Posted on 05/17/2005 4:25:56 AM PDT by tuffydoodle
Expulsion rate highest for preschoolers, study shows
By Cynthia L. Garza
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - Karen Medzorian didn't claim that her little boy was perfect. Kevin, who is now 5 years old, became frustrated quite easily, threw temper tantrums and became unruly at his day-care center.
Preschool workers tried to work with Kevin's behavior problems and gave him several chances to improve. Eventually, his mother received a heartbreaking message: "Our program is probably not the best program for your son."
Over the past year, Kevin has been through three preschools, after being kicked out of the first two.
"I felt like he had been cast in this misbehaving role, and now he may not know how else to act," she said.
A Yale University study released today found that the youngest students, those in pre-kindergarten, are expelled at a rate more than three times that of children in grades kindergarten through 12. The study found that 4-year-olds, boys and African-Americans are more likely to be expelled from pre-K than other groups.
"Pre-kindergartners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Pre-kindergarten Systems" looked at expulsion data obtained from nearly 3,900 teachers from all 40 states, including Texas, that fund pre-K programs. Data was broken down by gender, race, ethnicity and program setting -- public school, Head Start or private providers. The main study focused on the rate of expulsion in pre-K programs serving 3- and 4-year-olds.
In Texas, one of every 167 pre-kindergarten students is expelled, according to the report. More than 240,000 children ages 3 and 4 in Texas are enrolled in a state or federally funded preschool program, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. No numbers are readily available on how many other children in Texas attend preschool in a non-publicly funded program.
"What the data does tell us, as does the show Supernanny, is that there are a lot of kids out of control out there, and preschool programs are not having success in setting them on a better course," said pre-K expert Karen Hill-Scott. "Early education programs, unfortunately, are giving up on children when the promise of preschool is supposed to be early identification and prevention."
The study recommends that programs develop clear policies on how to deal with students with behavioral problems, like placing them in an alternative program or providing individual behavioral aides. It also recommends requiring that teachers be trained in addressing behavior problems.
"When we fail to provide these supports, we place children and their families in a very difficult situation, where some children are bounced from one program to the next and parents may end up viewing their child as an educational failure well before kindergarten," said Walter Gilliam, the Yale Child Study Center researcher who led the study.
In addition to straining families, problematic children strain teachers.
"Teaching our youngest children is hard, demanding work, and on some days it can be grueling," said Libby Doggett, executive director for Pre-K Now, a Washington-based pre-kindergarten advocacy group. "This report tells us that in many states, we've failed our teachers."
Heather Kepler, Kevin's teacher at Camp Fire Family Center Child Care in Fort Worth, said many children are not being taught how to express themselves, and their parents are not setting appropriate limits and boundaries, or being consistent with discipline.
The little ones scream, kick, hit and throw things at school.
Kepler, who has taught preschool for 16 years, uses a classroom management program called The Peaceable Classroom, which helps children deal with their problems through a conflict-resolution approach.
"I believe if they can't gain the self-esteem and confidence and social skills, then it's impossible for them to learn anything else," Kepler said.
Kevin has been in Kepler's class for about nine months, and he is inching toward regaining trust in the education system, Kepler said.
Doggett said that the quality of a program makes a huge difference in a child's behavior. High-quality programs offer behaviorally challenged children alternative means of communicating. They also teach, model and reinforce positive behaviors and link children and families with other services when needed, Doggett said.
IN THE KNOW
Study highlights
• Eleven percent of teachers in Texas reported expelling at least one pre-kindergartner during the past year.
• Texas' pre-K expulsion rate ranks 23rd among the 40 states that fund pre-kindergarten.
• One of every 167 pre-K students in Texas is expelled.
• At least 240,000 children ages 3 and 4 are enrolled in a state or federally funded pre-K program in Texas.
Expulsion?
I thought the new procedure was to call the cops and 'cuff 'em.
Maybe being institutionalized all day isn't the best thing for every 4-year-old boy. No, it can't be that!
most preschool programs are 3-4 hours several mornings per week. if these kids can't behave in that setting for that amount of time, it is their parents fault for failing to discipline them.
The article is lumping public-school "Pre-K" programs, day-care centers, and who-knows-what-all together.
I agree that children need to be discipline, but I don't think school is the right place for 3-year-olds.
You would think, if lack of discipline is the basis, that you would see girls as well as boys expelled. Maybe misbehavior in boys tends more toward physical outlets that cause greater disruption to a classroom, while girl misbehavior is less disruptive on a classroom level? Or boys, due to their natural inclinations, more noticeably display the results of poor discipline? I think the best preschool for my boys is going to be one with an outdoor playground and lots of physical activity... I notice my older son's behavior is a lot better when he's burned off some of that energy.
my kids considered it a fun place to go for a few mornings per week. it is hardly fair to characterize sending a child to preschool from 9-noon, three mornings a week, instutionalization.
Okay, I'll say it. Children belong at home with their mothers!
"Heather Kepler, Kevin's teacher at Camp Fire Family Center Child Care in Fort Worth, said many children are not being taught how to express themselves, and their parents are not setting appropriate limits and boundaries, or being consistent with discipline.
The little ones scream, kick, hit and throw things at school. "
They are being taught how to express themselves -- their parents are out in the street cursing the President, getting arrested for throwing paint on people wearing fur coats, and being dragged away in handcuffs for throwing rocks at men with guns.
What this teacher meant to say is "These children are being taught to express themselves INAPPROPRIATELY." And as Supernanny and everybody's granny already knows, the little brats crave limits and structure -- knowing that when they do "A", "B" will follow every single time; they need a schedule, and an example, and swift and certain justice. From the day they are born. Most of all they need to know that they didn't create the universe and they don't turn the crank, and it doesn't revolve around them. Too many of these brats are only children whose middle aged parents are hanging onto their childhoods through Junior and Susie.
It's not the children who need Supernanny. It's the mothers.
Maybe being institutionalized all day isn't the best thing for every 4-year-old boy.
No foolin'. IMO, a lion's share of the problem (besides being starved for parents' attention) is sleep deprivation. Little kids need a lot of sleep & I doubt they're getting it. According to the chart in the following article, a 3 YO needs 12 hrs of sleep, a 4 YO needs 11 1/2...
Okay not that I have the experience to really comment BUT some children should not be in pre-k, especially high spirited young boys. Actually high spirited children period ought to be home with mommy till they calm down and can go to school. My good friend's son goes to a Montessori school and he does very well. Other children I know have been kept home because the teacher recommended they be given ADD drugs.
Pre-school doesn't have to be a five-days-a-week setting. Two or three half-days per week is beneficial for the child.
I think a good part of it is the kids' diets. Filling them up with sugar-laden soda and snacks is going to cause hyperactivity in kids that age.
i don't know about the boy-girl disparity, to tell you the truth. but i do feel that people fail to parent their children nowadays and i fear what that will mean when they are grownups and peers of my kids. seeing how kids behave in public, mine will look at me and roll their eyes and say, some chance you'd have let us carry on like that.
Workers don't know how to deal with kids that aren't robotic.
i agree. it is all about learning how to behave in a group. mine are now 10, 13 and 16, also well beyond those preschool years. but they went to preschool, enjoyed it and learned how to behave in a group setting.
Mine are now 10 and 15. They had fun in preschool.
Bingo! Some kids need a spanking. Like when defiantly ignoring a direct "don't do X" instruction from an adult.
I hate to say it, but most young parents today don't know how to be parents. Either they had no exposure to young children in their lives or they weren't paying attention while they were supposed to be learning. That's part of the purpose of a large, extended family, IMO. I can't believe the number of girls my age who have babies and have never held one.
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