St. John’s University
Respond and Partner to Engage our Community Team
RESPECT is the University’s bias response team. It comprises students, faculty, administrators, and staff who voluntarily serve to host community-building circles and provide direct support to any individual impacted by prejudice-based aggression. This may include providing assistance with reporting bias, guidance through the investigative process, and access to safety and support resources. When appropriate, it may also include facilitating restorative conversations between affected parties to promote healing and learning outcomes.
RESPECT is designed to build trust and accountability in our community. To accomplish this, RESPECT proactively hosts community-building circles. It also partners with key units to monitor the campus climate and track data on bias reports. By identifying patterns in the data, RESPECT is equipped to respond and to proactively implement strategies to decrease the prevalence of future occurrences. This may be achieved through healing circles, trainings, workshops, speakers, community forums, and other educational programming to openly engage students, faculty, administrators, and staff in conversations about social justice, equity, and inclusion.
United Nations Mandated University for Peace
Visiting Professor, Restorative Justice
The vision of the University for Peace is to be a forward-thinking, transformational and inspirational educational institution dedicated to the goals of quality teaching, research and service for serving humanity in building a peaceful world.
Established as a Treaty Organization with its own Charter in an International Agreement adopted by the General Assembly in Resolution 35/55 of 5 December 1980, the University for Peace has the mission:
"to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace and with the aim of promoting, among all human beings, the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations".
New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools
Instructor, CCER
The Critically Conscious Educators Rising Series- a collaboration between the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University and the NYC DoE Expanded Success Initiative
The Critically Conscious Educators Rising Series, co-sponsored by the NYU Metro Center and the NYCDOE Expanded Success Initiative, convenes a group of like-minded educators monthly to focus on tying theory to practice in the pursuit of equity and racial justice in our classrooms and beyond. Participants study critical consciousness, culturally responsive education theory and develop a shared language and practice around decolonizing their classrooms. Participants have the opportunity to present to other educators how the series has shaped their classroom teaching at the Decolonizing Education Conference held at NYU every June.CSS Consultant NYU Metro Center
CSS provides tactical support, applied research, and collaborative problem-solving to schools in the United States and abroad as well as agencies outside education. The central focus of our work is helping organizations to implement strategies that close equity gaps and lead to the improvement of student outcomes. CSS works to enhance the capacity of schools, districts, and other agencies through the co-construction of policies and practices that are designed to both meet the specific learning needs of students and respond to environmental challenges that impact child development and student achievement.
NYCDoE Expanded Success Initiative (ESI)
ESI is an educational component of the Office of the Mayor’s Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) and is supported by Open Society Foundations. YMI is the nation’s most comprehensive effort to tackle the broad disparities slowing the advancement of Black and Latino young men. As part of that comprehensive effort, ESI:
-works and conducts research in 40 public high schools that have shown promise in reversing this trend;
-develops and launches new high schools specifically designed to fully prepare Black and Latino young men for success in college and careers; and
-scales-up college advising training city-wide with the goal of reaching all high schools in the system
NYC Department of Education School Climate Reform Initiatives:
Warning Cards Project, replacing certain summonses with warnings: The NYPD will work with the DOE and the Leadership Team to establish a pilot program in five schools in the Bronx – and later increase to 25 schools citywide – that will replace summonses for student misconduct with warning cards
Restorative Justice Pilot Initiative: Restorative practices in schools ($1.2 million): Since this past July, the DOE has trained staff from 64 schools new to Restorative Approaches. City Council funding is supporting current work to continue this training, with a total of 100 schools new to Restorative Approaches receiving it by September.
Madison Metropolitan School District Restorative Practices Initiative
Milwaukee Public Schools Project AWARE:
Seven high schools of Milwaukee Public Schools are involved in the Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience Education) grant funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The Project AWARE grants are aimed to improve behavioral health awareness among school-age youth and their communities.
http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/Families/Family-Services/Intervention---PBIS/Project-Aware.htm
Minnesota Department of Education (MDE): Restorative Practices in Schools Summer Series (2016-2017)
New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools: Summer Sessions; Restorative Justice as Racial Justice