One of the primary goals of early education is to promote overall school readiness, especially for children most at risk for educational challenges. However, there is a persistent disparity in equitable access to high quality early learning environments. This is due in part to children being suspended or expelled for displaying challenging behaviors even though for many children, some of these behaviors may be developmentally appropriate. The effects of exclusionary discipline can have long-term implications for their overall emotional and social development. Racial and gender-based disparities in school discipline begin as early as preschool. Some of these disparities can stem from disproportionality in teachers’ perceptions of children's behaviors. The ways in which teachers perceive and subsequently respond to preschoolers’ behavior have significant implications for children's experience in the classroom and are an important link in understanding decision-making pathways related to preschool expulsion. The goal of the present study was to examine factors that might predict teacher perceptions (i.e., ratings) of child externalizing (hyperactive and aggressive) behaviors. This study analyzed secondary data from a nationally representative study of Head Start. Findings indicated there were differences in how teachers rated children's externalizing behaviors based on child's sex and race. Further, a teacher's field of study, beliefs about family engagement, and attitudes toward Developmentally Appropriate Practices significantly predicted their ratings of children's aggressive and hyperactive behaviors. Policy recommendations are discussed.

中文翻译：

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在 Head Start 中预测儿童外化行为评级：调查儿童和教师影响的影响

早期教育的主要目标之一是促进整体入学准备，特别是对于最有可能面临教育挑战的儿童。然而，在公平获得高质量早期学习环境方面始终存在差距。部分原因是儿童因表现出挑战性行为而被停学或开除，尽管对于许多儿童来说，其中一些行为可能是适合发育的。排斥性纪律的影响可能会对他们的整体情感和社会发展产生长期影响。学校纪律中的种族和性别差异早在学前班就开始出现。其中一些差异可能源于教师对儿童行为的看法不成比例。教师感知学前儿童行为并随后做出反应的方式对儿童在课堂上的体验具有重大影响，并且是理解与学前班开除相关的决策路径的重要环节。本研究的目的是检查可能预测教师对儿童外化（过度活跃和攻击性）行为的看法（即评级）的因素。这项研究分析了来自全国代表性研究 Head Start 的二手数据。调查结果表明，教师根据孩子的性别和种族来评价孩子的外化行为存在差异。此外，教师的研究领域、对家庭参与的信念以及对适合发展的实践的态度显着预测了他们对儿童攻击性和过度活跃行为的评分。讨论了政策建议。