From Compliance to Connection: Restorative Leadership That Inspires Lasting Change"

Presenters

• Frederick E. Polite, The Polite Way, INcFollow

First Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

EdD

Year First Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

2003

First Presenter's Field of Study

Educational Leadership

Institution Where First Presenter Received Highest Degree

University of Sarasota

First Presenter's Institution

The Polite Way , LLC

First Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

Dr. Frederick E. Polite is a seasoned educational leader with over 30 years of experience, including more than two decades as a school and district administrator. A certified Restorative Practices Trainer and Leadership Development Coach, he has transformed high-need schools through his powerful blend of relational leadership and academic accountability. Dr. Polite is the founder of The Polite Way, a leadership framework rooted in the belief that sustainable school improvement starts with trust, connection, and compassion. His work has empowered schools across Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina to reduce suspensions, increase achievement, and improve overall school culture. As a former principal and current Executive Director of Federal Programs, Dr. Polite leads with both vision and heart thus bridging gaps between student outcomes and educator well-being. He specializes in turning underperforming schools into restorative ecosystems where staff, students, and communities thrive. His sessions are transformative, practical, and deeply rooted in lived success.

Location

Scarbrough 4

Document Type

Individual Presentation

Primary Strand

School and District Leadership

Relevance to Primary Strand

This session is a powerful intersection of leadership development and evidence-based behavior systems, demonstrating how Restorative Leadership, as modeled by The Polite Way, transforms school culture, climate, and academic outcomes through a unified approach.

By infusing the structure of PBIS with the relational depth of restorative practices, this session equips leaders with practical strategies to build emotionally intelligent teams, drive data-informed decisions, and foster collaborative, safe environments. Participants will learn how to lead with empathy and accountability thus strengthening communication, conflict resolution, and shared ownership of schoolwide success.

Through engaging case studies, participants will see how restorative practices elevate the effectiveness of the PBIS framework at every tier, especially in supporting high-needs students and those requiring intensive behavioral interventions. At the same time, they’ll explore how to cultivate leadership capacity at all levels, creating resilient, aligned teams committed to student growth, staff well-being, and meaningful family engagement.

Ultimately, this session will empower school and district leaders to lead with clarity, restore with compassion, and build systems where students and staff thrive together. That’s the power of combining leadership and PBIS through The Polite Way.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Climate and Culture

Brief Program Description

Discover how Restorative Leadership transforms school environments from rule-driven to relationship-centered. This engaging session introduces The Polite Way, a proven framework that blends Restorative Practice, emotional intelligence, and relational accountability to shift school culture, reduce discipline issues, and boost academic achievement. Learn practical strategies that empower leaders, unify teams, and build student voice and belonging. Participants will walk away with tools to cultivate trust, strengthen climate, and create lasting systems of support that restore, uplift, and inspire every member of the school community.

Summary

Participants will explore a replicable framework known as Restorative Leadership, which fuses emotional intelligence, data-driven decision-making, and proactive relationship-building into practical strategies that directly impact school climate and student outcomes. Anchored in real-world success stories from high-need schools, this model illustrates how strong leadership, when grounded in trust and accountability, can unify staff, reduce suspensions, elevate student voice, and increase academic engagement.

This session provides more than theory, it offers take-home tools that leaders can implement immediately. Participants will walk away with:

• A blueprint for building trust across staff and student teams

• Protocols for staff and student circles to strengthen community

• Strategies for embedding restorative language within PBIS tiers

• Approaches to using behavior and climate data to drive decisions

• Models to empower staff leadership and strengthen team resilience

This session is ideal for building and district leaders, instructional coaches, and climate teams who want to create emotionally safe schools where academic and behavioral excellence coexist. Participants will learn how to lead in a way that not only reduces disruptions but restores dignity, connection, and purpose.

By the end, attendees will be inspired to return to their schools not with more rules, but with a renewed mindset: lead with clarity, restore with compassion, and build systems that work for everyone.

Evidence

Evidence of Effectiveness and Research Base

The Restorative Leadership model presented in this session has been field-tested in multiple high-needs, high-poverty schools across the Southeastern United States. Participating schools have reported substantial improvements in academic performance, school climate, and behavioral outcomes following the implementation of this approach. These improvements include significant reductions in suspensions, improved student attendance, and increased staff engagement achieved through a unified focus on relationship-building, consistent communication, and culturally responsive leadership.

This approach is grounded in the research-supported integration of restorative practices, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and transformational leadership. Studies by Gregory et al. (2020) affirm that restorative practices foster equitable discipline outcomes, enhance student-teacher relationships, and reduce exclusionary practices. Similarly, Osher et al. (2021) and Darling-Hammond et al. (2020) emphasize that emotionally safe and relational school environments are essential to improving student engagement, academic outcomes, and school-wide culture.

By intentionally aligning restorative practices within a multi-tiered PBIS framework, the model ensures both proactive and responsive strategies are in place, ranging from schoolwide community-building circles (Tier 1), to small-group relational interventions (Tier 2), and individual re-entry or accountability conferences (Tier 3). These strategies are not only research-based but are continuously monitored through data tracking systems that focus on behavioral incidents, academic benchmarks, and stakeholder perception surveys.

Importantly, this model empowers all levels of staff to lead within their roles, providing structured opportunities for shared leadership, data-informed decision-making, and sustained professional development focused on social-emotional learning, trust-building, and equitable discipline.

This proposal offers a proven, scalable pathway for schools seeking to shift from compliance-based systems to connected, compassionate cultures where all students and educators are empowered to thrive.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will explore how intentional relationship-building strategies between leaders, staff, and students create the foundation for improved school climate and academic engagement.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will learn how to leverage trust, connection, and emotional intelligence to increase staff morale, student motivation, and leadership effectiveness.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will examine real-world models demonstrating how relational leadership practices can reduce conflict, foster student accountability, and promote sustainable academic gains.

Start Date

6-3-2026 8:30 AM

End Date

6-3-2026 9:30 AM

Recommended Citation

Polite, Frederick E., "From Compliance to Connection: Restorative Leadership That Inspires Lasting Change"" (2026). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 79.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2026/2026/79

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.