Professor Thalia González Speaks on PBS News Hour

Professor Thalia González, an affiliated faculty member at CNDR who teaches Restorative Justice, joined PBS News Hour on May 10, 2023 to discuss discipline practices in schools to address student behavior.

Professor González discussed how positive school climates can be built through providing safe and healthy classrooms. She reviewed data illustrating how nonwhite students—Latinx, Native and indigenous, and particularly Black children—are disciplined more severely across every category. The same holds true for students who are also experiencing learning disabilities or impacts in the context of gender.

How do we put into practice what we know works to ensure that socioemotional and academic learning is happening in schools? Professor González suggested looking at what is already working and at creating evidence-based, trauma-informed, and high-quality core curricula. She noted that legal reform alone is not sufficient; investments in mental services, particularly multi-tiered systems and positive behavioral interventions, are also necessary to increase academic achievement and test scores, promote grade completion, and better engage students.

View the entire interview: Professor Thalia Gonzalez PBS Interview