PRESCHOOL DROPOUTS

The news reports last week were shocking: Young children are being kicked out of preschool at an alarming rate, according to a Yale University study. Maine ranked second in the nation for expelling preschoolers. The study sheds light on important issues – the training and compensation of preschool staff and the failure to access mental health and social work resources – but it also raises many questions.

The first question for Maine officials is whether the data accurately reflects what is happening here. According to the study, by Walter Gilliam, an assistant professor of child psychiatry and psychology at Yale, Maine expelled nearly 15 preschoolers for every 1,000 children enrolled in prekindergarten programs. This expulsion rate was second only to New Mexico and is more than 20 times that for K-12 students in Maine.

Nationally, 5,117 prekindergarten pupils in state-funded programs were expelled during the 2003-04 school year. This does not include children referred to other programs to address their special needs. This expulsion rate is more than three times that for K-12 pupils.

More troubling to Maine officials was the high expulsion rate Professor Gilliam reported for the state’s Head Start programs, which expelled 18 children per 1,000. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start and other child care programs, and the Department of Education are reviewing the data.

Whether it is totally accurate or not, the study, the first to look at the issue on a national level, highlights the need to ensure that preschool programs are tied in with behavioral counseling programs, says Mike Norton, a spokes-man for DHHS. “Whether the data is totally right or not is less important than avoiding this outcome,” he said this week. One way to do this is to ensure that preschool teachers get the assistance they need.

Another way to reduce expulsion is to better train and compensate preschool teachers. Unlike K-12 teachers, many workers in child care centers and preschools do not have bachelor’s degrees or specific training in teaching. They typically are not paid well.

Highly trained teachers would be better able to work with young children who are still developing peer relationship skills and may hit, bite or throw temper tantrums. They also would be better equipped to identify children who may have special needs.

This is bolstered by the fact that the Yale study documented a low expulsion rate – 2 per 1,000 – for Maine’s new school-based prekindergarten programs. Since these programs are offered at schools where counseling and special education services are available, it makes sense that they would be better equipped to handle difficult children. The teachers are also better trained.

As Maine moves to expand prekindergarten and other early childhood programs, this study is instructive. “Kids need to be there to learn,” says Mary Ellin Logue, a professor of early childhood education at the University of Maine. That means that 3- and 4-year-olds can’t be treated like mini 1st graders. It also means that teachers should be trained to deal with their behavioral, as well as educational, needs. Families also need to be involved in the process.

Otherwise, as the Yale researcher found, these programs may fail the very kids they are meant to help.