SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) —  The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Springfield Public Schools District 186 are working together to institute "restorative practices" in nine schools. 

"Restorative practices teach individuals how to get along with each other, and how to restore or repair any harm along the way that was done in order to be able to live and work and learn together," said Nicole Moody, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning, and School Culture at District 186. "It's good for all humans, adults and children alike, to be able to have a framework to be able to have a way to talk through our situation so that we can work together positively."

While District 186 has engaged in restorative practices in previous years, this partnership creates model schools and classrooms to determine the effectiveness of this model. Teachers in the selected schools will participate in multi-day trainings at UIS and receive support from UIS students and staff. 

"In addition to discipline data, such as office referrals, in school suspension, out of school suspension ... we'll also be looking at student attendance, we'll be looking at teacher retention, we'll be looking at things like climate, we'll be looking at the parent and student feedback," said Beth Hatt, the Director of the School of Education at UIS. 

Undergraduate teacher education majors, and those training to be principals and superintendents will be able to visit the model classrooms and see the practices implemented in a real life situation. The hands-on learning will allow them to better understand the concepts at different age ranges. 

According to Hatt, this partnership means the UIS School of Education will be the first in the country to guarantee training to all undergraduate education, principal, and superintendent students in restorative practices. Hatt said the partnership itself with a school district is the first in the country as well. 

The nine District 186 schools involved in the program include: Hazel Dell Elementary, Laketown Elementary, Southern View Elementary, Dubois Elementary, Graham Elementary, Lindsay Elementary, Harvard Park Elementary, Jefferson Middle School, Franklin Middle School, and Springfield Southeast High School. 

Educators from these schools are part of the UIS cohort program, however all schools will receive restorative practices training. 

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