Twelve years ago, Yale University
researchers uncovered a surprising fact: Preschoolers were more likely
to be expelled than children in any other grade. In fact, preschoolers
were being expelled at rates more than three times higher than school-aged children. Subsequent research found that the effect of this phenomenon was also racialized. A report
by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights showed
that African American children represented 18 percent of public
preschool enrollment, but 48 percent of preschoolers receiving multiple
out-of-school suspensions.
While these numbers are undeniably
appalling, they only account for a small portion of the overall
preschool population. Many 3- and 4-year-olds attend preschool in private programs, which are not required to report suspensions and expulsions.
The Center for American Progress analyzed new data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health,
finding that an estimated 50,000 preschoolers were suspended at least
once. Another 17,000 or so preschoolers are estimated to have been
expelled.* This is the first nationally representative survey of
preschool discipline that includes private preschools as well as public
schools. Which means that, across all types of settings, the average
school day sees roughly 250 instances of a preschooler being suspended
or expelled.
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