Study Links Preschool Teachers' Stress to Higher Student Expulsions
Long days
and burdensome workloads are likely to affect an instructor's ability to
manage a classroom, researchers find.
By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2008
Preschool teachers who are highly stressed because of classroom
conditions, depression or other factors are far more likely than their
colleagues to recommend expulsion for children with behavioral problems,
according to a study released Thursday.
Conducted by Yale University's Edward Zigler Center in Child Development
and Social Policy, the study found that of teachers who reported high job
stress, 14.3% also reported one or more expulsions in the last year, while
4.9% of teachers with low job stress reported expulsions.
The expulsions were also linked to high student-teacher ratios -- 12.7% of
teachers reported an expulsion in classrooms with 12 or more children per
adult, compared with 7.7% of teachers who reported an expulsion when there
were fewer than eight children per adult.
Teachers who had students in extended-day classes (eight or more hours)
also were more likely to recommend expulsion for students.
The study concluded that long days and burdensome workloads are likely to
affect a teacher's ability to manage a classroom and deal effectively with
children who act out.
As a result, the study says, children who would most benefit from
preschool are also those most in jeopardy of being expelled.
"If there was a child who needed more help becoming ready for school, it
is the child whose behavioral problems are so great as to cause his or her
preschool teacher to no longer want that child in class," said study
author Walter S. Gilliam, director of the Zigler Center.
The study found that teachers' education levels, possession of early
childhood credentials and number of years of teaching young children
played little role in expulsions.
Teachers who used support services, such as mental health consultants who
are skilled in managing child behavior, were half as likely to report
expelling a child. But only 23% of preschool teachers reported regular
classroom support.
The study is a follow-up to a 2005 Yale report, also by Gilliam, which
examined state-funded public preschool programs serving more than 800,000
children in 40 states.
It found that preschool children are three times as likely to be expelled
than students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The rates are highest
for older preschool students, African Americans and boys.
California's rate of 7.5 expulsions per 1,000 preschoolers exceeds the
national average of 6.7.
Experts said there is no doubt that children are exhibiting more
behavioral problems and at younger ages.
"There are lots of contributors, such as media, excessive television
viewing, violent video games, stressed parents who are working too and not
supervising their children," said Frances Page Glascoe, a professor of
pediatrics at Vanderbilt University, who joined Gilliam during a telephone
news conference.
"Behavior issues are increasing, but the availability of mental health
services has not kept pace."
One of the major problems, Gilliam said, is that few states collect data
on preschool expulsions as they do on expulsions of older students.
California does not have the money to track preschool expulsions, said
Gwen Stephens, interim director of child development for the state
Department of Education.
She said there have been only two cases in recent years in which parents
have complained about actions taken against their children related to
behavior issues.
But spurred in part by the 2005 study, the state is about to release
standards for the 115,000 children enrolled in state-funded programs that
will for the first time include guidelines for providers on social and
emotional development as well as on language and math development.
Los Angeles Universal Preschool, an independent corporation formed in 2004
and funded by a tax on tobacco, created a pilot project that trains
providers to screen children for mental, emotional and physical risk
factors and refer them to community resources for support.
The Los Angeles County agency doesn't track expulsions, but the new
program -- which includes increased teacher preparation, access to expert
advisors and parent services -- is designed to keep children with
challenges in class, said Relda Robertson-Beckley, a vice president of Los
Angeles Universal Preschool. So far, the program is limited to 20
providers funded by the agency, but it will be required of all 349 of its
contracted providers -- and reach about 8,000 children -- in 2008-09
school year.
Providers are also finding ways to improve classroom conditions. The
preschool operated by Alma Family Services in East Los Angeles, for
example, maintains an 8-1 student-teacher ratio for its 24 children , has
on-site mental health experts and family support services, which have
relieved pressure on staff, said director of program operations Lourdes
Caracoza. She said no children have been expelled.
The agency was created to provide multiple services and includes an
after-school enrichment program for children with developmental
disabilities. About 10% of students in the preschool have special needs,
including language delays, mental retardation and attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder.
"If the child continues to be a problem, we can look to higher levels of
care that includes case management and psychiatric care," said Alma's
mental health director, Michael Segovia. "We're a real good example of
what's working and why this type of support has been found to be so
successful."
