The Educational Status of Foster Children (original) (raw)
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Understanding the plight of foster youth and improving their educational opportunities
Child Abuse & Neglect, 2004
Children in foster care represent one of the most educationally vulnerable populations of students. There are estimated to be 542,000 children in the United States in foster care (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2003), most of whom are at great risk of school failure. These children have been removed from their parents' custody by the courts and placed in out-of-home care with relatives, in foster homes, or in group homes. The problems children in out-of-home care have in receiving an adequate education are considerable. Within US schools, the personal histories of these youngsters and the impact on school performance too often go unnoticed or are misunderstood. Few learning supports are made available by the schools to address the significant academic, emotional and behavioral problems many experience. This commentary describes the educational barriers to learning and achieving facing children in foster care as well as some innovative interventions to improve school outcomes.
This report summarizes findings from a statewide analysis of the educational attainment of foster youth in Washington's public school system. It analyzes various factors related to educational success, comparing the outcomes of youth in long-term foster care with the state's school-age population. The report merges data from the child welfare system and the public schools to detail the educational experience of students, including foster youth, from elementary school through high school completion. On average, foster youth score 15 to 20 percentile points below non-foster youth on statewide achievement tests. Only 59 percent of foster youth enrolled in llth grade complete high school by the end of grade 12. The completion rate for non-foster youth is 86 percent. At both the elementary and secondary levels, twice as many foster youth have repeated a grade, changed schools during the year, or enrolled in special education programs compared with non-foster youth. A youth's length of stay in foster care and other placement characteristics do not appear to relate to educational attainment. Three appendices present regression results for schoolwide assessments, long-term foster youth assessments, and grade 11 high school completion. (SM)
An Examination of Post-Secondary Education Access, Retentionand Success of Foster Care Youth
2011
Changes in the U.S. economy have made the attainment of a higher education credential more important than ever to ensure self-sufficiency. Therefore, it is critical that the child welfare, K-12, and higher education systems encourage and support the postsecondary educational aspirations of court wards. When the state makes the decision to remove a child from his/her biological home, it bears the responsibility to provide the educational guidance as well as assistance otherwise provided by families during the transition from high school to college. This dissertation explores the educational outcomes of older youth in care by first looking at the perceptions of high school aged foster youth in identifying the barriers and pathways they face in graduating from high school and accessing college and then will investigate persistence in post-secondary education for a sample of foster care alumni who are enrolled at a four-year college. The first study investigates the barriers and pathways high school and college-aged foster care youth face in completing high school and in transitioning from high school to college using action research strategies, which are based on an empowerment theoretical framework. The second study follows a cohort of students who were able to successfully enroll in a four-year university and tracks i\ t%. f r-" e-v-~c-6 ^ re ^~S\ A i |\| \<w I
Improving the Postsecondary Educational Attainment of Youth in Foster Care
New Directions for Community Colleges, 2018
This chapter examines what we know about the disparity in postsecondary educational attainment between youth in foster care and their non-foster care peers, the reasons for it, and the policies and programs that have been developed to address that disparity. It also discusses the unique role that community colleges can play in reducing this disparity.
The voices of youth formerly in foster care: Perspectives on educational attainment gaps
Children and Youth Services Review, 2017
As a population, youth who experience foster care graduate from high school at rates well below their non-foster care peers (National Working Group for Foster Care & Education, 2014). A Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) study was conducted to better understand the perspective of former foster youth on the graduation gap and their experience in school. Analysis of focus group data revealed one overarching domain, emotional consequences, as well as seven additional domains that related to youths' experiences surrounding their educational attainment: resilience, basic needs, internalized messages about education, educational stability, consequences of school mobility, fastest or easiest positive exit from K-12, and recommendations from youth. This research highlights the challenges faced by 16 former foster youth, their perspectives regarding the need to raise expectations, and their suggestions for closing the educational attainment gap.