Methodology

To get a better understanding of how laws and regulations focused on exclusionary discipline of young children are changing the practices of ECE programs, we conducted a review of the relevant research and focused on two states: Illinois and Colorado. We chose these states because they each recently implemented policies designed to reduce exclusionary discipline in early childhood programs.

To learn how recent policy changes have impacted practitioners, we conducted virtual listening sessions in November and December 2021 with classroom teachers, program administrators, and mental health consultants in Colorado and Illinois.¹ We asked our contacts in each state to share the listening session information with their networks to help recruit participants. During the sessions, we asked participants about their recent experiences with the pandemic, major challenges in their work, how their program handles challenging behaviors, and related topics. We specifically asked about professional development tools that participants have found helpful for addressing challenging student behavior, such as the Pyramid Model, as well as their experiences with early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC).