Marilee Coles-Ritchie is a teacher educator in Utah. She wrote this advice for her fellow educators and other concerned citizens in Utah but it is good advice for everyone.
Here are her recommendations:
1. Decrease standardized tests. They harm students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
2. Increase the numbers of teachers from these groups across the schools.
3. Eliminate all police officers in schools. Restorative justice empowers students to resolve conflicts on their own and in small groups. This strengthens school communities, prevents bullying, and reduces student conflicts. Early adoption has shown drastic reductions in suspension rates, and students report feeling more welcome, safe, and calm.
4. Require all students to take at least one course of history and literature of these groups.
5. Increase linguistic and cultural appreciation in all schools, diversifying the voices that are represented in the curriculum, with a goal of equity and inclusion.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Anti-racism” sounds like a good thing to normal people who don’t like racism and who haven’t been paying close attention. Here’s a fairly good overview of what it actually means. It also touches on “white fragility.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/19/the-fight-to-redefine-racism
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Thanks for posting this, FLERP! I couldn’t agree more with, “[Kendi] argues that we should stop thinking of ‘racist’ as a pejorative, and start thinking of it as a simple description, so that we can join him in the difficult work of becoming antiracists.” When I use the term racist and apply to another, I don’t do so lightly and also think if it as an accurate, “simple description.” We should all do so; explain why we use that word in the first place.
I also appreciated his distinction between “segregationists and assimilationists”, one I find to be quite insightful. I can’t remember right now where I read it, but recently I came across a description of the William Wilberforce, the abolitionist who apparently was quite the racist, irrespective of his views on slavery. The same can be found alone many of the radical Republicans of Reconstruction, or people who live throughout my community, for that matter. I do have to think about the conclusion that refutes “Blacks are a traumatized people.” That, among other things in this article, now makes putting his book on my reading list unavoidable.
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Perhaps you’ll appreciate this one, not really obviously connected, but then again, it’s hard to divorce the two concepts anymore, especially today:
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/06/22/american-fascism-it-has-happened-here/
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Oh yes!!! Ms. Coles-Ritchie, I heartily concur.
While we’re at it, let’s eliminate state standardized testing entirely.
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These are all worthwhile suggestions. I particularly agree with the idea of looking at students through an asset based lens instead of only focusing on the struggles or “perceived ” deficits. The only other suggestion I would make it that, wherever possible, communities should integrate their schools. Integrated schools can a powerful way to promote mutual understanding and acceptance. It is also a way to ensure that minority students are more likely attend well resourced schools. Separate is never equal.
On a larger scale we need to stop algorithm driven stack ranking of school districts in national publications. As far as I am concerned, it is a form of electronic red lining. They provide consumers with a biased view of “good schools.” They mostly rely on standardized test scores, and they always rank excellent diverse schools lower on their scale. It is yet another example of a “secretive capricious algorithm” designed to assign greater value to schools that are overwhelmingly white.
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there it is: electronic red lining
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I am going to paraphrase your words and post this concept on my facebook page
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That is a wonderfully accurate descriptive phrase.
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Combatting racism starts by having truly integrated public schools where all children attend school together, developing personal relationship, friendships, with a diverse array of people, no charters, no home schooling. Does this erase bigotry learned at home? Not necessarily, but change takes time and in this case familiarity doesn’t breed contempt. I’ve had many staff development experiences where the presenter pushes an idea for your history class. They feel you can always find time to do what their suggestion is. It doesn’t work as June arrives quickly. I think the idea about having separate courses as electives for high school students is fine but diversity education needs to be incorporated into the required history courses. This means, to me, rethinking world and American history away from traditional political timelines, to an integrated social focus with a thematic approach. History is about understanding who we are as people, not simply in memorizing chronologies.
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I agree–terrific research by Nikole Hannah-Jones on this. Salt Lake City District integrates their high schools quite well but the other districts do not. This starts with housing policies as well. It’s definitely a domino effect.
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“Eliminate testing” is about as smart as “eliminate the police”.
Ending testing so that we won’t have to face the real deficits that they reveal among certain groups of students is a bit like Trump’s desire to end COVID testing, isn’t it? If we don’t test for it, we can all pretend it doesn’t exist. There ARE real deficits –knowledge deficits. These can be fixed –but only if we dedicate ourselves to teaching knowledge. Good tests can measure whether we’re fixing this deficit or not. Just because some tests are bad and misused (e.g. SBAC) does not mean all tests are bad and useless.
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I agree. I have worked with many students with extreme knowledge gaps. With enough time, these students, including ELLs from poor countries, can overcome these knowledge gaps in school districts that are dedicated to equity.
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Is anyone proposing “Eliminate testing”?
This is an excellent point: “Ending testing so that we won’t have to face the real deficits that they reveal among certain groups of students is a bit like Trump’s desire to end COVID testing, isn’t it?”
But that function has been fulfilled for 50 yrs by NAEP’s representative sampling. No one’s proposing an end to it. Teacher-designed assessments reveal knowledge deficits pointing where to intensify teaching of knowledge. Periodic assessments like Iowa Basics – once in elemsch, once in midsch – can provide additional helpful data.
Annual assessments for all in 3-8+ 1 hisch yr have added no new info, and have shaved time for teaching content. Tying their scores to funding and staff evaluation has done a world of harm: de-professionalized teaching, eliminated courses making for a well-rounded education, created an unpleasant and anxious school climate.
SBAC and the annual stdzd state assessments that have replaced them are all bad & will remain so, because they’re aligned to inauthentic “skills”-based standards. Why not eliminate them?
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It sounds like she’s against testing because she hates its message, not because it has counterproductively warped the way we teach.
I worry that this blog’s anti-testing stance is perceived a bit like BLM’s “defund the police” stance. The problem is not testing per se. It’s these tests and their misuse. What’s wrong with these tests? Neither their makers nor those who use them really understand what they’re testing. They say the ELA tests are testing skills like the ability to find the main idea, but this is not really a skill so much as a byproduct of having memorized the phonetic code, having enough background knowledge to comprehend a text and having been born with a human brain. Yet we read low scores on this test to mean, “We must teach the skill of finding the main idea!” which cannot be done. Thus the tests engender utterly useless, fruitless “education”. The current tests obfuscate our understanding of what kids need.
Knowledge-based tests would diagnose real, fixable deficits and could fruitfully guide instruction.
The fundamental problem here is that we don’t really understand what education entails! It’s about feeding the mind with knowledge, not working out skill “muscles” that don’t really exist. Until we get this straight, all reform talk is just spinning wheels.
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Pondersosa,
I am very familiar with standardized testing. I oppose it because it’s almost always misused and meaningless. It rewards students for being born into an affluent family and stigmatizes those who were not.
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Diane, I agree that the NCLB tests have been unjustly used by policy makers to bash public schools. My point though –not elegantly made –is these tests would be significantly less damaging if they didn’t have such terrible instructional consequences.
To illustrate, imagine if, instead of the SBAC/PARCC which allegedly test deep math skills and literacy skills, we had a battery of tests, some essay based, that tested history, geography, science, literature knowledge, grammar, Spanish, art history and fundamental math facts. When kids do poorly on the SBAC/PARCC tests, we say, “Oh we must abandon teaching anything but math and literacy” and then we proceed to teach ineffective Common Core “deep thinking” math (which doesn’t seem to work for most kids) and “literacy skills” that don’t exist, as well as a lot of practice test test prep. It’s an instructional fiasco. Not only do kids cease learning history, science, etc., they don’t even learn the math and literacy they’re being bombarded with. Conversely, with my alternative battery of tests, while the results could still be used to stigmatize schools, the instructional consequences might actually be beneficial, because they would lead schools to say,”Oh we must teach more history, geography, science. literature, etc.” Kids would actually gain a lot from such a curriculum (and ironically gain more literacy than the “literacy skills” curriculum would provide). In other words, the current tests debase education; different tests could improve education.
This is a sincere question, because I’m fuzzy on the exact meaning of “standardized” –is NAEP a standardized test? If so, wouldn’t you agree that it’s pretty benign? It seems to me it’s the design and misuse of the current tests that’s the problem, not testing per se. When we rail against testing I fear people think we’re acting like Trump vis a vis the COVID tests –that we want to hide something. I’m against tests that have bad instructional consequences, and against the misuse of tests, but not against testing.
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NAEP is a standardized test. Most questions are multiple choice. A few are essays or “constructed response.” What makes NAEP benign is that there is no score attached to join duvudusl students or schools, only done urban districts and all states. The nature of standardized tests corrupts education. Unless you are teaching math, there are no right answers.
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Is math really the only subject in which there are right answers?
What about this one?
Finland is: A. a part of Russia. B. a city in Japan. C. a country located between Sweden and Russia. D. a new show on Netflix.
Thanks to John Bolton, we know what Trump would have answered before his Helsinki love-fest with Putin.
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One can write questions where there is only one right answer. But those tend to be very low-level informational skills, like your illustration. If you want to know whether students can demonstrate knowledge and thinking skills, standardized tests can’t do it.
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Et tu, Diane? “Low-level”. That is pejorative. Knowing where and what Finland is is “low-level”? For years we Americans have unjustly labeled fast food, janitorial, and grocery workers “low-skill”. Now we realize they are essential. Let us relabel “low-level” knowledge “essential” knowledge. Because it is essential for all “higher” level operations, including reading comprehension. This rank prejudice against humble knowledge is the root of our nation’s educational woes. Would that Trump and the rest of my fellow Americans possessed a lot more “low-level” knowledge! Our fetish for “higher level” thinking has led to schools that breed ignorance and only pretend to engender higher level thinking (because you can’t get there without lowly knowledge).
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Our thoughts about education are shackled by bad, unexamined metaphors. The #1 guiding metaphor these days seems to be that the brain is a muscle and the school a gym.
I think this is a better metaphor–
a human is born facing a vast jungle armed with a sharp machete. Fortunately many previous generations of humans have hacked out routes through the jungle. There’s now a path to Mt. Biology, a path to the the Plateau of Chemistry, another to the Grammar Alps, etc. Guided by teachers (or books –books are just teachers in disguise), young humans can take journeys to these places. These journeys take a long time, and, while sometimes exhilarating, can often be arduous and boring. But once they’re completed, the young human has the wherewithal to get to these far-flung destinations at will with lightning speed. This is what schools used to do –bring students on these long, challenging journeys into new domains that had been pioneered by previous generations. And once they gained the lay of the land, the young humans could use their sharp machetes to make further progress into the frontiers of knowledge (what we call “higher order thinking”). But modern educators foolishly think that the reason students have trouble reaching glamorous destinations like the heights of Mt. Biology or History Peak is that they don’t know how to use their machetes, or that they’re not sharp enough. They think students don’t need to take the long guided journeys to these destinations (they call this “rote learning” or “acquiring low level knowledge”), they just need to stay at base camp and practice swinging their machetes. They spend 12 years on machete practice and then are told, “Go discover the world!” The graduates make a few whacks at the jungle and think, “Wow, this is hard. I’m not getting anywhere” and give up. Their youth squandered, they devote their lives to earning a living. They don’t have time to take the long guided journeys, even if they wanted to.
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Eliminate state standardized testing
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“Restorative justice empowers students to resolve conflicts on their own and in small groups”
I agree with this measure, but I think that districts treat it as another unfunded mandate. Our school divided up 250 5th-8th graders to meet in small groups with existing teachers, social workers, and some admin. About 22 staff who would “break out” once per week with groups of 8-10 so that Ss could get in some quality SEL. Wow did that look great on paper. Did it ever get up and running? HA!
This model pre-supposes two things: that all 22 staff will be at work that day, and that even if that previous condition were met (surprise! never is), that some or many would have a schedule conflict, be tardy, etc.
We can’t even get through regular subject instruction what with all the problems of staff absences and un-filled subs, yet we’re expected to flip a switch and “restore justice” on a regular basis.
CPS committed to RJ coordinators at a very small percentage of schools this upcoming year. I would argue that this job is too big for just one person. Afternoons are long, and those flared tensions at recess can re-ignite in the classroom. More often than not, when I call the office during the witching hours, I get no response or am told that “no one is available”. By Quarter 3 this devolves into a “hallway club” of aggressive students/emotional victims from multiple classrooms and regular nastygrams from the boss about Ss unsupervised in the hallway. This was in full swing before Prizker’s order.
