Preventing Expulsion From Preschool and Child Care
Young children are being expelled from preschool and child care programs at an astonishing rate, often because of challenging behaviors such as aggression, tantrums, and noncompliance.
This practice deprives young children of the benefit of early childhood education and may leave unaddressed the mental health issues that lead to challenging behaviors.
High expulsion rates are also an indicator that we are not helping parents and caregivers, starting from birth, to support the positive social and emotional development that is the foundation for all learning, future relationships, and school readiness.
ZERO TO THREE provides you with a myriad of resources on how to better support social and emotional development to prevent expulsion of young children from educational settings, including videos you can use in your own presentations.
Videos: Exploring Implicit Bias
These videos were taken at the “What’s Behind Preschool Expulsion? Exploring Implicit Bias, Part II” held on March 30, 2017.
Videos: What's Behind Preschool Expulsion
These videos were taken at the "What's Behind Preschool Expulsion" Congressional briefing, held on June 11, 2015.
Resources for Policymakers and Advocates
Stand up and stop preschool expulsions.
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Article
This reports links to materials for state-level advocates and policymakers exploring policy related to preschool suspension and expulsion.
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Article
Reducing Suspension and Expulsion in Early Childhood Settings
This page from the Administration for Children and Families offers data and guidance from the federal government related to suspension and expulsion in early childhood settings.
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Article
Data Snapshot: Early Childhood Education
This snapshot provides early education highlights from data collected by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
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Report
Prekindergarteners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Programs
This brief summarizes the first study ever conducted on the rate of expulsion in prekindergarten programs.
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Report
Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion
This brief from the Foundation for Child Development examines factors associated with expulsion from prekindergarten and discusses changes in policy that can be both implemented and regulated.
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Report
This brief from the Child Health and Development Institute describes the results of a rigorous random-controlled evaluation of a statewide system of early childhood mental health consultation for ear…
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Tool
Policy Statement on Expulsion and Suspension Policies in Early Childhood Settings
Statement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education.
Resources for Early Childhood Programs and Professionals
Ways to support staff and teachers to prevent preschool expulsion.
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Report
Challenging Behavior and Expulsion From Child Care
This article from the ZERO TO THREE Journal discusses how infant and early childhood mental health consultation can help reduce the risk for expulsion and provides a detailed list of specific strateg…
