schools promoting and fostering a sense of care, belonging, repair, accountability,
and reconcile when acts of some type of harm or injustice has occurred. It’s a social justice
curriculum that infuses peace-making together with justice to tackle poor choices among students
(Stroup, 2019). The 3 goals that I will develop for my curriculum change plan are to: improve
the morale in the school community by implementing a sense of unity with students and teachers
in the school, make the school environment a safe place to attend, and decrease discipline
referrals therefore this will decrease out of school suspensions. As stated by Johnston et al.,
CORE DECISIONS 3
(2013) there are three key theoretical concepts related to restorative justice practices: encounter,
transformative, and restorative practices. It’s the initiative of moving students and teachers from
a sense of doing something wrong to focusing on how we fix it. These theoretical concepts will
encounter policy change moving towards a restorative school/community, transforming mindsets
of the school/community, and building capacity in the school for restorative development.
I have been in education for 29 years. My whole educational career has been spent
teaching or supporting schools in a school system in rural west-central Georgia. Over the last 18
years I have had a job placement where I have observed students beginning in Pre-K and then
growing up graduating high school. Many of the students I have supported through the tier
process with the Response to Intervention (RtI) have been successful. But, unfortunately, the
majority of the experiences I have witnessed with struggling black males has not been
successful. In my experience if we have not intervened successfully with academics and behavior
by the fourth or fifth grade we have lost our black males to seeing them drop out, go to prison, or
even death. Since the 2022-2023 school year our community has lost more than six black males
to either death or being arrested for the murder of the students that died. Our school system is in
a reactive state when dealing with behavior issues. I am making a goal to empower our school
system to develop a social justice curriculum that will change our school climate into a proactive
one. Teachingtolerance.org (2016) states that the key social justice standards have four anchor
standards that are aligned with appropriate learning by grade levels. “The four domains of the
anchor standards are identity, diversity, justice, and action” (Teachingtolerance.org, 2016). These
standards developed to support the four anchor standards will align with restorative justice
practices by implementing training and support for teachers to facilitate the reduction of
CORE DECISIONS 4
prejudice, changing attitudes, and improving the behavior of all students. But, giving support
where support is needed for the diverse group of students.
Organization Plan
The backwards design will be the curriculum design used to organize my change plan.
Since the main ideas of restorative justice practices are to focus on the results that are wanted to
be achieved, focus on some results that are acceptable, and then focusing on how to achieve
these results the backwards design seems the most appropriate. When implementing a restorative
justice community in a school by shifting mindsets from punitive to restorative could take as
much as three-five years. The first year of implementation will be the most important because it
sets the tone for teacher buy-in. The Denver School-based Restorative Practices Partnership
(2023) states that the vision and mission of the expectation of restorative justice practices must
be communicated with all stakeholders explaining the purpose and the racial injustices in
discipline related to the school to prison pipeline. If this foundation for the stakeholders is not
established then the mission will not be fulfilled. According to Brown (2017) a successful
development of restorative justice practices requires a nurturing environment based on building
relationships, listening to each other, and peace building circles. This organization plan will be
organized in the different domains of the implementation. As the implementation is integrated in
the schools the policy makers will ensure that multiple stakeholders are involved to ensure buy-
in of this positive growth change.
Evidence Plan
Gordon et al., (2019) shares that evidence can be assessed by many facets whether its
observations, research by retrieving data, or experiences. Multi-tiered System of Supports
CORE DECISIONS 5
(MTSS) will be the foundation of supporting evidence of this curriculum change. Through
MTSS as students move through the tier process establishing the needs for support will help
dissect the level of needs the students have. As restorative justice practices are implemented a
data analysis will be done quarterly on attendance record data and discipline referral data to
review the impact the curriculum change is having on the school environment. This data will be
presented to school site meetings and school board meetings to include all stakeholders in the
outcomes. Morrison et al., (2005) said that the key to an effective implementation is to have a
whole-school culture change. The evidence plan will have a successful alignment with the
curriculum change plan goals as long as effective professional learning, self-reflection, and
patience are a part of the implementation. Davis (2019) exclaimed that teachers must call on their
inner warrior as teachers stand up to oppression and promote healing in student well-being.
“Learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the
widow” (King James Version, 2017, Isaiah 1:17).
CORE DECISIONS 6
References
Brown, M. (2017). Being heard: How listening culture supports the implementation of schoolwide
restorative practices. Restorative Justice: An International Journal, 5(1), 53-69.
Davis, F. (2014). Discipline with dignity: Oakland classrooms try healing instead of punishment.
Reclaiming Children and Youth, 23(1), 38-41.
Denver School-Based Restorative Practices Partnership. (2017). School-wide restorative practices: Step
by step. Denver, CO: Denver School-Based Restorative Practices Partnership. Retrieved from
https://www.skidmore.edu/campusrj/documents/Denver-2017-School-Wide-RP-
Implementation-Guide.pdf
Gordan, W.R., Taylor, R.T., & Oliva, P.F. (2019). Developing the curriculum: Improved outcomes through
systems approaches (9th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https//www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work
published 1769).
Johnston, G., & Van Ness, D. (2013). The meaning of restorative justice. In G. Johnston (Ed.), A
restorative justice reader (2nd ed., pp. 12-22). NY: Routledge.
Morrison, B., Blood, P., & Thorsborne, M. (2005). Practicing restorative justice in school communities:
Addressing the challenge of culture change. Public Organization Review, 5(4), 335-357.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-005-5095-6
Stroup, B., (2019). Conceptualizing and implementing a restorative justice concentration: Transforming
the criminal justice curriculum. Contemporary Justice Review, 22:4, 334-350.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2019.1672046
