Photo from the American Psychological Association.
The Civil Rights Data Collection for the 2011-12 school year shows that more than 8,000 public preschoolers were suspended at least once during the year, with African American children and boys bearing the brunt of the discipline.
African Americans make up about one-fifth of all preschool pupils, but close to half were suspended more than once. Boys of all races represent 54 percent of the preschoolers included in the report but more than 80 percent of those children were suspended more than once.
Many early childhood educators believe a lack of teacher training on understanding how a mix of poverty, family structure, culture, gender and unrealistic learning expectations for 4-year-olds contributes to this suspension epidemic.
When teacher/child ratios exceed best practice standards and factors such as low socio-economic status or a lack of services for children with special needs as infants and toddlers occur, a situation develops leaving many teachers frightened and anxious. Their lack of understanding and experience in applying appropriate strategies to address a child’s aggressive or seemingly “out of control” behavior contribute to the decision made by a teacher and principal to remove a child thereby eliminating a “disruptive” force that threatens the learning opportunities for an entire class.
Dr. Walter Gilliam, a psychologist and researcher at Yale University’s Child Study Center, led the first expansive study of preschool expulsions a decade ago. Using a random national sample of more than 4,500 state-funded pre-k classrooms in 40 states, his 2005 report revealed 3- and 4-year-olds were expelled from pre-K programs more than three times more often than students in kindergarten through high school. The rates of preschool expulsions varied dramatically with age, gender and race. Gilliam’s report found 4-year-olds were expelled at a higher rate than 3-year-olds; boys were over four times as likely to be ousted from prekindergarten as girls; and black children were expelled about twice as often as Latino and white youngsters, and over five times as often as Asian-American children.
According to a report released by the Center for American Progress and the National Black Child Development Institute in 2015, these punitive measures come at a time when children are supposed to be forming the foundation of positive relationships with peers, teachers and the school institution. When experiencing school as a place where they are not welcome or supported, children will quickly form a dislike, even resentment toward learning and the institution of school.
Research shows that when young students are suspended or expelled from school, they are several times more likely to experience disciplinary action later in their academic career; drop out or fail out of high school; report feeling disconnected from school; and be incarcerated later in life. The report, Point of Entry- The Pre-Kindergarten to Prison Pipeline, suggests improving teacher preparation and education with an eye toward cultural responsiveness and racial equity and the recruitment and training of a more diverse early childhood workforce will help reduce the current suspension/expulsion practices.
Nationally steps are being taken to address the problem in settings serving young children. The Administration for Children and Families requires states to construct a plan for providing services for low income children eligible for federally funded child care. As part of the requirements, state administrators will be mandated to provide a suspension/expulsion policy that will be enforced in any setting receiving the funding.
The US Departments of Education and Health and Human Services have produced a joint position statement to guide states in their efforts. Over the next few years these regulations will be enforced and monitored.
According to The Children’s Defense Fund‘s state profiles in 2015, 51 percent of the 731,269 children in Mississippi were children of color. Given the results of national studies, a higher number of Black school children in the state are more likely to face the possibility of suspension or expulsion from school than White or Asian-American children. Challenged by this sobering reality, we are called upon to seriously examine the problem and to take to heart suggestions offered by national experts.
Much will be gained when early childhood education programs are staffed by well-informed teachers who view each child as a person and not a problem. It can determine the life course for thousands of children.
What are your thoughts about suspension or expulsion of pre-kindergarten age children?