Pasadena, CA - Mar 3-4, 2025

The most significant challenge facing schools today is managing disruptive student behavior. Adding to the challenge is that many states have created laws to limit or ban suspensions, particularly for kindergarten through 3rd-grade students. These laws aim to reduce exclusionary discipline and promote better ways to address behavior issues. Twenty-two states, including California, Colorado, Illinois, and Massachusetts, have specific rules against suspending young students for nonviolent behavior. These policies encourage schools to use restorative practices, behavioral interventions, and support measures instead of suspensions for minor disruptions. Texas, Florida, and Virginia restrict suspensions of primary-level learners for nonviolent behaviors and promote alternative disciplinary methods instead. These measures show that more and more states understand the negative impact of suspending, particularly young children, on their academic success and emotional development.

One of the few things everyone can agree on is that suspension is less effective than it used to be. Kids today are growing up in a different time that isn't comparable to any other past period. A 20th-century approach to 21st-century problems doesn't yield the results we need. Every year, there is something new that is supposed to be the answer to the challenging behaviors we face today. The only constant of these initiatives is that they need to be revised. If we're honest, we must admit they all have some practical qualities. We often approach deep-rooted problems with surface-level thinking in education, leading to surface-level solutions. The workshop provides guidance on developing a behavior management strategy based on the 3 Approaches to Addressing a Problem and the 3 Most Common Approaches to Managing Behavior in Schools.

PREVENTION: Prevention is the best option because the best way to address a problem is to prevent it. The two primary ways to avoid problems on a campus are emphasizing building relationships among all stakeholders and teaching appropriate behavior, especially when the student has yet to learn it. Discipline decision-makers must understand that you can't prevent all issues and that prevention focuses on minimizing problems. During the workshop, we will guide participants through best practices and strategies for effectively supporting teachers and staff to minimize and prevent disruptive behavior from escalating.

INTERVENTION: The goal of intervention is to solve the problem. Restorative Practices, which are alternatives to suspension and PBIS interventions, are strategies implemented to solve the problem. If the aim is to solve the problem or at least control it, discipline decision-makers need to prioritize intervention. During the workshop, we will guide participants in appropriately addressing challenging behavior problems by providing specific alternatives to suspension designed to change behavior while holding students accountable.

SUPPRESSION: Suppression aims to temporarily eliminate the problem. Strategies such as detention and in-school and out-of-school suspension are all forms of suppression intended to do this. Discipline decision-makers sometimes need temporary, immediate solutions to address disruptive student behavior. During the workshop, we'll help you determine when suppressing the problem is appropriate and the best approach to take when necessary.

TRADITIONAL CONSEQUENCES: Most educators agree that traditional consequences, such as out-of-school suspension, are less impactful for students today. There will always be a need in schools for strategies like suspension because there will always be behaviors, particularly safety concerns, that require us to use a strategy such as in-school or out-of-school suspension. The essential concept to remember is that these are strategies that need to be implemented in a manner that will help achieve the goal of correcting the behavior.

POSITIVE BEHAVIOR INTERVENTIONS & SUPPORTS (PBIS): PBIS gets a bad rap but has been relatively effective. The systematic approach to establishing structures, such as hallway procedures and voice levels, has positively impacted schools nationwide. The same can be said for the campus-wide PBIS reward system. The combination of a well-implemented PBIS structure and rewards system has consistently yielded 85% of students on the campus meeting behavioral expectations. The challenge is that 10-15% of students create 90% of the behavior challenges on campus, and the PBIS interventions don’t consistently support campuses with those students. PBIS is a practical framework that every campus should adopt, but it is not a one-size-fits-all approach for managing all student behavior.

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES/SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL): Restorative Practices in schools are relatively new. There are challenges in the early stages of anything new, and Restorative Practices are no exception. The greatest challenge is refuting the idea that Restorative Practices should replace traditional consequences and punishment should be eliminated. Punishment is necessary for changing behavior, so traditional consequences will always have a place. The focus should be on incorporating Restorative Practices with traditional consequences rather than replacing them.

