An Examination of the Quality of Discipline Policies in NAEYC-Accredited Early Care and Education Programs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge base regarding discipline policies in early care and education (ECE) programs by examining the extent to which programs utilize policies that reflect the implementation of evidence-based practices to prevent and address challenging behaviors in the early years. Discipline policies were gathered from 282 programs accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and were scored using the Teaching and Guidance Policy Essentials Checklist. Overall, policies failed to address evidence-base practices, and findings are situated within the discourse on the prevalence of challenging behaviors and the troubling date on preschool suspension and expulsion rates and the current ECE context.

Keywords

behavior classroom early education programs evidence-based practices policy issues

It is estimated that between 10% and 21% of preschool children exhibit challenging behavior (Snell et al., 2012). Children identified as having aggressive behavior in preschool are more likely to experience continuing behavior problems throughout elementary school and into adolescence (Campbell, Spieker, Burchinal, Poe, & NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2006; Huffman, Mehlinger, & Kerivan, 2000; McCartney et al., 2010; Webster-Stratton & Taylor, 2001). Persistent challenging behaviors in early childhood predict a host of negative outcomes, including impulsive behavior and poor emotion regulation, school failure and dropout, problems with peers, and adolescent delinquency (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1993; Gagnon, Craig, Tremblay, Zhou, & Vitaro, 1995; Moffitt, 1993; O’Neil, Welsh, Parke, Wang, & Strand, 1997). In addition, children with challenging behaviors are more likely to develop early patterns of peer rejection (Coie & Dodge, 1998; Snyder, Prichard, Schrepferman, Patrick, & Stoolmiller, 2004; Snyder et al., 2008; Strain, 1984), which have been shown to predict later aggressive behaviors (Dodge et al., 2003). Moreover, these children tend to have less positive relationships with teachers (Dobbs & Arnold, 2009; Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Ladd & Burgess, 1999; Strain, Steele, Ellis, & Timm, 1982; Wehby, Symons, Canale, & Go, 1998).

Research indicates that early intervention is essential to preventing ongoing behavior problems and poor long-term academic and social outcomes (Campbell, 1995; Campbell, Shaw, & Gilliom, 2000; Campbell et al., 2006; Webster-Stratton, Reid, & Hammond, 2001, 2004). Therefore, preventing and addressing challenging behaviors in the early years have become an urgent national priority.

Coupled with concerns about the negative consequences of challenging behavior in the early years, is disturbing data concerning preschool suspension and expulsion rates (Gilliam, 2005; Gilliam & Shahar, 2006; U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2014). Gilliam (2005) found that an estimated 5,117 preschoolers across the nation are expelled each year, a rate that is 3.2 times higher than the national expulsion rate for K–12 students. The most commonly cited reason for preschooler expulsions within this study was challenging behavior (Gilliam, 2005). These findings indicate that the children with the greatest need of support and intervention are in fact having that intervention and support removed. This practice negates state and national school-readiness efforts and, as discussed above, can potentially place a child on a life course trajectory of social and academic failure (Raver & Knitzer, 2002; Schweinhart et al., 2005).

Data also indicate troubling trends in the expulsion of preschool children related to ethnic/racial, gender, and disability status. In terms of ethnicity, African American boys were twice as likely to be expelled as children from other ethnic groups. Moreover, teachers with a larger proportion of Latino children in a classroom reported significantly more suspensions (Gilliam & Shahar, 2006). Although suspending a child from a program may bring about an immediate decrease in challenging behavior, the behavior is likely to return with more intensity and frequency (Mayer, 1995; Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992). More recently, data from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (2014) indicate that young boys of color and young children with disabilities are suspended and expelled for behavioral challenges 3 to 4 times as often as other children. Data on preschool suspension and expulsion rates, as well as the maladaptive outcomes associated with challenging behaviors in the early years, has resulted in an urgent need for consistent implementation of evidence-based practices in early care and education (ECE) programs.

Policies are an inherent component of effective and systemic service delivery, as they represent an intentional set of guiding principles designed to help translate the goals of the system into practice. In an effort to translate research into practice and improve school climates and discipline from preschool through the 12th grade, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (2014) released a joint policy statement titled Statement on Expulsion and Suspension Policies in Early Childhood Settings. A key recommendation outlined in the joint policy statement is that “early childhood programs develop and clearly communicate preventive guidance and discipline practices” (p. 5) that are developmentally appropriate and promote social-emotional and behavioral health. It was also recommended that policies should describe discipline and intervention procedures, be implemented consistently and without bias, and be clearly communicated to parents, staff, and community partners.

