Exclusionary discipline: Missed opportunities for youngest learners.

Over a decade of data at state and national levels show that preschoolers, toddlers, and even infants, are continuously being suspended and expelled from early care and education settings because of behavioral concerns. Trends in these data also illustrate the pervasiveness of systemic racial and social inequities in the United States through the lifespan, with children who are Black, Native American, and multiracial and children with disabilities being disproportionately denied access to participate fully in early learning settings (Allen et al., 2022). Sending a child home is not effective in improving their adjustment or increasing their success within the classroom environment. On the contrary, children who are suspended are at increased risk of repeated suspensions, social isolation and withdrawal at school, poor achievement, dropping out, and entering the juvenile justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]