It's unrealistic and counterproductive to remove traditional consequences, such as suspension and forms of detention, from schools altogether. The issue isn't whether they should exist but how to make them effective when necessary. When a student's behavior jeopardizes the integrity of the learning environment, the student needs to be removed from the learning environment temporarily. With that said, removing disruptive students from the learning environment is a short-term, surface-level solution that, in many cases, perpetuates deeper problems. It makes us feel that "we did something" to address the behavior, but it often leads to further frustration once the students return to the learning environment. Many disruptive students' behaviors rarely change because we seldom focus on working to change their behavior. We assume that the suspension alone will change their behavior, but the only way to change it is to identify the root causes and actively work on it. The good news is that many of our current traditional consequences naturally provide structures that allow us to work on challenging student behavior. Still, we must reimagine how these traditional consequences are structured and implemented for better outcomes.

Day 1 of the workshop will provide participants with:

ALTERNATIVES TO SUSPENSION - The workshop will provide specific alternatives to suspension, such as Structured Day, that effectively minimize the need to remove students from the learning environment while still holding them accountable.

HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY - The workshop will provide a framework for creating highly effective accountability designed to change adverse behavior while maintaining the structure of some traditional consequences.

REIMAGINING IN-SCHOOL SUSPENSION & DETENTION - The workshop will guide how in-school suspension and detention should be modified to strategically work to change the underlying behaviors while minimizing the time students are removed from the learning environment.

When making discipline decisions, our primary goal is for students to change their behavior. Unfortunately, many students still need to improve their behavior after facing the traditional consequences assigned to them. For at least a decade, results remain consistent whether students are suspended in-school or out-of-school, whether one or ten days. The students return to school and exhibit the same disruptive behaviors, resulting in suspension. Effective behavior changes require intentionality, persistence, and patience, which are often difficult to achieve. Assigning consequences without the intentionality of creating an environment that encourages behavioral change in the student leads to more frustration instead of solutions.

Day 2 of the workshop will provide participants with:

HOW TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR - The workshop will help participants understand the approach required to effectively and consistently change adverse student behavior.

ASSESSING ACCOUNTABILITY – The workshop will provide guidance and strategies, such as Accountability Projects, for requiring students to prove they understand the impact of their behavior.

PARTNERING WITH PARENTS - The workshop will provide specific guidance and strategies that encourage parents to participate in the accountability process by partnering with parents.

MEET THE TRAINER

Kelvin Oliver is an educational consultant specializing in supporting schools by developing and implementing behavior management systems that synergize restorative practices, PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), and traditional consequences. As a campus administrator, he was instrumental in supporting the integration of Restorative Practices with PBIS and Traditional Consequences. Kelvin created a campus-based support model with weekly professional development and an implementation support team. In 2007, Kelvin started his career in Texas as a special education teacher before transitioning to general education as a sixth-grade math teacher. He transitioned to campus math specialist and district curriculum specialist before becoming an assistant principal and later campus principal.

Write your awesome label here.

Since 2017, Kelvin has been a consultant supporting educators, schools, and districts nationwide. In his journey as a consultant, he has had the opportunity to train educators in 49 states. He has worked directly with school districts in states such as Alabama, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington, to name a few. International educators from as far as New Zealand have traveled to attend his workshops. Kelvin has extensive experience in working with various types of schools. He’s worked with medium to large urban school districts, small rural school districts, charter schools, private schools, and Native American reservations, as well as educators supporting students at state schools for deaf students. Kelvin is renowned for communicating the complexities of student behavior in schools today in a digestible way while providing concrete strategies to address challenging behavior. Currently based out of Washington, D.C., he continues to work year-round with educators, schools, and districts in all regions of the country.

