An Evaluation of "Preventing Expulsion in Preschool": A Cognitive-Behavioral, Strengths-Based Teacher Training to Reduce Early Childhood Exclusionary Discipline

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research in Progress Roundtable Session Two
  In Roundtable Session: School Discipline: Culture, Politics, and Prevention Strategies (Table 13)

Abstract

"Preschoolers are being excluded from early childhood education settings at an alarming rate, for behaviors that are largely developmentally typical emotional responses. And boys, Black children, and children with disabilities are being excluded disproportionately more than their peers. In 2018, Illinois enacted legislation to limit formal expulsion; however, children are still pushed out of programs, and teachers are burned out from managing children's strong feelings. Many children placed at-risk for exclusion are referred for clinical interventions which are time intensive and center children as the locus of the problem, when we know that exclusions are the result of adult decisions. This proposal seeks to evaluate a novel teacher training to increase awareness of exclusionary discipline and provide skills to reduce these practices.
Preventing Expulsion in Preschool (PEP) is a self-paced, virtual teacher training that provides didactics on exclusion in Illinois and social-emotional (SE) development, teaches skills to support children's strong emotions, SE teaching strategies, and strategies for self-regulation in response to a child's behavior. PEP adapts evidence-based parent-training with strong efficacy for helping parents manage difficult behaviors (e.g., RAINBOW) and training in SE learning previously delivered to numerous educators. PEP will be evaluated using a randomized, experimental design, with one group (A, N = 75) receiving only didactics about exclusion and SE development, and the other group (A+B; N = 75) receiving both didactics and skills. Teachers will receive continuing education credit and complete surveys pre-, post-, and 3-month-post-training to assess knowledge, attitude and skill maintenance, and changes in classroom practices. Results will inform policymakers whether a brief, online training can reduce exclusionary discipline, as well as inform them of which component(s) of the training are most effective and the best use of teacher time."

Author

• Elyse R. Shenberger, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Presenting Author