Step 2: Read the preliminary information and at the bottom of the screen, click on the blue text that state "I wish to proceed"

Step 3: Take any of the implicit bias tests to understand what biases you may hold - you can choose tests regarding an array of identities/groups

These tests measure your biases & associations by assessing the quickness of your reactions & your responses.

• What surprised you?

• Why do you think you scored the way you did?

• What will you do in response to what you have learned?

• Where and when have you personally observed or experienced implicit bias?

• What can you do to reduce this?

For statements that do not apply to your experiences, practice perspective taking by considering the positive, negative, and neutral consequences of that experience.

As a youth development worker, it is important to extend grace toward children who are experiencing difficult conditions or might be navigating complicated aspects of their (intersectional) identities.

If you don't understand their experiences, you must be aware of how you may be imposing your own experiences.

• How have one or more of your identities developed over the course of your life?

• When was the first time you FELT a social identity?

• How, when and where have you learned about your identities?

• Do I believe all students are capable of growth and improvement, regardless of where they start?

• When a student struggles, do I think, “They’re just not good at this,” or “They haven’t mastered it yet”?

Expectations & Labels

• Do I hold different expectations for students based on past performance, behavior, or background?

• Have I ever labeled a student as "low," "challenging," or "gifted" in ways that affect how I treat them?

Feedback & Encouragement

• Do I focus more on praising intelligence (e.g., “You’re so smart”) or effort and strategies (e.g., “You worked hard on this”)?

• When giving feedback, do I emphasize what students did wrong, or do I guide them toward how they can improve?

Responses to Mistakes & Struggles

• Do I see mistakes as a necessary part of learning, or as a sign of failure or lack of ability?

• How do I respond when students fail—do I feel frustrated or do I use it as a teachable moment?

Approach to Teaching

• Do I adjust my teaching when students don't understand, or do I assume they’re just not trying hard enough?

• Am I more focused on getting through the curriculum or helping every student truly understand and grow?

Recommendations

• Self-Assess Implicit Biases - Instructors can review the examples above and self-reflect on their own biases. Reflective teaching offers formal and informal strategies for considering one’s own pedagogical habits. Instructors may also take an online self-assessment to identify their biases through Project Implicit(link is external) from Harvard University. 

  
  

• Cultivate Inclusivity - Instructors can work to develop an inclusive classroom climate and inclusive teaching practices, which can mediate potential biased attitudes, and support developing sensitivity and deepening self-awareness.

  
  

• Solicit Feedback from Outside Observers -  Instructors can set up their own teaching inventory or observation protocol with a colleague or peer, or request a CTL staff member to visit their classroom, observe their student-teacher interactions, and provide feedback.

  
  

• Solicit Feedback from Students - Instructors can also use feedback from students, via midterm course evaluations, end-of-term evaluations, or small group feedback sessions, to assess whether their unconscious biases manifest in their classroom interactions.

1. Explanation of why you're giving the feedback

2. Expression of high standards for the work

3. Assurance that you believe in the student's ability

When to give Wise Feedback: 

• You don’t need to do this for every piece of student work. Pick a few important assignments or classroom activities where critical feedback will be the most impactful. Then, budget time for providing that feedback into your lesson plan.  

• Avoid combining Wise Feedback and grades. Wise Feedback works best when you’re giving students feedback during a lesson, unit, or assignment (formative feedback), rather than at the end of the lesson, unit, or assignment (summative feedback). Providing Wise Feedback on graded work can be ineffective because students see the grade as the “real” assessment and ignore the feedback.

You can give Wise Feedback in a variety of settings and to individuals or groups of students. You can give Wise Feedback in a variety of contexts: informally in the classroom, in individual conferences with students, in written feedback, and so on. You can also try it one-on-one with students, with small groups of students who are working together, or with a whole class.

Give ambitious feedback to all students. Sometimes out of a sense of care for students who are struggling, teachers will overly praise mediocre work or only suggest easy improvements. This will not help students in the long run, and can be a manifestation of bias. Make sure you’re holding students to a high standard and that your feedback asks them to do challenging work. 

Try Wise Feedback with any age, but especially consider it for adolescents. This technique can be especially appropriate for adolescents, because they are at a developmental point where they’re deciding which authority figures and institutions they can trust (Yeager, 2014). But educators shouldn’t feel limited by the age of their students, whether younger or older than adolescents. We think this feedback can benefit students of all ages.  

