Stop suspending our preschoolers.
BCDI Cleveland Delivering on the Promise of Effective Early Childhood Education.
Today, more than 250 preschoolers are suspended or expelled per day. Black preschoolers are nearly four times more likely to receive one or more suspensions than white preschoolers. This is tragic and intolerable. Exclusionary discipline has no place in learning environments and such educational disparities not only set Black children up for failure, but for the “preschool-to-prison” pipeline.
To address this systemic issue, in 2017, the National Black Child Development Institute announced a partnership with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to launch a national campaign to end the “preschool-to-prison” pipeline. The “Delivering on the Promise” Initiative is designed to ensure that Black children truly benefit from early childhood education (ECE) programs by: 1) promoting inclusive early learning environments; and 2) ending harsh disciplinary practices that exclude them.
Through the partnership, the National Black Child Development Institute supports practitioners and advocates seeking to eliminate suspensions and expulsions and implement positive discipline practices to ensure that young Black children have access to early learning settings that are supportive and affirming.