The purpose of the current study was to expand the knowledge base regarding discipline policies in ECE programs by examining the extent to which programs accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) utilize policies that reflect the implementation of evidence-based practices to prevent and address challenging behaviors and promote prosocial behavior in the early years. NAEYC is a professional organization that advocates on behalf of children between birth and 8 years of age by connecting practice, policy, and research. To achieve accreditation, programs must go through a rigorous four-step evaluation process and show evidence that they are meeting 10 standards of program excellence, including relationships, families, curriculum, and teaching. NAEYC-accredited programs were selected for inclusion in the study for several reasons: (a) They are frequently considered the “gold standard” in early childhood education, (b) they reflect the wide variety of program types that comprise the ECE landscape (e.g., state pre-K, Head Start, faith-based, and for-profit programs), and (c) they could be easily accessed via a national database. This study extends upon our previous work (Longstreth, Brady, & Kay, 2013) in which we developed and piloted a 28-item checklist, the Early Childhood Discipline Policy Essentials Checklist (renamed the Teaching and Guidance Policy Essentials Checklist [TAGPEC] for the current study) that assesses nine Essential Features of high-quality early childhood discipline policies. Because the original study was small (N = 65) and focused on a specific geographic region, recruiting centers accredited by NAEYC allowed us to further validate TAGPEC with a national sample. The nine Essential Features of the TAGPEC are presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Nine Essential Features of the TAGPEC.

No.	Discipline policies should:
1	Reflect an instructional, proactive approach to guidance that supports the learning and practice of appropriate prosocial behavior (2 items).
2	Identify primary, secondary, and tertiary preventive and intervention practices for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing challenging behavior in young children (3 items).
3	Describe clear and consistent expectations for behavior (4 items).
4	Describe behavioral expectations that are developmentally appropriate and essential to social and academic success (4 items).
5	Recommend evidence-based and developmentally appropriate guidance strategies for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing challenging behavior (5 items).
6	Emphasize the importance of sufficient and active adult supervision of all children (2 items).
7	Reflect the family-centered nature of early childhood education (4 items).
8	Ensure that staff has access to training and technical assistance in implementing policy guidelines and promoting the social competence of young children (2 items).
9	Reference the use of a data collection system by which the relative success or failure of the guidance policy will be evaluated (2 items).

Note. TAGPEC = Teaching and Guidance Policy Essentials Checklist.

Empirical evidence supports the efficacy of these Essential Features. Research indicates that system-wide early childhood care and education discipline policies should reflect an instructional, proactive approach to discipline that supports the learning and practice of appropriate prosocial behavior (Garnes & Menlove, 2003; Schweinhart et al., 2005; Sugai & Horner, 2002; Zins, Bloodworth, Weissberg, & Walberg, 2004). To do so, guidance policies must emphasize the importance of teaching social norms and desired behaviors, positively acknowledging prosocial behavior in ways valued by children, and by providing multiple and continued opportunities to use and practice these behaviors. If an early childhood program values an instructional versus a reactive approach to guidance, the guidance policy should clearly articulate that administrators and teachers view behavior guidance as an important aspect of teaching and learning.

Research also suggests that adopting a continuum of preventive and intervention practices in early childhood programs results in positive outcomes for young children, their families, and the professionals who work with them (Dunlap, Fox, & Hemmeter, 2004; Forness et al., 2000). This multitiered system of support includes the identification of promotion, prevention, and intervention practices for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing challenging behavior in young children (Dunlap et al., 2004; Forness et al., 2000; Mayer, 1995; Patterson et al., 1992; Raver & Knitzer, 2002; Schweinhart et al., 2005; Sugai & Horner, 2002; Washburn, Burrello, & Buckman, 2001). Primary and secondary practices will likely decrease the number of children in need of tertiary practices, and tertiary practices are more likely to be successful when primary and secondary practices are in place (Sugai et al., 2000; Washburn et al., 2001), and written policies and procedures are a critical component when implementing these multitiered models (Mincic, Smith, & Strain, 2009).

Setting clear behavioral expectations at the program and classroom levels has been found to be critical to preventing and addressing challenging behaviors (Grisham-Brown, Hemmeter, & Pretti-Frontczak, 2005; Sugai & Horner, 2002), and an important component of a high-quality guidance policy is a description of program-wide behavioral expectations for young children that provide early childhood professionals and families with information about the desired behaviors (Council for Children With Behavior Disorders, 2002; Lewis & Sugai, 1999; Moldenhauer-Salazar, 2000; Strain & Joseph, 2004). It is critical that behavioral expectations are developmentally appropriate and essential to social and academic success (Grisham-Brown et al., 2005; Gronlund, 2006; Sugai & Horner, 2002). Similarly, researchers have identified developmentally appropriate guidance strategies that, when used systematically and with a high degree of fidelity, have been found to be effective for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing challenging behavior in young children (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Conroy, Davis, Fox, & Brown, 2002; Conroy, Hendrickson, & Hester, 2004; Dunlap et al., 2003; Fox, Dunlap, Hemmeter, Joseph, & Strain, 2003; Hester et al., 2004). It is therefore essential that early childhood guidance policies recommend the use of multiple evidence-based and developmentally appropriate strategies for guiding social competence.

