Report Finds Fewer Early Childhood Education Expulsions following Illinois Law
According to a new report from University of Illinois Chicago researchers, fewer children are being expelled now than before the passage of Illinois legislation that sought to decrease expulsions from early childhood education and child care programs and went into effect in January 2018.
The report, which covers the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years, details survey responses from Illinois area early childhood professionals about their programs’ experiences with and responses to children’s challenging behaviors in the 12-month period prior to September of 2019 and 2020.
It builds on an earlier related study issued by Kate Zinsser, UIC associate professor of psychology and principal investigator at the Social-Emotional Teaching and Learning Lab, and colleagues that investigated Illinois early childhood programs’ current and prior expulsion practices, in addition to their understanding of and responses to the law.