Denied at the Door: Examining Pre-enrollment Exclusion in Early Childhood Education

Exclusionary discipline has been a well-documented and growing problem in early childhood programs in the United States, with potentially long-term negative consequences for young children. Although expulsion from early learning settings is widely examined in the literature, far less attention has been given to pre-enrollment exclusion, or the practice of denying admission to a child based on their actual or perceived behaviors. This study reports findings from an online, anonymous survey of 112 community childcare program administrators from a single state located in the northeastern region of the United States regarding their use of pre-enrollment exclusion practices. Most administrators (65.2%) reported requesting information about a child’s special needs or challenging behaviors before enrollment and nearly 40% of those reported denying enrollment to a child on this basis. Reasons included staffing limitations, perceived or diagnosed disabilities (especially autism), staff feeling unequipped, specific behavioral concerns, and medical needs. Administrators who did not request this information indicated that they gather it informally, place responsibility on the parents to disclose, have legal/ethical concerns, do not think it’s necessary, are planning to add these questions in future, or just need to fill available openings. Findings highlight the need for a deeper understanding of pre-enrollment exclusion and its role within the broader landscape of exclusionary discipline in early childhood settings.