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Young children (birth to age 5) are more likely to be expelled or suspended than school-aged children, but we know comparatively little about the precursors to and prevention of exclusion in early childhood settings. Furthermore, what research has been conducted has not been systematically synthesized to inform policy and funding decisions. The present review seeks to determine how early childhood exclusion is defined and assessed in the academic literature. Studies measuring early childhood suspension or expulsion were systematically gathered and coded for study characteristics, definitions, and measures of exclusionary discipline and disparity, and factors associated with exclusion rates. Results (n = 20) show an accelerating pace of inquiry that attends to multiple levels of the ecological system (children, teachers, and programs) across diverse settings (home-, center-, and school-based care). Additional research that draws on data spanning multiple types of early care and education settings is needed to inform legislation and intervention funding decisions.

Nationwide, 17,000 3-and 4-year old children are expelled or suspended from preschool each year (Zeng et al., 2019). In response, advocates and researchers have called on policymakers to implement policies and legislation to prevent our youngest learners from entering the "preschool-to-prison pipeline" before they have even begun formal schooling. This article, coauthored by a team of academic researchers, advocates, and policymakers, includes findings from a multimethod, longitudinal study of the implementation of one state's approach to curtailing early childhood expulsion, Illinois Public Act 100 -0105. Original survey and interview data were collected for this study from early childhood program administrators throughout the state. Our findings have already been used to enhance practice, policy, and dissemination efforts, while also documenting barriers and a need for more data. By sharing how our multidisciplinary coalition collaborated to collect, interpret, disseminate, and translate findings from this study, we hope to inform the development of collaborative partnerships in the study of similar policies in other jurisdictions. What is the significance of this article for the general public?This report describes the experiences of a multidisciplinary team seeking to end the expulsion of young children from childcare and preschool programs in Illinois. Through our iterative collaboration, research on the implementation of a new legislation was translated and disseminated to stakeholders reducing unintended consequences and supporting children and programs statewide.

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) is a preventative, capacity‐building intervention in which mental health professionals partner with early childhood professionals to indirectly improve the environments and relationships that young children experience. Prior research has demonstrated that IECMHC is associated with positive outcomes for children, teachers, and classrooms. Over the past decade, IECMHC implementation and research have expanded, warranting an updated review. The current paper provides an update of the IECMHC evidence base. Included studies (n = 16) were systematically gathered, screened, and coded for context, intervention characteristics, methods and measures, outcomes across ecological levels, and alignment with the IDEAS Impact Framework's guiding questions. Our analysis replicates prior reviews, describing the positive impact of IECMHC on outcomes such as child externalizing behavior, teacher self‐efficacy, and teacher‐child interactions. Beyond updating prior reviews, this analysis describes emerging, nuanced findings regarding the mechanisms of change and the differential impact of IECMHC. We augment our review with descriptions of evaluations that did not meet our inclusion criteria (e.g., IECMHC in the home visiting context, unpublished evaluation reports) to provide context for our findings. Finally, we provide policy and practice implications and articulate an agenda for future research.