Over the past few decades, multiple studies have cited the many benefits of preschool for American children. Children who attend preschool are better prepared for elementary school. Preschool programs are particularly beneficial for low-income children and English language learners.
Research by Nobel Prize winner James Heckman even found that society as a whole benefits from such programs: for every $1 invested in quality early childhood programs, we can expect a return of $4 to $16. So, if preschool is so beneficial, why are nearly 1,000 children in the United States shutting down or expelling them every day?
Preschoolers are suspended or expelled at three times the rate of K-12 students, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Boys are four-and-a-half times more likely to be expelled than girls; children with disabilities, especially those with ADHD, are three times more likely to face educational disruption; even though black children make up only 18 of public preschool students %, but they account for 48% of suspended and expelled students.
This topic was the subject of a recent panel discussion at St. David’s Center in Minnesota, during which Dr. (Tim) Zeng, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, presented his research on the topic. In addition to supporting HHS’s findings, Zeng found that 49% of preschool teachers said they had suspended a student in the past year. He calculated that the rate was about 870 suspensions (about 2% of the entire preschool population) and 86 expulsions per day. On top of that, Matsuda thinks this may be an underestimate because he can only measure recorded Examples of taking children out of school.
While race, gender and disability are all important factors that influence a child’s educational experience, the most common indicator of behavioral problems leading to suspension and expulsion are “adverse childhood experiences,” or ACEs. This may include witnessing domestic violence, homelessness, incarceration of a family member, physical or sexual abuse, etc. It has been found that children who experience severe ACEs are ten times more likely to be suspended or expelled from school.
Mr Tsang’s speech argued that suspensions and expulsions not only fail to address the core issues that cause behavioral problems, but actively contribute to them: He explained that children need opportunities to solve problems in a classroom setting, or even more in-depth intervention. Removing them from the classroom means they lose those important opportunities.
One explanation for some of these suspension and expulsion rates, based on reports from Ming Postfrom panelist Cisa Keller, president and CEO of Think Small. “In Minnesota, more than 80 percent of children under the age of five are in some kind of early childhood setting. 73 percent of those are in community settings. Legislation [that makes it difficult to suspend or expel students in higher grades] Not applicable to these settings.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives several reasons why these rates are so high. Implicit bias (especially racial implicit bias) is particularly a factor. Higher student-teacher ratios and lower salaries may lead to greater overall stress and lower tolerance for problem behavior. Less training in identifying trauma reactions or disabilities is also a factor.
These disciplinary measures are not inconsequential. Young children who are expelled from kindergarten not only lose the opportunity to learn and socialize with their peers, but they also lose positive adult role models that may not exist at home. They also have fewer opportunities to learn to correct persistent behavioral problems that can hinder their progress in education. They may also begin to believe that they are inherently incapable of learning and develop negative views about learning, school, teachers, and the world around them.
This is not an easy or cheap problem to solve: Preschools often do not have the resources to effectively address systemic social problems. Hopefully, awareness of the scale and scope of this problem will encourage teachers, families and legislators to work together to better support the children who need help most.
