A Systematic Review of Early Childhood Suspension and Expulsion

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - School Readiness/Childcare

Abstract

Nearly 250 preschoolers are suspended or expelled from U.S. early childhood care and education programs each day (ECCE; Zeng, et al., 2019). As shocking as this number is, the high rate of exclusionary discipline in ECCE is not a new discovery. The first report of the use of expulsion and suspension was produced over 20 years ago, and rates have not subsided in the intervening years. In fact, children are more than three-times as likely to be excluded from ECCE settings as from K-12 schools. Unlike in ECCE, however, there is substantial K-12 literature on the causes and consequences of exclusion, as well as interventions to prevent it. This K-12 literature has also been well meta-analyzed (Noltemeyer et al. 2015) and synthesized by authorities such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (2003). Research on preschool and early childhood expulsion is comparatively nascent, and there has yet to be a unifying resource that draws together evidence across all sectors of the ECCE system.
This systematic review aims to describe the current state of ECCE exclusionary discipline literature. In addition to assessing the quantity of studies and approaches to measurement, we also seek to identify factors associated with exclusion at each level of the ecological model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007) and highlight gaps in our knowledge.

Method
See the CONSORT diagram (Figure 1) for procedures and inclusion criteria. Fourteen pairs of setting terms (e.g. preschool) and exclusion terms (e.g. expulsion) were entered into each search engine. After screening abstracts (n=493) and reviewing manuscripts (n=93), 18 studies were double coded for study characteristics, measures of and factors predicting exclusion at various ecological levels (micro-, macro-, meso-). Discrepancies in codes were discussed until consensus was reached.

Results
Most of the studies included in this review were published within the last five years and used cross-sectional designs (Table 1). Three studies included qualitative data. Studies spanned a wide range of ECCE settings (home-, school-, and center-based care and preschools). Ten studies reported exclusion rates at the child-level (ranging from 0.20% to 8.6% of children). Eight studies reported exclusion rates at the program level (ranging from 10% to 39.3% of programs surveyed). Two studies did not report any exclusion rates and three reported disproportionately high-rates of exclusion for boys, Black and Hispanic children, and children with disabilities. Overall, and in contrast with our expectations, the minority of studies included child and family factors as predictors of exclusion. Only one study (Martin, 2018) assessed factors at all three ecological levels but used qualitative methods. Six studies reported on predictors at two levels but most attended to only teacher and program-level factors. Teachers well-being (e.g., stress, depression) and negative workplace experiences emerged as consistent predictors of exclusionary discipline. In contrast to our expectations, of the six studies that assessed resources or services to support children’s behavior, only one reported a significant association between access to clinical expertise and decreased rates of exclusion. Findings support calls for more systemic examinations of ECCE exclusionary discipline to inform policy and practice.

Authors

• Kate Zinsser, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Callie Silver, Stanford University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Velisha Jackson, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elyse Shenberger, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Presenting Author