Insufficient adult presence and limited opportunities for adult–child interactions may influence the development of negative relationships between and among children and increase the potential for challenging behaviors (Reinke & Herman, 2002; Welsh, Stokes, & Greene, 2000); thus, high-quality guidance policies must describe the importance of sufficient and active adult supervision of all children (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Reinke & Herman, 2002; Welsh et al., 2000). Because the social and academic success of young children depends heavily upon active family involvement and the successful intervention of challenging behavior requires comprehensive interventions across home and school/program settings (Forgatch & Patterson, 1998; Grisham-Brown et al., 2005; McEvoy & Welker, 2000; Sheldon & Epstein, 2002; Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, & Soodak, 2006; Webster-Stratton et al., 2004), discipline policies must reflect the family-centered nature of early childhood education.

It is also critical that programs ensure that staff have access to training and technical assistance in implementing policy guidelines and promoting the social competence of young children (Council for Children With Behavior Disorders, 2002; McEvoy & Welker, 2000; Strain & Joseph, 2004). Continued in-service training is necessary for building a sense of identity with and commitment to a program guidance policy. Fox, Hemmeter, Snyder, Binder, and Clarke (2011) found a functional relationship between training and coaching of teachers and the implementation of practices associated with tiered models of intervention. Workforce development is a critical aspect of ensuring that evidence-based practices are implemented in the classroom (Institute of Medicine [IOM] & National Research Council [NRC], 2015), and continued opportunities for improving knowledge about evidence-based, developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) for promoting social and academic success are essential for all those who interact with and teach children.

Finally, effective guidance policies should have demonstrable benefits, and the evaluation of a system-level guidance policy is necessary to determine if the policy is effective or in need of improvement (Sugai & Horner, 2002; Washburn et al., 2001). To do so, programs must establish structures, routines, and procedures for obtaining and using the data. Guidance policies should reference the use of a data collection system to evaluate the relative effectiveness of the guidance policy (Washburn et al., 2001). Just as the data collected by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (2014) drew attention to racial disparities with regard to preschool suspension and expulsion, examining data at the program level is critical to ensuring that all children receive fair and equitable treatment and services.

Contrary to the research and joint policy statement discussed above that highlight the importance of consistent policies that reflect the implementation of evidence-based child guidance procedures, a review of the extant literature points to a concerning trend in ECE program policies related to address challenging behavior. Quesenberry, Hemmeter, and Ostrosky (2011) examined the policies and procedures related to child guidance and challenging behaviors of six Head Start programs and found that policies scored consistently low with regard to supporting children with challenging behaviors. Similarly, Longstreth et al. (2013) examined the quality of 65 discipline policies from state-licensed early childhood programs in the state of Arizona. Results indicated that programs addressed few of the components of high-quality guidance policies and failed to sufficiently address the practices known to reduce challenging behavior and promote social-emotional development in young children. Quesenberry, Hemmeter, Ostrosky, and Hamann (2014) provide further confirmation of this trend in their examination of the policies of five child care centers. This examination revealed that in four out of the five centers, teachers reported that their program did not have policies or procedures relating to child guidance and discipline. In addition, teachers in these programs reported that they did not have center-wide strategies or curricula to promote early social-emotional development.

The few studies that have assessed programmatic policies regarding child guidance and discipline in ECE settings point to a lack of consistency and/or a lack of clear description of evidenced-based practices. This is of particular concern when considering the alarming trend of suspension/expulsions of preschool children with challenging behavior and the long-term implications for their later school and life success. The goal of the current study was to add to the limited data on early childhood behavior guidance policies and further explore how the TAGPEC can be used to assess the quality of program policies by asking the following research question: To what extent do existing NAEYC-accredited program policies address each of the nine Essential Features and, more specifically, each of the 28 items in the TAGPEC?

Method

Participants

Centers accredited by NAEYC were recruited for this study upon approval from the university’s institutional review board and were identified through the NAEYC Accreditation database. Center administrators were sent an email asking them to provide information about their program and upload their program’s discipline policy. Emails were sent to 6,931 programs. Two hundred ninety-three emails were returned as undeliverable, resulting in a final sample size of 6,638. Email reminders were sent to potential participants 1 week, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks after the initial survey distribution. Five $100 Visa gift cards were used as a raffle incentive for participants; 308 programs uploaded their discipline policies, for a response rate of 4%. Of these policies, 282 could be scored (in three of the cases, the policy could not be opened, and in the remaining cases, the directors had uploaded something other than a discipline policy). The majority of centers served infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (n = 90, 31.9%) or only preschoolers (n = 58, 20.6%). A small number of respondents served only infants and toddlers (n = 4, 1.5%), while 51 (18.1%) served toddlers and preschoolers. The remaining programs served a combination of age groups that included infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children. Information on whether centers provided services to children with disabilities was not collected. Additional program characteristics are provided in Table 2.