Source

(questions to discuss with your staff member)

1. What strengths do you see in the staff member’s work with youth, and where have you noticed potential blind spots?

2. Have you observed or heard anything that could signal bias, misalignment with inclusion practices, or missed opportunities for connection?

3. How can you create a space where the staff member feels safe to reflect and grow without fear of judgment, but with clear expectations?

4. What specific strategies, tools, or professional learning opportunities might help this staff member become more equitable and culturally responsive?

5. What checkpoints or follow-ups can you implement to monitor growth, offer feedback, and celebrate progress over time?

🧠 Staff Self-Reflection for Growth

(questions to ask yourself)

1. Can you recall a moment when you misunderstood or misjudged a youth’s behavior or background? What might have influenced your reaction?

2. How do you think your own experiences, values, or identity shape how you view the youth you work with?

   1. What was your educational experience like? How does your experience affect the way you show up for youth?

   2. What resources did you have or not have growing up? How does that differ from the youth you work with?

   3. What were the attitudes and mindsets of the adults around you growing up? How has that shaped your own beliefs? Did you inherent any limiting beliefs?

3. How do you react when youth do not respond the way you hope?

   1. Do you model the behavior you expect, or do high emotions influence your response?

4. Are there patterns in the types of youth you tend to connect with more easily, or those you struggle to relate to? Why do you think that is?

5. Have you ever received feedback about bias, tone, or expectations? What was your response, and what did you learn from it?

6. How do you ensure all youth feel seen, heard, and valued in your presence? Are there ways you can improve?

7. Do I focus more on what students “can’t” do than on what they bring to the classroom?

8. Am I more likely to highlight student deficits in meetings or reports than successes or growth?

9. Do I believe that certain families don’t care about education, or do I question what supports they may actually need or lack access to?

10. How often do I engage families and community members as partners and leaders in their children’s success?

11. Am I creating opportunities for students to express and build on their cultural knowledge and lived experiences?

12. Do I see cultural, linguistic, or behavioral differences as problems to be fixed, or as diversity to be understood and celebrated?

13. What strengths do my students and their communities possess that I can better recognize, affirm, and integrate into my practice?

14. What assumptions do I make about students or families based on income, language, neighborhood, or background?

15. Have I ever described a student, family, or community as “at-risk,” “behind,” or “disadvantaged” without also acknowledging their assets or strengths?

16. Do I believe that some students need to be “saved” rather than empowered?

These questions are not intended to make staff members feel ashamed or guilty about how they've reacted or shown up in spaces, but instead analyze where their beliefs stem from and whether they are helpful or hurtful to the youth they are working with. Awareness helps us understand where we're at, so we can figure out how to progress forward.

• Ethnocentrism

• Stereotyping

• Psychological barriers

• Language barriers

• Geographical distance

• Conflicting values

• Youth consistently getting in trouble - sometimes for things they didn't do

• Teachers deeming student as "Disruptive in class, more so than other students"

• Youth thinking "I feel like the teacher doesn't like me. Other kids do bad things but they don't get in trouble."

• Labeled as defiant, lacking respect for any structure or authority. "Concerned about their behavior

• Teachers being mean and student not learning anything

• Zero-tolerance policies creating a school to prison pipeline

• Schools contacting parents, parents also feeling angry with student. Student feeling like the world is against them.

• "Everybody's always telling me I'm not worth anything, so what's the point of trying?"

• Absenteeism - "I don't feel safe in my class any more"

• Teachers making assumptions about students, picking on them, singling them out, making an example out of them in front of the class

• "African American and Latino students are expelled at a rate three times greater than Whites"

  
  

1. ☐ Pre-meetings complete; readiness & safety assessed

2. ☐ Purpose, roles, limits of confidentiality explained

3. ☐ Neutral space set; time set; materials ready

4. ☐ Check-in done; agreements posted

5. ☐ Storytelling rounds completed (with paraphrasing)

6. ☐ Impacts named (impact web)

7. ☐ Needs identified; responsibility named

8. ☐ Repair options brainstormed & tested for meaning/feasibility

9. ☐ Written agreement (who/what/when/support/follow-up)

10. ☐ Closing check-out completed

11. ☐ Follow-up date scheduled

What to do: Meet separately with each participant (harmed party, responsible party, key supporters).
Why it matters: Ensures safety, voluntariness, and emotional readiness; prevents re-harm; clarifies expectations.
How:

• Ask: “What happened from your view? What do you need to feel safe in a conversation?”

