The Voices of Michigan's Early Care and Education Teachers: Children's Challenging Behavior, Expulsion, Disparities, and Needed Program Supports

Michigan policymakers have a long history of leadership in addressing the social-emotional needs of the state's infants and young children so that they can learn and thrive in their homes and in early care and education programs. Michigan leaders and stakeholders are now working to further strengthen a system of supports for young children's mental health. Leaders participating in a cross-sector expulsion and suspension workgroup identified a need for current data on early care and education (ECE) teachers' experiences related to children's challenging behavior, including perceptions about supports that could increase children's social-emotional well-being and reduce exclusionary practices in center- and home-based ECE settings. To obtain this information, a core team of leaders from Michigan's Departments of Education (MDE) and Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Head Start State Collaboration Office partnered with the BUILD Initiative and the National Center for Children in Poverty to design and implement a survey of ECE teachers in center-based and home-based ECE settings (pre-kindergarten, child care, Head Start, Early Head Start, and family child care home settings). Key questions addressed by the survey include: (1) How common are different types of challenging behavior in early care and education settings?; (2) How many children with challenging behavior, in different age groups, do teachers have in their classrooms or child care homes in the course of a year?; (3) What are the consequences of challenging behavior and how often does removal from the ECE setting occur?; (4) Are there disparities in removal of children related to race, disability, or home language?; (5) What are the family circumstances of children with challenging behavior?; (6) How do teachers address challenging behavior and what barriers do they face?; and (7) What supports do teachers believe will help them address the needs of children with challenging behavior?