Table 2.

Programmatic Characteristics of Centers.

Characteristic	%	n
Program type
Private, for-profit	14.2	40
Private, nonprofit	43.6	123
Faith-based	8.2	23
Public	8.9	25
Other	25	71
Program capacity (no. of children)
0–35	8.8	25
36–75	35.3	100
76–125	26.9	76
126–150	8.1	23
150+	19.4	55
Missing	1.4	4
Education level of director
High school	0.7	2
National CDA	0.4	1
Associate’s degree	5.3	15
Bachelor’s degree	34.0	96
Master’s degree	53.5	151
PhD	2.0	8
Other	3.2	9
Director’s years of experience	M = 12.87	SD = 8.39

Note. N = 282. CDA = Child Development Associate credential.

Instrument

The original version of the TAGPEC (The Early Childhood Discipline Policy Essentials Checklist [EC-DPEC]) was developed by Longstreth et al. (2013) via an extensive review of the literature in the fields of general education, special education, early childhood education, ECE, early childhood special education, educational administration, and school psychology. Articles from high-quality publications (peer-reviewed, government, or university publications) were reviewed for relevance to the evaluation of quality early childhood discipline policies. Forty-eight sources were selected for detailed review. These 48 articles were then thematically coded, and corresponding themes were grouped into nine key coding categories, termed Essential Features. The tool was then reviewed by a seven-member panel of content experts to establish instrument validity. The panel consisted of two university professors specializing in addressing challenging behavior, two university professors specializing in ECE, one National Board Certified, 26-year veteran first-grade public school teacher, one Chase Early Education Emergent Leader preschool administrator, and one university professor specializing in psychometrics.

The final tool included nine Essential Features and 28 items designed to guide users to rate a policy’s adherence to practices shown by the literature to prevent and address challenging behaviors in the early years. Items include questions such as the following: Is there an emphasis on teaching acceptable social norms and desired behaviors? (Essential Feature 1), Are program-wide behavioral expectations (e.g., rules) written with clarity? Do the behavioral expectations describe behaviors that are observable and measurable? (Essential Feature 3), Are the behavioral expectations designed to enhance children’s self-perceptions, promoting external to internal foci from staff to self? (Essential Feature 4), and Does the policy promote authentic staff–family collaboration in effectively dealing with challenging behavior? Are families given an opportunity to participate in developing and implementing interventions? (Essential Feature 7). Essential Feature 2 specifically asks if the policy addresses primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention practices for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing challenging behavior in young children. The EC-DPEC was piloted with 65 ECE programs in Arizona. All administrators of licensed child care facilities were sent an email and were asked to submit his or her program discipline policies for review and analysis. Interrater reliability for the EC-DPEC was moderately strong (range: r = .723–.921).

While preparing to implement the current study, the authors revised the name of the tool to reflect their philosophical orientation toward the centrality of teaching and guidance in ECE. Whereas traditional discipline tends to be reactive and punitive in nature, child guidance is preventive and involves identifying appropriate and inappropriate behavior, teaching children appropriate strategies for expressing their emotions and solving their conflicts, and developing self-regulatory skills such as impulse control, empathy, and perspective-taking (Kaiser & Rasminksy, 2011), an approach embodied by the TAGPEC. The 2-point rating scale used with the EC-DPEC was also revised to a 3-point rating scale to provide a more refined and nuanced assessment of the quality of guidance policies. The 28 items in the original tool remained the same.

Each item on the TAGPEC is rated along three dimensions: (a) a rating of “no” is given if the feature was not addressed at all in the policy, (b) a rating of “emerging” is given if there was minimal evidence the feature was addressed in the policy, and (c) a rating of “yes” is given if the feature was clearly addressed in the policy. A point value of 0 is assigned to items marked no, a point value of 1 is assigned to items marked emerging, and a point value of 2 is assigned if the item is marked yes. The highest possible score a program can obtain on the TAGPEC is a 56, indicating that all nine Essential Features and the corresponding 28 items were sufficiently addressed in the policy. Results from the current study indicated that TAGPEC shows good internal consistency, with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .853.