If you cannot attend and would like to request a refund, please submit your refund request in writing SEVEN (7) DAYS before the scheduled date of the workshop. Submit all refund requests to billing@leavingthevillage.com. If you submit your refund request within SEVEN (7) DAYS of the workshop, you can be given a credit that can be applied to any of our future workshops.

Absolutely! We will need a PDF copy of the purchase order if you would like to register using a purchase order. We are unable to accept purchase order numbers or requisitions. Requisitions are internal documents that only acknowledge a purchase order has been requested. To finalize registration, we need a PDF copy of the purchase that shows Leaving The Village LLC as the vendor and our correct mailing address (4938 Hampden Lane #283, Bethesda, MD 20814).

We've allotted one hour and 15 minutes for workshop attendees to have lunch on their own. Because most attendees work on a campus with students, they are rarely allowed to go to a restaurant for lunch. We hope that each attendee takes advantage of this unique opportunity to enjoy a sit-down lunch like most other working professionals can do. Throughout both days, beverages such as coffee, water, and hot tea will be available to all participants.

Your certificate of completion will be emailed to you within FIFTEEN (15) business days after the workshop concludes.

Yes! During the first break on the first day of the workshop, each checked-in participant will be emailed instructions on accessing our website's supporting resources. Those only attending the second day will receive an email during the first break if they check-in for day two.

Unfortunately, we can't guarantee that you will be able to receive continuing education units if you attend our workshops. We offer our workshops around the country and are working to enable attendees to earn credits in the future.

Participants who fulfill payment for their registration before the start of their scheduled workshop can expect their complimentary resources within FIFTEEN (15) business days after the conclusion of the workshop they attended. Participants who register using a purchase order as a promise of payment must fulfill the purchase order payment before receiving their complimentary resources. Once the purchase order payment is fulfilled, participants can expect to receive their complimentary resources within two weeks of receipt of payment.

Our workshops are differentiated to meet the needs of all levels, K-12. With that said, Kelvin Oliver, the presenter, was a PK-6 campus administrator when he implemented Restorative Practices on a campus. His time as a campus administrator is where he developed many of the concepts that are presented during these workshops. While the focus will be on all grade levels, elementary educators will not walk away from this workshop feeling that it didn't apply to them.

No, you don't have to be an administrator to attend these workshops. All educators that attend these workshops will find great benefit in these workshops.

The Alternatives To Suspension workshop is our flagship professional learning opportunity for those currently implementing or looking to begin implementing Restorative Practices. This workshop will continue the learning for previous participants looking to take the next step while simultaneously bringing new participants up to speed. New strategies will be shared, but the primary focus of this two-day workshop will be on shifting from a purely punitive behavior management philosophy to a more effective approach that emphasizes working to change the behavior.

Some strategies shared in previous workshops will be shared again as an introduction to first-time participants and a refresher for past participants. If you previously attended and are coming with someone who is attending for the first time, you should both be able to go back to your campus or district with an aligned understanding ready to implement.

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES

ALTERNATIVES TO SUSPENSION

PASADENA (CALIFORNIA)

Workshop Overview

3 Approaches To Addressing a Problem

3 Most Common Approaches To
Managing Behavior In Schools

Participant Perks

Who Should Attend

Cost of Registration

Need a Hotel Room?

DAY ONE - WHAT TO EXPECT

Transforming Traditional Consequences
Into Meaningful Accountability

DAY TWO - WHAT TO EXPECT

The Art & Science of Changing Behavior

Kelvin Oliver

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the cancellation/refund policy for this workshop?

Can I register using a purchase order?

Will meals be provided on either or both days of the workshop?

When should I expect to receive my certificate of completion?

Will I receive any supporting resources if I attend the workshop?

Will I be able to earn CEUs if I attend this workshop?

When should I expect to receive the Participant Perks?

Is this workshop beneficial for elementary educators?

Are these workshops only intended for administrators?

Should I attend if I've already attended a workshop?

Registration Form