Can someone give insight on how this can work better absent hiring a TEAM of certified SEL counselors per school or at least per pair of schools. No ideas? Ok then, back to Five and ten day suspensions, repeat as necessary.
Schools need to be safe spaces and they are not when the bullies can run rampant. Victims need to be brought together with them on a regular basis to help them to change their ways. To me it boils down to hiring more people.
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Restorative justice doesn’t even work on paper, much less in practice. Even if there were only 2 incidents to process per day, it would be difficult to manage. But a normal school has dozens of incidents a day. If teachers are to have any hope of actually teaching, discipline must be speedy and efficient; this is the opposite.
I’d love to see robust research that proves me wrong.
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Here’s a start: https://www.chicagoreporter.com/whats-the-alternative-to-police-in-schools-restorative-justice/
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OK, Alternatives Inc., a Chicago non-profit that gets paid to implement restorative justice programs, says it works. This is feeble support, I’m sure you agree.
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Lame response, ponderosa. You pick one source of many that I provided to belittle and cast doubts
How about the 80 to 100 countries that have been using restorative justice for years?
Spend some time reading about them all and discover if there have been any positive results.
The United States leads the world in throwing its citizens in prisons and jails.
Even China with more than four times our population has fewer people in prison.
It’s time to try something else besides no excuse harsh measures. It’s also time to end the war on recreational drugs like marijuana.
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Lloyd,
Where are these many resources you provided? I’m responding to the one Marilee provided.
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Sorry, I thought you were replying to my response to your question for Marilee.
I went back and found my comment in this threat, and here it is again copied and pasted here.
You asked Marilee, “Can you point to some evidence that restorative justice works?”
I decided to answer her question. She can also answer it if she wants to.
“How many countries use restorative justice?” This study was dated April 22, 2005.
“In only twenty-five years, restorative justice has become a worldwide criminal justice reform dynamic. Well over 80 countries use some form of restorative practice in addressing crime; the actual number could be closer to 100.
https://nacrj.org/index.php?option=com_easyfolderlistingpro&view=download&format=raw&data=eNptkE1rwzAMhv-K0WmDQZ2uXVf1VNhphw122bG4iZIYkjhITtox9t9cJ1wnKbvsYNCH30ev5DDL8FvwCaEMTUEMB8HNBsG3rlwiWTFJGDjXqKX2TCyrD5IY2EU_knkdJPqckkYxMAjxTJGphGBvrWpQ2d-EHcLpNNVS9jxLO9dOKPXCF9_Q15Kkni8mYwhZtrULganpXaxTZhEWUKnCG2.i3Rjh25n0kHj1dTCjNP-7NkcPQFSbWZD4DN4W5e3GdGfW9kciDWVu7vU-8RwS6xiXqi3LxQdfe653g4NGmddWMi9HldUud_j5P1b0qmJKN-QK6VxVC1ajRn1_7GX2r
“What crimes does restorative justice not work for?
“There are certain offences which can pose particular challenges for the restorative process, for example sexual offences, hate crime and domestic violence. However, restorative justice can still help victims of these offences.”
https://restorativejustice.org.uk/do-you-need-restorative-justice
https://charterforcompassion.org/restorative-justice/restorative-justice-some-facts-and-history
Restorative Justice in Portugal
http://www.justicereparatrice.org/www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2006/dec06/portugal
Restorative Justice in Germany
http://www.justicereparatrice.org/www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2006/dec06/portugal
European Forum for Restorative Justice
https://www.euforumrj.org/en/germany
The Effects of Restorative Justice Programming: A Review of the Empirical
“An abundance of non-traditional justice programs have been implemented throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Africa and Australia. Many are considered restorative in nature; however, these programs may not fully conform to restorative principles. The scope of this paper will be on those programs that have adopted the aforementioned principles. That is to say, the empirical results that are discussed in this section are from programs that attempt to restore the relationship between the victim, the community and the offender and attempt to repair the harm caused by crime.” …
“Summary of Findings”
“In general, empirical research into restorative justice is arguably still in its infancy. Numerous questions remain unanswered. There are several issues, however, that do appear to be resolved.