Data Analysis

Three members of the research team were trained for reliability on the TAGPEC checklist by individually independently scoring 10 of the policies and assigning a point value of 0 to items marked no, a value of 1 to items marked emerging, and a value of 2 to items marked yes. The reliability of the data was assessed, and the team met and discussed discrepancies and reached a consensus. Discrepancies primarily centered around what constituted second tier support strategies (Item 4), and the team concluded that in order for a policy to be rated with a 2 (yes) on this item, there needed to be explicit mention of intentional, one-on-one or small-group teaching strategies targeting social-emotional development. Policies were then divided among members of the research team, and 10% of policies (n = 30) were selected to be independently scored by both the first and second authors. Policies included in the initial reliability assessment were excluded from this analysis. Interrater reliability for the overall TAGPEC score was strong (r = .957, n = 30, p < .000). An interrater reliability analysis using the Kappa statistic was also performed to determine consistency among raters on each item. Twenty-six of the Kappa values were found to be above 0.8, indicating very good agreement between raters. The remaining three Kappa values were 0.6 and above, indicating good levels of agreement (Altman, 1991). The centers’ overall score on the TAGPEC, mean scores on each of the Essential Features, and frequency counts of individual TAGPEC items were used to assess the quality of the discipline policies reviewed.

Results

The minimum score received on the TAGPEC was a 1, while the highest score a center received was a 46 (highest possible score = 56). The overall mean score was 20.78 (n = 282, SD = 9.12), indicating that the programs in our sample, on average, received fewer than half of the possible points. Moreover, there was a great deal of variability in the TAGPEC scores, as indicated by the standard deviation of 9 points. One-way between-group analyses of variance were conducted to determine if there were any relationships between program characteristics and the overall TAGPEC score. There was no significant difference at the p < .05 level for the six program types (private, for-profit, private nonprofit, faith-based, public, and campus child care): F(5, 276) = 1.4, p = .197. There was also no significant differences at the p < .05 level in TAGPEC scores for director education level: F(8, 273) = 1.2, p = .29; director years of experience: F(4, 275) = .09, p = .99; or program capacity: F(4, 274) = 1.2, p = .31. Mean scores for each Essential Feature are presented in Figure 1, and results for individual items on the TAGPEC are presented in Table 3. The presentation of data described below also includes an example of an item from each of the Essential Features that scored a 2, indicating that the item was clearly addressed in the policy.

Figure 1.

Mean score on essential features of the TAGPEC.

Table 3.

TAGPEC Scores.

Essential feature	TAGPEC item	Response	n	%
1. Reflect an instructional, proactive approach to guidance that supports the learning and practice of appropriate prosocial behavior.	1: Follows an instructional vs. a legal approach	Yes	226	80.1
		Emerging	27	9.6
		No	29	10.3
	2: Emphasis on teaching acceptable social norms & desired behaviors	Yes	211	74.8
		Emerging	32	11.3
		No	39	13.8
2. Identify primary, secondary, and tertiary preventative and intervention practices for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing challenging behavior in young children	3: Primary preventative & intervention practices	Yes	198	70.2
		Emerging	42	14.9
		No	42	14.9
	4: Targeted secondary strategies	Yes	39	13.8
		Emerging	79	28.0
		No	164	58.2
	5: Tertiary strategies	Yes	117	41.5
		Emerging	66	23.4
		No	99	35.1
3. Early childhood behavior guidance policies should describe clear and consistent expectations for behavior.	6: Behavioral expectations are written with clarity & describe behaviors that are observable and measurable	Yes	20	7.1
		Emerging	78	27.7
		No	184	65.2
	7: Program-wide behavioral expectations are consistent	Yes	18	6.4
		Emerging	28	9.9
		No	236	83.7
	8: Connection between program-wide behavioral expectations & individual classroom rules	Yes	52	18.4
		Emerging	51	18.1
		No	179	63.5
	9: Clear mission statement	Yes	137	48.6
		Emerging	50	17.7
		No	95	33.7
4. Early childhood behavior guidance policies should describe behavioral expectations that are developmentally appropriate and essential to social and academic success	10: Are the behavioral expectations developmentally appropriate?	Yes	113	40.1
		Emerging	23	8.2
		No	146	51.8
	11: Teach children setting-specific social skills	Yes	6	2.1
		Emerging	15	5.3
		No	261	92.6
	12: Behavioral expectations stated positively	Yes	52	18.4
		Emerging	51	18.1
		No	179	63.5
	13: Behavioral expectations designed to promoting external to internal foci	Yes	97	34.4
		Emerging	40	142.5
		No	145	51.4
5. Early childhood behavior guidance policies should recommend evidence-based and developmentally appropriate guidance strategies for promoting prosocial behavior and reducing challenging behavior	14: Developmentally appropriate guidance strategies	Yes	233	82.3
		Emerging	31	11.0
		No	18	6.4
	15: Multiple strategies recommended	Yes	181	64.2
		Emerging	72	25.5
		No	29	10.3
	16: Identification of unacceptable guidance strategies	Yes	193	68.4
		Emerging	13	4.6
		No	76	27.0
	17: Engaging curriculum as a deterrent	Yes	56	19.9
		Emerging	39	13.8
		No	187	66.3
	18: Importance of ecological arrangements	Yes	61	21.6
		Emerging	27	9.6
		No	194	68.8
6. Early childhood behavior guidance policies should emphasize the importance of sufficient and active adult supervision of all children	19: Sufficient & active adult supervision	Yes	47	16.7
		Emerging	36	12.8
		No	199	70.6
	20: Staff continuously monitor & respond	Yes	95	33.7
		Emerging	33	11.7
		No	154	54.6
7. Early childhood behavior guidance policies should reflect the family-centered nature of early childhood education	21: Promote proactive relationships with families	Yes	58	20.6
		Emerging	30	10.6
		No	194	68.8
	22: Authentic staff–family collaboration	Yes	131	46.5
		Emerging	48	17.0
		No	103	36.5
	23: Obtain contextually & culturally relevant information	Yes	23	8.2
		Emerging	27	9.6
		No	232	82.3
	24: Promote embedding individual goals into family/home routines	Yes	54	19.1
		Emerging	26	9.2
		No	202	71.6
8. Early childhood behavior guidance policies should ensure that staff members have access to training and technical assistance in implementing policy guidelines and promoting the social competence of young children	25: Preparation & training of staff	Yes	30	10.6
		Emerging	17	6.0
		No	235	83.3
	26: Continued professional development	Yes	18	6.4
		Emerging	15	5.3
		No	249	88.3
9. Early childhood behavior guidance policies should reference the use of a data collection system by which the relative success or failure of the behavior guidance policy will be evaluated	27: Policy evaluation procedures	Yes	7	2.5
		Emerging	2	0.7
		No	273	96.8
	28: Formative & summative evaluations	Yes	4	1.4
		Emerging	2	0.7
		No	276	97.9

