Expelling Preschoolers

Education Week (May 18, 2005) reported that prekindergarten children are being expelled from their classes for behavior problems at a higher rate than students in K-12 schools.  According to a study conducted by the Yale University Child Study Center on 52 state-financed Pre-K programs in 40 states, for every 1,000 preschoolers enrolled in state pre-K programs, 6.67 are being tossed out of school, compared with 2.09 per 1,000 students in elementary, middle, and high schools.  Other findings of the study:

*  When teachers have access to mental-health professionals for consultation, the chance that a child will be permanently removed from preschool is far less.

*  Four year olds were 50 percent more likely to be ousted than two or three year olds.

*  Boys were expelled at a rate 4.5 times greater than the rate for girls.

*  African American were twice as likely as Hispanic and white children to be e xpelled and more than five times as likely to be expelled as Asian American children.

*  Expulsion rates are nearly twice as high in faith-based, for profit, and other community-based programs than in Head Start and school-based preschools.

For a link to the full report of the study, go to:  www.edweek.org/links.