Victims who experience a restorative justice program express high levels of satisfaction with the process and the outcomes. Victims also believe that the process is fair. There are strong indications that victims are much less satisfied within the traditional court system. In addition, victims’ satisfaction level appears to be related to the fulfilment of restitution agreements.
Offenders also express high levels of satisfaction with restorative justice programming and perceive the process to be fair. In addition, research suggests that offenders processed by the traditional system are less satisfied. There is evidence, though, that the severity of the restitution agreement is closely related to an offenders’ satisfaction level. The harsher the restitution, the more likely an offender will express dissatisfaction with the program.
Most restorative justice program participants have a high level of success in negotiating restitution agreements. There is also an indication that a high proportion of offenders referred to restorative justice programs follow through on their agreements and are more likely to comply than are offenders with court-ordered restitution/”
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/jsp-sjp/rr00_16/p3.html
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I pulled my son out of a middle school that was big in restorative justice. Bullying was routine, as was fighting in hallways and classrooms and the cafeteria. Victims of bullying were forced to reconcile with their attackers and then get bullied again. The place was a nightmare.
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I agree. The mandate needs to be funded. Lot of work to do with structures outside the school like income equality, health care for all, and increased mental health care.
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I am surprised no one has mentioned the reorganization of school districts. There will be little progress ending systemic racism if Long Island continues to have 125 school districts.
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“1. Decrease standardized tests. They harm students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.”
I want to add to the list for #1.
Standardized tests harm students that are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and students that have learning disabilities and disorders.
“Learning disabilities look very different from one child to another. One child may struggle with reading and spelling, while another loves books but can’t understand math. Still another child may have difficulty understanding what others are saying or communicating out loud. The problems are very different, but they are all learning disorders.
“It’s not always easy to identify learning disabilities. Because of the wide variations, there is no single symptom or profile that you can look to as proof of a problem. However, some warning signs are more common than others at different ages. If you’re aware of what they are, you’ll be able to catch a learning disorder early and quickly take steps to get your child help.”
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/autism-learning-disabilities/learning-disabilities-and-disorders.htm
How many school-age children have learning disabilities and disorders?
“Learning disabilities affect up to 10 percent of children. Summary: Up to 10 percent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to 2 or 3 pupils in every classroom, according to a new review.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130418142309.htm
NOTE: I was one of those children. When I was age 7 in 1952, my mother was told by administrators after they tested me that I was too retarded to learn to read and write. My 1st grade teacher, the second time around, did not agree and offered my mother advice that my mother followed. That is why I learned to read and write.
No test in the world would have taught me to learn to read and write. In fact, tests were very frustrating to me as a child. To be blunt, “I hated tests.”
It wasn’t until I was earning my teaching credential in 1975-76 that I learned I wasn’t retarded but I had severe dyslexia. From K through 12 plus nine years of college, I always disliked tests.
That is why, as a public school teacher, tests were not a major part of my students’ grades. More than 90-percent of the grades earned in my class were based on the work the students did, the quality of that work, and not tests of any kind.
I offered one final exam at the end of each semester, but my students could fail that test and still earn an A+ in my class from the classwork and homework alone.
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Thanks for sharing your own background and experience with those that are differently-abled. I agreed wholeheartedly.
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This article is excellent, and very important.
However, it will NEVER happen in Utah. We spend less per pupil than any other state and have the largest class sizes. No one with power cares about that, and just wants to put kids on more technology–because it’s cheaper.
And with the cuts coming, special education and ELL assistance are expected to be decimated. Utah talks a lot about the “importance of family,” but won’t do anything where it really counts.
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It’s an uphill battle, but we’ve got to try. It’s going to take collective action for sure.
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Marilee,
Can you point to some evidence that restorative justice works?
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You asked Marilee, “Can you point to some evidence that restorative justice works?”
I decided to answer her question. She can also answer it if she wants to.
“How many countries use restorative justice?” This study was dated April 22, 2005.