Note. TAGPEC = Teaching and Guidance Policy Essentials Checklist.

Essential Feature 1

Overall, programs scored relatively high on Essential Feature 1 (M = 1.66), which measured the extent to which policies reflected an instructional and proactive approach to behavior guidance. Slightly over 80% of the programs followed an instructional approach to guidance, while almost 75% of programs emphasized teaching children social norms and desired behaviors. An example of an item in Essential Feature 1 that scored a 2 is Item 2: Emphasis on teaching acceptable social norms and desired behaviors. The policy stated that

one of the goals of the Children’s Center program is to assist children in learning to guide their own behavior. The role of the teacher is to help children learn to eventually solve their own problems and to provide children with the tools to do so.

Essential Feature 2

Essential Feature 2 assessed whether program policies described primary, secondary, and/or tertiary intervention practices. The mean score for this item was 1.06. Primary prevention and intervention strategies were identified by 70.2% of programs, secondary strategies were identified in 13.8% of programs, and tertiary strategies were identified in 41.5% of programs. An example of an item in Essential Feature 2 that scored a 2 is Item 4: Targeted secondary strategies, as illustrated by the following policy excerpt:

The Children’s Program will use three curriculum models in their classrooms as a way to introduce and teach positive social skills. These curricula are Pretend Public Schools Preschool Child Outcomes, Second Step, and Talking About Touching. Each of these curricula emphasizes safety, and the importance of understanding how someone else feels. They teach children to recognize feelings of others and themselves, solve their own problems, and express their anger in nonviolent ways. Having the children practice and role play problem situations in order to use them in everyday interactions is emphasized in each.

Essential Feature 3

The extent to which program behavioral guidance policies described clear and consistent expectations for behavior was assessed via Essential Feature 3. Overall, the majority of program policies did not utilize behavioral expectations as a means to prevent and address challenging behavior, as indicated by the mean score of .51. Only 7.1% of program policies had behavioral expectations that were written with clarity and described behaviors that are observable and measurable, and only 6.4% of program policies described consistent program-wide behavioral expectations. When a program did have program-wide behavioral expectations, there was a connection between program-wide expectations and classroom rules 18.4% of the time. Just over 48% of programs (48.6%) had a clear mission statement that described the overall purpose of the policy. Item 6 of this Essential Feature asks whether behavioral expectations are written with clarity and describe behaviors that are observable and measurable. An excerpt from a policy that was rated a 2 on this item described that

each class uses the same basic rules, which are as follows: 1. We Keep Ourselves Safe (we listen to the teacher, we stay with the group); 2. We Keep Each Other Safe (we use safe touches, we listen to one another); 3. We Keep Our Things Safe

Essential Feature 4

Essential Feature 4 measured whether child guidance policies were developmentally appropriate and addressed areas essential to social and academic success. The mean score for this Essential Feature was .59. When programs did have behavioral expectations in place, only 40.1% of the expectations were developmentally appropriate, and only 2.1% explicitly addressed the need to teach children setting-specific social skills. Behavioral expectations were stated positively 18.4% of the time and encouraged the promotion of internal (child) rather than external (staff) control 34.4% of the time. An example of an item in Essential Feature 4 that scored a 2 is Item 13: Behavioral expectations are designed to promoting external to internal foci. An excerpt from the policy states,

Our staff will use a positive guidance approach, which enables a child to develop self-control and assume responsibility for his/her own behavior. We will foster and guide a child’s choices so his/her behavior will reflect peaceful human relationships with other children and adults. We will provide an age appropriate environment that is stimulating and conducive to the development of a positive self-image in each child.