• Screen for power imbalances/trauma; offer options (support person, shorter session, separate entrances).

• Confirm voluntariness and that accountability is possible (e.g., youth is willing to reflect/repair).

2) Set the Frame (Purpose, Roles, Boundaries)

What to do: Explain RJ in plain language before any joint talk.
Why it matters: Shared understanding reduces anxiety, builds trust, and prevents the process from feeling like punishment.
How:

• “This is about understanding what happened, how people were affected, and what repair looks like—not blame.”

• Clarify facilitator role (neutral guide), time limits, and confidentiality + its limits (e.g., safety disclosures).

3) Choose the Space & Structure

What to do: Pick a neutral, comfortable location; arrange chairs in a circle; use a talking piece if helpful.
Why it matters: Environment signals psychological safety and equal voice, which increases honesty and empathy.
How:

• Remove distractions, ensure tissues/water are available, have fidgets for younger youth.

• Plan a 30–60 min window (younger = shorter; allow breaks).

4) Open with Grounding & Agreements

What to do: Start with a brief check-in and co-create 4–6 norms.
Why it matters: Grounding lowers stress; agreements create shared accountability and help you coach behavior in-the-moment.
How:

• Check-in prompt: “One word for how you’re arriving.”

• Agreements: listen without interrupting, speak from “I,” respect passes, no insults, keep it private within agreed limits.

5) Storytelling Round(s)

What to do: Invite each person to share “what happened” from their perspective.
Why it matters: Telling the story in one’s own words validates experience and surfaces facts, feelings, and context.
How:

• Prompts: “What happened?” “What were you thinking/feeling then?” “What’s been hardest since?”

• Use the talking piece; allow passes; paraphrase to show listening (“What I heard you say is…”).

6) Impact Mapping

What to do: Name who/what was affected and how (people, learning climate, community spaces, self-image).
Why it matters: Moves beyond rule-breaking to relational harm, which motivates meaningful repair over mere compliance.
How:

• Prompts: “Who else was impacted?” “What changed for you after this?”

• Facilitator can sketch a quick “impact web” on paper/board to make effects visible.

7) Needs & Accountability

What to do: Surface needs (safety, voice, dignity, closure, learning) and the responsible party’s capacity to own impact.
Why it matters: Repair is only real when it meets the needs of those harmed and includes authentic ownership of harm.
How:

• For harmed party: “What do you need to feel more okay moving forward?”

• For responsible party: “What are you taking responsibility for? What do you wish you’d done differently?”

8) Brainstorm Repair Options

What to do: Generate multiple ways to make things as right as possible (not just “say sorry”).
Why it matters: Choice increases buy-in; multiple options ensure repair is meaningful (to harmed) and doable (by responsible).
How:

• Buckets to consider: direct apology (verbal/written), acts of service, replacement/cleanup, learning actions (restorative essays, peer education), relationship rebuilds (mediated check-ins), community contributions.

• Test options: “Does this meet your need?” “Is this realistic this week?”

9) Write a Restorative Agreement

What to do: Document the plan—who will do what, by when, with what support, and how follow-up happens.
Why it matters: Clarity prevents drift; written commitments help accountability feel fair, not punitive.
How:

• Include: specific actions, timelines, support adults, check-in date, what happens if something’s hard to complete.

• Use youth-friendly language; keep it one page; all sign.

10) Closing & Check-Out

What to do: End with a brief reflection round and appreciation for effort.
Why it matters: Provides emotional closure, reinforces dignity, and transitions participants back to their day.
How:

• Prompt: “One word about how you’re leaving” or “One thing you’re taking with you.”

• Thank everyone for courage and care.

11) Follow-Up & Support

What to do: Hold the scheduled check-in; troubleshoot barriers; celebrate progress; revisit if needed.
Why it matters: Repair is a process, not an event—follow-up sustains learning, safety, and trust.
How:

• Ask: “What went well? What got in the way? What help do you need to finish?”

• Adjust plan; avoid shame; reinforce skills gained.