COMBATING THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE
Early Childhood & Discipline
School-to-prison pipeline issues impacting students from pre-k to elementary school and efforts to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline on these students
In the News
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Handcuffs in Hallways: Hundreds of Elementary Students Arrested at U.S. Schools, CBS News, 2022
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Ending Corporal Punishment of Preschool-Age Children, The Brookings Institution, 2020
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Kicking Kids out of Preschool is Damaging Experts Say. So Why is it Still Happening? NBC News, 2019
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School Discipline in Preschool Through Grade 3, National Conference of State Legislatures, 2019
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Texas Banned Out of School Suspension. 4,500 Kids Were Suspended Anyway, Houston Chronicle, 2019
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The Single Biggest Risk Factor in Getting Expelled Is Being a Preschooler, Governing, 2018
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Substantial Racial Stereotyping toward Young Children of Color Found among White Adults Who Work with Them, Harvard School of Public Health, 2018
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Corporal Punishment and Preschoolers: What New Federal Data Show, Education Week, 2018
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A Breakthrough in Discipline Reform for Early Learners, American Civil Liberties Union, 2017
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Why Is It So Hard to Stop Suspending Kindergartners?, The Hechinger Report, 2017
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Even Preschool Teachers Can Be Guilty of Racially Stereotyping Black Babies, The Hechinger Report, 2016
Reports
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Stereotyping Across Intersections of Race And Age: Racial Stereotyping among White Adults Working with Children, PLOS One, 2018
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Suspensions Are Not Support: The Disciplining of Preschoolers with Disabilities, Center for American Progress, 2018
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Do Early Educators’ Implicit Biases Regarding Sex and Race Relate to Behavior Expectations and Recommendations of Preschool Expulsions and Suspensions?, A Research Study Brief, Yale Child Study Center, 2016
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Preschool Suspension and Expulsion: Defining the Issues, Institute for Child Success, 2018
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Delivering on the Promise of Effective Early Childhood Education, National Black Child Development Institute, 2018
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Keeping Kids in Class: Pre-K Through 2nd Grade Suspensions in Texas and a Better Way Forward, Texas Care for Children, March 2018
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New Data Reveal 250 Preschoolers Are Suspended or Expelled Every Day, Center for American Progress, 2017
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Suspended Childhood: An Analysis of Exclusionary Discipline of Texas’ Pre-K and Elementary School Students, Texas Appleseed, 2017
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Preventing Suspensions and Expulsions in Early Childhood Settings: An Administrator’s Guide to Supporting All Children’s Success, SRI International, 2016
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Early Childhood Expulsions and Suspensions Undermine Our Nation’s Most Promising Agent of Opportunity and Social Justice (article and issue brief), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2016
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Point of Entry: The Preschool-to-Prison Pipeline, Center for American Progress, 2015
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Pre-Kindergartners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Pre-Kindergarten Programs, Foundation for Child Development, 2010 (Report)
Key Facts and Data Trends
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Discipline Practices in Preschool, US Education Department, July 2021
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Discipline of Early Learners – Summary of Laws, District Policies and Federal Resources, ACLU of Pennsylvania, updated August 2019
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Ending Corporal Punishment of Preschool-Age Children, The Brookings Institution, October 13, 2020
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Kicking Kids out of Preschool is Damaging Experts Say. So Why is it Still Happening? NBC News, August 2019
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School Discipline in Preschool Through Grade 3, National Conference of State Legislatures, April 2019
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Texas Banned Out of School Suspension. 4,500 Kids Were Suspended Anyway, Houston Chronicle, April 29, 2019
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The Single Biggest Risk Factor in Getting Expelled Is Being a Preschooler, Governing, November 13, 2018
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Corporal Punishment and Preschoolers: What New Federal Data Show, Education Week, May 11, 2018
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Why Is It So Hard to Stop Suspending Kindergartners?, The Hechinger Report, May 31, 2017
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4 Disturbing Facts About Preschool Suspension, Center for American Progress, March 30, 2017
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Even Preschool Teachers Can Be Guilty of Racially Stereotyping Black Babies, The Hechinger Report, September 28, 2016
Factsheets and Multimedia
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Banning Our Babies: Addressing the Suspensions of Black Children throughout Early Childhood Education, webinar, 2022
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Discipline of Early Learners – Summary of Laws, District Policies and Federal Resources, ACLU of Pennsylvania, 2019
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4 Disturbing Facts About Preschool Suspension, Center for American Progress, 2017
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Preschool to Prison Pipeline: Exclusionary Discipline in Preschool Programs, presentation to Pennsylvania's Office of Child Development and Early Learning leadership retreat by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the Education Law Center of PA, 2016
Action Resources
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Stop the Madness: Purging the Preschool to Prison Pipeline, National Black Child Development Institute, collection of articles, including What's Wrong With Criminalizing Our Early Learners?
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Parent Power Bootcamp: Call to Action Toolkit, National Black Child Development Institute, 2017
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Keep Young Students in Class, Texas Appleseed, 2017, one page handouts used in successful campaigns in Dallas and Austin, Texas
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Banning Classroom Removals for Young Children Policy Guide, Texas Appleseed, 2016
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Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion, Foundation for Child Development, 2010