Essential Feature 5

This feature measured whether the discipline policies recommended reflected evidence-based practices that were developmentally appropriate. The mean score for this Essential Feature was 1.16. Developmentally appropriate strategies were described 82.3% of the time, while multiple strategies were recommended in 64.2% of the policies. The identification of unacceptable guidance strategies was found in 68.4% of policies reviewed. Examples of unacceptable guidance strategies include humiliation, isolation, or depriving a child of his or her basic needs, and identifying these strategies is often a requirement of state licensing agencies. The use of an engaging curriculum as a deterrent to challenging behaviors was described by 19.9% of policies, and the importance of ecological arrangements was addressed in 21.6% of policies. An example of an item in Essential Feature 5 that scored a 2 is Item 14: Developmentally appropriate guidance strategies. An excerpt from the policy states, “The following techniques are developmentally appropriate and best practice, and all employees are expected to know and use these behavior guidance techniques.” The policy then went on to name, describe, and provide rational for each of the following techniques: Active listening, redirection, modifying the environment, reinforcing and noticing, setting limits, enforcing natural consequences, negotiation, and facilitating problem solving.

Essential Feature 6

The importance of sufficient and active adult supervision was assessed by Essential Feature 6, which received a mean score of .63. Almost 17% (16.7%) of program policies described the need for sufficient and active adult supervision, while 33.7% addressed the importance of monitoring and responding to children. An example of an item in Essential Feature 6 that scored a 2 is Item 19: Does the policy emphasize the importance of the sufficient and active adult supervision of all children? An excerpt from the policy states,

Teaching staff will supervise all infants and toddlers/twos by sight and sound at all times. Staff need to be able to hear all infants and toddlers at all times. All infants and toddlers should be easily seen (if not in the direct line of sight, then by looking up or slightly adjusting one’s position) by at least one member of the teaching staff.

Essential Feature 7

This feature measured how programs worked with families to effectively address challenging behaviors in the early years. The mean score for this Essential Feature was .59. Slightly over 20% (20.6%) of the policies described the need for proactive relationships with parents, and 46.5 % described strategies to ensure authentic staff–family collaboration. The need to obtain contextually and culturally relevant information from parents in response to challenging behaviors was described in only 8.2% of policies, while 19.1% of the policies promoted embedding individual goals related to behavior into family or home routines. An example of an item in Essential Feature 7 that scored a 2 is Item 21: Promote proactive relationships with families. An excerpt from the policy states,

Parents have the right to: 1) professional, effective communication from program staff; have access to ongoing two-way communication with program staff to share information about the child’s day (such as a journal), in the frequency and manner that works best for them; receive regular written feedback about what their child is learning, including examples of positive social experiences and how they are developing new skills; receive written documentation of any incident in which their child is harmed, or their child harms another child; a mutually satisfying pattern of communication with the program.

Essential Feature 8

This feature assessed the importance of staff training and technical assistance related to challenging behaviors. Of the policies reviewed, provisions for ensuring that staff received training, and technical support was identified in only 10.6%. The need to provide continued professional development was addressed in 6.4% of the policies reviewed. The mean score for this Essential Feature was .45. An example of an item in Essential Feature 8 that scored a 2 is Item 25: Preparation and training of staff. An excerpt from the policy states, “the teaching staff will be trained on the child guidance policy during new employee orientation, staff meetings, Professional Development Days and/or ongoing staff development.”

Essential Feature 9

Finally, as described by Essential Feature 9, early childhood discipline policies should use data collection systems to evaluate the success of the policy. This Essential Feature received the lowest mean score (M = .08). Policy evaluation procedures were present in 2.5% of the policies, while formative and summative evaluations of the effectiveness of the policy were found in 1.4% of policies. An example of an item in Essential Feature 9 that scored a 2 is Item 27: Policy evaluation procedures. An excerpt from the policy states, “site supervisors and the Manager of Education will review the child guidance policy through classroom visits and discussions including the use of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS), and Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS).”

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge base regarding discipline policies in ECE programs by examining the extent to which programs accredited by the NAEYC utilize policies that reflect the implementation of evidence-based practices to prevent and address challenging behaviors in the early years. Programs, on average, received fewer than half of the possible points on the TAGPEC, and the examination of means on each of the Essential Features indicated that program discipline policies rarely described evidence-based strategies. While we agree with the recommendation made in the joint policy statement that programs have preventive, developmentally-appropriate guidance and discipline practices that are clearly communicated and implemented consistently and without bias, it is important to situate our findings within the current ECE context.