“In only twenty-five years, restorative justice has become a worldwide criminal justice reform dynamic. Well over 80 countries use some form of restorative practice in addressing crime; the actual number could be closer to 100.
https://nacrj.org/index.php?option=com_easyfolderlistingpro&view=download&format=raw&data=eNptkE1rwzAMhv-K0WmDQZ2uXVf1VNhphw122bG4iZIYkjhITtox9t9cJ1wnKbvsYNCH30ev5DDL8FvwCaEMTUEMB8HNBsG3rlwiWTFJGDjXqKX2TCyrD5IY2EU_knkdJPqckkYxMAjxTJGphGBvrWpQ2d-EHcLpNNVS9jxLO9dOKPXCF9_Q15Kkni8mYwhZtrULganpXaxTZhEWUKnCG2.i3Rjh25n0kHj1dTCjNP-7NkcPQFSbWZD4DN4W5e3GdGfW9kciDWVu7vU-8RwS6xiXqi3LxQdfe653g4NGmddWMi9HldUud_j5P1b0qmJKN-QK6VxVC1ajRn1_7GX2r
“What crimes does restorative justice not work for?
“There are certain offences which can pose particular challenges for the restorative process, for example sexual offences, hate crime and domestic violence. However, restorative justice can still help victims of these offences.”
https://restorativejustice.org.uk/do-you-need-restorative-justice
https://charterforcompassion.org/restorative-justice/restorative-justice-some-facts-and-history
Restorative Justice in Portugal
http://www.justicereparatrice.org/www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2006/dec06/portugal
Restorative Justice in Germany
http://www.justicereparatrice.org/www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2006/dec06/portugal
European Forum for Restorative Justice
https://www.euforumrj.org/en/germany
The Effects of Restorative Justice Programming: A Review of the Empirical
“An abundance of non-traditional justice programs have been implemented throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Africa and Australia. Many are considered restorative in nature; however, these programs may not fully conform to restorative principles. The scope of this paper will be on those programs that have adopted the aforementioned principles. That is to say, the empirical results that are discussed in this section are from programs that attempt to restore the relationship between the victim, the community and the offender and attempt to repair the harm caused by crime.” …
“Summary of Findings”
“In general, empirical research into restorative justice is arguably still in its infancy. Numerous questions remain unanswered. There are several issues, however, that do appear to be resolved.
Victims who experience a restorative justice program express high levels of satisfaction with the process and the outcomes. Victims also believe that the process is fair. There are strong indications that victims are much less satisfied within the traditional court system. In addition, victims’ satisfaction level appears to be related to the fulfilment of restitution agreements.
Offenders also express high levels of satisfaction with restorative justice programming and perceive the process to be fair. In addition, research suggests that offenders processed by the traditional system are less satisfied. There is evidence, though, that the severity of the restitution agreement is closely related to an offenders’ satisfaction level. The harsher the restitution, the more likely an offender will express dissatisfaction with the program.
Most restorative justice program participants have a high level of success in negotiating restitution agreements. There is also an indication that a high proportion of offenders referred to restorative justice programs follow through on their agreements and are more likely to comply than are offenders with court-ordered restitution/”
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/jsp-sjp/rr00_16/p3.html
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Thanks for the links, Loyd Lofthouse.
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I’m so thrilled to see Marilee Coles-Ritchie’s experiential wisdom extending beyond Utah. She is passionate about her work and associations in multi-cultural education. She lives and teaches what she preaches. I’ve know her for 55 years, I’m her sister.
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Clarity will come with the SCOTUS decision in Espinosa. The Supreme Court, if it is owned by Charles Koch, will decide against Montana. And, in the Kristen Biel case, the majority will rule for St.James Catholic school.
The LBGT decision was proof the conservative justices aren’t owned by the religious right.
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I am totally in favor of eliminating standardized tests. There are too many of them throughout the year and they do not closely test on what we are teaching unless we ‘teach to the test.’ They take far too much time and energy away from what we should be doing, which is teaching! It is impossible to give a standardized test that is appropriate for every student. Our ELL’s will not benefit from a test that asks questions that they do not understand. Nor, will it inform us of anything except what we already know. Giving students a test that we know they cannot do is a huge waste of our extremely valuable teaching time. More faith is needed in teachers who know their students, and know how to address the holes in their learning, A standardized test will tell us that our students don’t know what was on that particular test. Let us teach them where they are at and let us bring them carefully up. We need every teaching moment we have to do this.
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