Excluded Now What? Families' Perceptions of Subsequent Care Arrangements Following Preschool Expulsion

Abstract

Recent studies have focused on predictors of exclusionary practices in early childhood, but few have examined what happens after a child is removed from care. Families' difficulty finding new care is complicated by the shortages of convenient, affordable and quality childcare in the United States. Using online surveys, we gathered data from parents whose children received multiple behavioural warnings from early education programmes (N = 218). Parents completed retrospective survey questions about their perceptions of each care arrangement's quality, accessibility and affordability. Half of the children were formally or informally expelled for their behaviour, while the other half were retained or left for reasons other than behaviour (e.g., graduating to kindergarten). Children were mostly male (65.6%), White (77.98%) and 42.66% had a diagnosed or suspected disability. This exploratory report describes the differential perceptions and experiences of families excluded from and retained by early education programmes following behavioural incidents. Results show that, for the most part, parents perceived subsequent programmes as relatively equivalent. However, nearly a quarter of excluded children did not attend a subsequent programme, and 10% were excluded more than two times before kindergarten entry. Findings are discussed in light of the broader research on early childhood exclusionary discipline.