Pre-K Suspension Data Prompt Focus on Intervention

Article here. Excerpt:

'New data showing that thousands of children—including a disproportionate number of boys and black children—are suspended from school before reaching kindergarten have researchers and policymakers asking tough questions about pre-K discipline, and highlighting programs that help keep challenging children in preschool.

The notion that preschool pupils even face suspension surprised some, including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who called the data "mind-boggling" at a press event March 21 where he rolled out comprehensive U.S. Department of Education data on a broad range of P-12 indicators, including discipline.

The Civil Rights Data Collection for the 2011-12 school year shows that more than 8,000 public preschoolers were suspended at least once, with black children and boys bearing the brunt of the discipline. Black youngsters make up about a fifth of all preschool pupils but close to half the children suspended more than once. Boys of all races represent 54 percent of the preschoolers included in the report but more than 80 percent of those suspended more than once.'