Behavioral Modification and Social-Emotional Learning Frameworks in Pre-Kindergarten Settings: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Managing acute behavioral dysregulation in Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) classrooms represents a persistent operational challenge for early childhood educators. Rather than reflecting individual student or teacher deficits, frequent instructional disruption highlights a structural deficiency within existing classroom behavioral systems. Pre-K behavioral disruption has reached critical levels, with expulsion rates three times higher than K–12 settings and disproportionate impacts on children from underserved communities. Despite extensive research in social-emotional learning (SEL) and behavioral interventions, an operational gap remains for an integrated framework that is multi-tiered, data-generating, somatically grounded, and functional during educator absences. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, this scoping review mapped peer-reviewed literature published between 2000 and 2024 across Google Scholar, ERIC, PsycINFO, and CINAHL examining behavioral modification and SEL frameworks for children aged 3 to 5 ( ). Synthesis of the evidence revealed four primary structural gaps: (a) lack of MTSS-tiered architecture integrated within a Pre-K SEL curriculum, (b) absence of an educator-operated quantifiable rubric, (c) insufficient somatic regulation instruction calibrated for early childhood, and (d) near-universal absence of substitute-ready implementation protocols. Implications for curriculum design, educational equity, and early childhood policy are discussed.