Expulsion is the harshest form of disciplinary action, and behavior policies are the foundation for this decision-making process. The purpose of this study is to uncover how behavior policies used in early childhood settings describe expulsion practices. Among the 111 early childhood programs in Western Massachusetts that met the search criteria…

The use of exclusionary discipline (ExD) was compared for U.S. public pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) and K-12 grades within the same school. ExD rates were 10 times higher in K-12 than in Pre-K when calculated for all schools but ExD rates were comparable for schools that reported at least one case of ExD in Pre-K. Additionally, disparities in the use…

Despite extensive scholarly and policy attention to the phenomenon of racially disparate school discipline, its negative effect on academic achievement, and its relationship to later criminal system involvement and incarceration, little has been written about the experiences of Native youth. This article seeks to bring attention to Native youth in…

National trends show that students with disabilities are often disciplined more harshly than regular or general education students. This study aims to compare the percentage of suspensions and expulsions given to students in Louisiana with disabilities and general education students in Head Start through grade twelve over a five-year period based…

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to examine how the perceptions and experiences of teachers relate to the suspension and expulsion of preschoolers in Catholic schools. Results indicated that teachers have a range of experiences with suspension, from children being removed from the classroom temporarily to out-of-school…

The original design of zero-tolerance policies was meant to support school safety through an anti-drug and violence campaign but in the years following their implementation, school districts have employed them repeatedly without merit. Exclusionary practices have become controversial, leading to high rates of recidivism, imbalanced implementation…

The purpose of this exploratory interview study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of 12 teachers related to the suspension and expulsion of preschoolers in private early childhood programs. Thematic and constant comparative methods were used for data analysis. Results indicated that teachers had a range of experiences with suspension,…

To support all students, including students with disabilities, many schools have adopted a positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework. Although rigorous research documents the beneficial effects of Tier 1 PBIS for all students and emerging research extends these findings to students with disabilities, there has not been a…

Implementing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in an urban school is beneficial to students, parents, administrators, schools, districts, and policymakers. Previous studies have emphasized that teachers and other staff members need proper professional development to promote social and emotional learning. They interact with students in situations…

In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national enrollment rate for pre-k children ages 3 to 4 was 40% (a drop from 54% in 2019; National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). This is partly due to fewer children in the 0-5 age group (23.4 million of 72.8 million children in the United States in 2020; U.S. Census Bureau, 2020).…

In this pre-registered study, we explored the impacts of Boston Pre-K on children's educational trajectories, school progress/engagement, and academic achievement in late elementary and middle school using lotteries for oversubscribed schools in 2007-2011 (N=3,092 students; 24% of all applicants). Importantly, the program was unique nationally in…

There are large differences in expulsions and suspensions on the basis of race starting in preschool and divergent explanations for their cause. The current study explores how developmental methodology can shed light on this vexing issue. We leverage two measures: (1) childcare provider complaints about children's behavior and their recommended…

Suspension is defined as a temporary removal from the educational setting where a child is able to return after a determined period of time, while expulsion is the complete and permanent removal of a child from an entire educational system (Gilliam and Shahar 2006). Preschool children have been found to be both suspended and expelled at higher…

Racially disproportionate discipline compromises children's rights and perpetuates racial inequalities that begin in preschool. This paper describes the use of culturally responsive early childhood consultation that may be used to reduce preschool suspension and expulsion, focusing on increasing early childhood teachers' cultural competence and…

In early childhood centers, students with disabilities are being suspended and expelled, leaving them with no place to attend school to learn with their peers or to receive early intervention special education services. This study was designed to determine the effects of coaching on the number of suspensions and expulsions of students with…