Human Services News

MDRC:

A well-publicized 2005 study from the Yale Child Study Center found that preschoolers in the United States are three times more likely to be expelled from their classrooms than students in grades K-12.

Behavior problems are a particular challenge for preschool programs in low-income neighborhoods.

Studies show that preschool teachers at low-income schools report between 15 and 20 percent of the children in their classrooms exhibit clinically high levels of disruptive and challenging behaviors.

Such children spend less time on classroom tasks than other children, receive less instruction from teachers, grow to dislike school more, and attend school less often.

Their classmates also suffer because teachers are distracted by managing the behavior problems, rather than devoting their attention to instructional time.

And, unfortunately, many preschool teachers feel ill-equipped to deal with the most challenging behavioral problems.

More training and support for preschool teachers from mental health professionals might make a difference.

According to the Yale Child Study Center report, preschool expulsions were reduced by nearly half when teachers had access to mental health consultants (see figure at associated article).

In collaboration with researchers leading the Chicago School Readiness Project, MDRC's Foundations of Learning project is testing a two-part intervention in preschool classrooms serving low-income families: (1) intensive training of teachers in classroom management and in techniques that promote children's positive behavior; and (2) in-class support and coaching for teachers by mental health professionals, who also provide individualized services to the highest risk children.

The program will operate in all three major preschool venues --- schools, community-based programs, and Head Start --- and the study will employ a random assignment design to determine the effects of the intervention on children's behavior and academic achievement.