An Examination of Suspension & Expulsion in Community Childcare Centers Two Years into the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Suspension and expulsion have been documented concerns in childcare centers throughout the United States for nearly 20 years. This study examined suspension and expulsion practices in community childcare centers two years into the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2022). Survey data from 131 administrators of community childcare programs were analyzed. It was found that at least 67 individual children were reported expelled across 131 programs, a rate similar to pre-pandemic rates and higher than rates at the height of the pandemic. For suspension, 136 individual children were suspended from early learning programs during this time; a rate almost double pre-pandemic levels. Factors (availability of support, prior suspensions, suggesting the program is not a match, reported turnover, waiting lists, enrollment capacity, administrator reported stress, and teacher perceived stress) were examined to determine if they predicted expulsion. None of these factors significantly predicted expulsion. These results and their limitations and implications are discussed.

Pre-K and Kindergarten Teacher Perception of School Readiness During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a mandatory shift from in-person instruction to online learning for many young children. Teachers needed to adjust to virtual teaching, children were isolated from their peers, and parents played a bigger role in learning during the pandemic. In 2021, the shift back to in-person learning occurred. Research has already shown the negative influence COVID-19 had on students' mental health;however, limited research has examined the impact of the pandemic on school readiness. In this study, using the Head Start domains of school readiness, 154 Kindergarten and Pre-K teachers compared current student school readiness to the readiness of their students prior to the pandemic. Results showed that nearly 80% of teachers felt that overall student functioning was Worse or Much Worse than before the pandemic;no teachers reported functioning was overall much better. Teachers most frequently identified the Ready to Learn and Social-Emotional Development domains as the areas of greatest struggle for their students;Physical Development was the least frequently reported. Chi-square tests were used to examine the association between teacher demographics and overall school readiness and domain of greatest struggle;no significant relationships were found. Future directions and limitations of these results are discussed.

Pre-K and Kindergarten Teacher Perception of School Readiness During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a mandatory shift from in-person instruction to online learning for many young children. Teachers needed to adjust to virtual teaching, children were isolated from their peers, and parents played a bigger role in learning during the pandemic. In 2021, the shift back to in-person learning occurred. Research has already shown the negative influence COVID-19 had on students' mental health; however, limited research has examined the impact of the pandemic on school readiness. In this study, using the Head Start domains of school readiness, 154 Kindergarten and Pre-K teachers compared current student school readiness to the readiness of their students prior to the pandemic. Results showed that nearly 80% of teachers felt that overall student functioning was Worse or Much Worse than before the pandemic; no teachers reported functioning was overall much better. Teachers most frequently identified the Ready to Learn and Social-Emotional Development domains as the areas of greatest struggle for their students; Physical Development was the least frequently reported. Chi-square tests were used to examine the association between teacher demographics and overall school readiness and domain of greatest struggle; no significant relationships were found. Future directions and limitations of these results are discussed.

Expulsion from Community Childcare Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of One State's Practices.

Expulsion has been a well-documented practice in early learning centers throughout the United States. The present study attempted to describe expulsion practices in one state's community childcare centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys from 161 childcare program administrators were analyzed and, overall, expulsion rates appeared to be lower than they were pre-pandemic. No association was found between whether a program closed and reopened or remained open; the presence of a waiting list; if a program readmitted all or some children; factors that influenced which teachers were rehired; training provided to teaching staff; perceived frequency and intensity of challenging behavior; and availability of support for children with challenging behaviors and expulsion decisions. Results of the current study are analyzed and discussed in this article along with the results and how they fit into the literature.

Face Masks and Emotion Literacy in Preschool Children: Implications During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, safety regulations, such as face mask wearing, have become ubiquitous. Due to such regulations, many children's interpersonal interactions occurring outside of the home now involve face coverings. The present study examined young children's ability to identify emotions in an adult model wearing a face mask. Children (n = 77) between the ages of 3 and 5 were shown 16 different graphics of a model expressing four common emotions (happy, sad, angry, scared) across four conditions: still unmasked photo, still masked photo, masked video verbally implying the emotion, masked video verbally explicitly stating the emotion. We found that children were better able to identify emotions in an unmasked model and when the masked model explicitly stated or implied the emotion. No difference was found between an unmasked model, an explicitly stated emotion, or a verbally implied emotion. Children who were older, had more exposure to adults wearing masks, and attending group care were better able to identify the emotions. No relationship was found between the type of emotion, or participant's gender or race and the ability to identify the emotions. Implications of these results are discussed.