3-189 - Disparities start young: explorations of the role of race in early learning success and inequity.

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

A growing body of work links positive racial identity among children of color with their academic success and social-emotional functioning (e.g., Chavous, Rivas-Drake, Smalls, Griffin & Cogburn, 2008; Prinz, 2009). This positive identity formation process starts early, but can also be derailed through exposure to discrimination, such as the disproportionate rates of discipline in early childhood settings (Samuels, 2014). This panel explores the role of race in early learning settings: conceptualizations of race, interactions with families around challenging behavior, and implications for children’s social and emotional development.

Paper 1 contrasts the beliefs and practices of teachers who request expulsions from those who do not; considering how teachers differentially attribute child behavior problems to race and parenting practices and differ in their approaches to parent engagement. Paper 2 continues to unpack the teacher-parent relationship by examining differential expectations regarding children’s racial awareness and observing classroom practices, such as cultivating relationships with families of color, through which teachers may socialize children’s positive racial identity. Paper 3 examines how a single sex, single race boarding school experience promotes young Black boys’ social growth and identity formation, known protective factors against involvement in disciplinary actions.

Taken together, these papers begin to unpack the transactions among teachers, children, and parents which may be central to reducing racial disparities, and promoting positive racial identities among our youngest learners. An expert in preschool disciplinary disparities will serve as the discussant; identifying themes and future directions based on these studies.

Sub Unit

• Education, Schooling

Chair

• Katherine Zinsser, University of Illinois at Chicago

Discussant

• Walter Gilliam, Yale University

Individual Presentations

• Perceptions of Parents: Possible Protective Factor against Preschool Expulsion - Presenting Author: Courtney Zulauf, University of Illinois at Chicago; Samantha De Souza, University of Illinois at Chicago; Vinoadharen Nair Das, University of Illinois at Chicago; Katherine Zinsser, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Identifying Racially Responsive Teaching Practices in Early Childhood Education - Presenting Author: Shannon Wanless, University Pittsburgh; Jennifer O. Briggs, University of Pittsburgh

• Boarding School for 2nd-Grade Black Boys: An early intervention for suspension and expulsion - Presenting Author: Joseph Nelson, Swarthmore; Sangeeta Subedi, Swarthmore College