The Office on Health Disparities raised awareness of the “school-to-prison” pipeline.
African-American children, mostly boys, account for nearly half of the children expelled from preschool, although they represent only about 18 percent of children enrolled. Some scholars have identified this disparate treatment as a first step in the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Implicit bias has been shown to be at the root of this problem.
In 2016 APA's working group on Implicit Bias and Professional Development for the Early Childhood Workforce, staffed by APA's Health Disparities Office, worked to raise awareness about this issue:
- In an APA Facebook Livestream event, Walter Gilliam, PhD, and Rosemarie Allen, PhD, talked about preschool suspensions and expulsions and ways to address them.
- A 2016 APA Annual Convention symposium addressed “Eliminating Disparities in Preschool Suspensions Among Black Boys and Other Children of Color.” Allen also organized a legislative briefing on Preschool Suspension, Expulsion and Racial Disparities at the Governor's Mansion in Denver, with Allen, Gilliam and Mary Hemmeter, PhD, presenting, and Rep. Susan Lontine discussing legislation she has introduced to reduce early childhood expulsions in Colorado.
- With the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence in African Americans, @APAPublicInt hosted a Twitter chat on preschool suspensions and expulsions and their disproportionate impact on African-American children. The chat reached 1,071,914 accounts, and trended as high as #2 in the Washington, D.C. area.
- “Building Blocks for Preschool Success” offers strategies to help keep our youngest learners in the classroom.