A qualitative comparison of parents’ experiences of early childhood expulsion following a legislative ban

Abstract

Over the past decade, numerous reports have indicated pervasively high rates of early childhood expulsion nationwide. In response, state and federal policymakers have enacted various measures to ban or reduce reliance on such exclusionary discipline. Prior evaluations of the implementation of one such legislative ban on expulsion enacted in Illinois in 2018 showed partial reductions but relied only on program administrator-reported data. Parents (N = 16) of children (43.75% children of color) expelled from Illinois early childhood programs before and in the years since the 2018 legislative ban were interviewed about their experiences. Parents in both groups reported similar incidents regarding how and why children are excluded, how programs communicated with parents about children’s behavioral concerns, and how programs assisted (or did not) with accessing resources and supports that may enable a child to be retained. Findings indicate that expulsions continue to happen despite the ban and families’ experiences were essentially unchanged and negative. Findings hold implications for the implementation of similar policy efforts across the country.