Alignment of Expulsion and Suspension Policies Among State-Level Child Care Development Fund Plans, Childcare Licensing, the Quality Rating and Improvement System, and Pre-K

• In Event: Exclusionary Policies and Practices in Early Childhood Education Settings

Abstract

The prevalence of expulsion and suspension in ECE programming is a growing concern. The current iteration of the federal CCDF template includes a new section requiring states to describe how they will work to mitigate suspension and expulsion. While the state plans provide guidance for spending federal funds, how the plans are actualized depends on the policies in place in up to three different state-level policy units- Childcare licensing, QRIS and state Pre-K. This national review presents a description of the prevalence and patterns of suspension and expulsion policies found among CCDF Plans, Childcare licensing policies, QRIS policies and state Pre-K policies. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for policy makers, researchers and practitioners.

Authors

• Martha J. Buell, University of Delaware

• Jason Hustedt, University of Delaware

• Rena Hallam, University of Delaware

• Gerilyn Slicker, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Rachel Fidel, University of Delaware

• Nicole Newton