At the state level, child care licensing agencies most often specify forms of discipline that programs are prohibited from using, such as locked timeout in rooms, closets, or dark rooms (19 states), toileting-related punishment (22 states), derogatory remarks (27 states), denial of food (39 states), abusive language (41 states), and physical punishment (43 states; National Association for Regulatory Administration and the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center, 2013). Given the focus of state policy, it is perhaps not surprising that programs in our study did not have policies that reflected a proactive, preventive approach to behavior guidance. The recently reauthorized Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), however, requires that states publish their policies on the social, emotional, and behavioral health of young children, including policies related to expulsion. We view this as an important step toward ensuring that discipline and guidance policies reflect the evidence-based practices and preventive, teaching approach espoused by the TAGPEC.

At the national level, NAEYC has issued position statements advocating for developmentally appropriate early childhood environments for all children, as well as individualized supports and strategies to meet the unique needs of children with challenging behaviors (NAEYC, 2009; NAEYC & Division for Early Childhood [DEC], 2009). NAEYC further calls for the use of evidence-based teaching approaches that address children’s challenging behaviors (NAEYC & National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education [NAECS/SDE], 2003). While these position statements are an important tool for bringing awareness to the issue of challenging behaviors in early childhood, our data suggest that more specific criteria are needed in order for the field to adopt a truly preventive approach to behavior guidance. This is especially true given the absence of behavioral guidance policies and practices in the NAEYC accreditation criteria. In October 2013, NAEYC removed multiple criteria from its program assessment instrument and no longer requires specific documentation on how these criteria are met. Among the criteria that were eliminated were “1.E.02 Teachers observe children who have challenging behavior” (NAEYC, 2013, p. 1) and “10.B.08 The program has written policies and procedures . . . that address the program’s philosophy, curriculum goals and objectives, the program’s commitment to welcome children and families, and guidance and discipline” (NAEYC, 2013, p. 8). When the current study is placed in the context of these changes, it is not surprising that our response rate was so low and that the NAEYC discipline policies received failed to reflect evidence-based practices. It is also important to consider that the policies reviewed in this study may reflect the “best case scenario” as the programs that uploaded policies may be the ones that have decided to develop guidelines for how to address challenging behavior even though it is not a requirement of accreditation.

Study Limitations

Although the current study contributes to the knowledge base regarding discipline policies in ECE programs, the data should be interpreted with caution. Although surveys were sent to all programs in the NAEYC accreditation database, only 282 uploaded policies that could be scored using the TAGPEC. This is clearly not a representative sample of NAEYC or ECE programs, and results cannot be generalized. It should also be noted that it is possible that programs implement evidence-based practices that are not reflected in policy; therefore, future studies may wish to address discrepancies and similarities between policies and actual classroom practices. Finally, additional work examining the psychometric properties of the TAGPEC is warranted, as it is a new tool that requires additional refinement. This should include the examination of relationship between TAGPEC scores and child outcomes.

Implications for Practice

Strengthening the relationship between research, policy, and practice is a fundamental goal of those interested in improving outcomes for children. A recent, comprehensive report by the IOM and NRC (2015) determined that although a great deal is known about how young children learn and develop and the skills, knowledge, and professional support needed by ECE professionals to ensure children’s optimal development, this knowledge is seldom reflected in practice. Specifically, the report concludes that there is a gap between what research tells us and “the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government and other funders who support and oversee these systems” (IOM & NRC, 2015, p. 1). Indeed, ECE has been referred to as a “non-system” as it lacks the overarching governance, funding, and accountability mechanisms present in the K–12 environment, resulting in variability in the services provided to young children and their families, particularly in the areas of equity, replicability, sustainability, accountability, and quality (Kagan & Kauerz, 2012; Kagan, Kauerz, & Tarrant, 2007). When situated in this larger context, our findings are perhaps not surprising, and we contend it is perhaps unrealistic to expect programs in a field plagued by and characterized by high turnover rates, low pay, and minimal educational requirements (Whitebook, 2014) to have policies that would receive a high score on the TAGPEC.

Furthermore, and recalling the research to practice gap described in the IOM and NRC report, it is important to consider whether or not programs have the capacity to implement the practices described in the tool. The recommendations made by the IOM and NRC address actions focused on (a) improving higher education and ongoing professional learning, (b) strengthening qualification requirements based on knowledge and competencies, and (c) promoting evaluation that leads to continuous improvements in professional practices, all of which require substantial change to the current ECE landscape. Given the recent focus on the importance of policies in the prevention of preschool suspension and expulsion, our findings suggest that much more work needs to be done to move the field forward. It is essential that program policies are developmentally appropriate, promote social-emotional and behavioral health, and describe discipline and intervention procedures that have been shown to reduce challenging behavior in the early years. It is also critical that program staff have the knowledge, skills, and support necessary to effectively implement these policies.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the San Diego State University Grants Program for support of this research.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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