Recommended Guidelines for Effective Conflict Resolution Education Programs

In 2002 the Association for Conflict Resolution produced a best practices document entitled Recommended Guidelines for Effective CRE Programs in K-12 Classrooms, Schools and School Districts. These Guidelines outline how elementary and secondary school teachers, administrators, conflict resolution education practitioners, and policy makers can measure progress toward effective conflict resolution education programs. By addressing core goals, components, content and qualities of effective school-based conflict resolution education programs, these Guidelines are intended to also help leaders to make decisions about the resources and strategies needed to support such educational programs in their schools.

Recommended Standards for Peer Mediation Programs specifically

Peer mediation can be a successful approach to facilitating student-centered, negotiation- based management and resolution of interpersonal conflict in schools. Such programs provide a unique opportunity for diverse students to use communication, human relations, and problem-solving skills in real-life settings. Effective programs help to create a safe and welcoming school environment and can assist in reducing school conflicts and violence and improve interpersonal and inter-group relations, especially when part of a comprehensive violence prevention plan. The qualities that mark an effective peer mediation program include youth empowerment, cultural competence, diversity, responsiveness to the specific needs of the population it serves, fair resolutions to student conflicts, and measurable outcomes.

The Education Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) expanded and revised the older Recommended Standards for School-Based Peer Mediation Programs, originally published in 1996 by the Standards Committee of the National Association for Mediation in Education (a forerunner of ACR). The Education Section convened the Peer Mediation Standards Committee to complete this project. This committee drew upon diverse practitioner knowledge and relevant research to set forth the components necessary to develop and sustain an effective peer mediation program. Their final document, entitled Recommended Standards for School-based Peer Mediation Programs is available for download as a pdf .

See also these guidelines from the UK-based Peer Mediation Network: Peer Mediation Training for Schools: Best practice guidelines (UK)