The performance of foster youth in school may suffer depending on where they are placed and the length of their placement, according to a new report from the California Child Welfare Indicators Project and the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd. In The Invisible Achievement Gap, Part 2: How the Foster Care Experiences of California Public School Students Are Associated with Their Education Outcomes, researchers examined the significant variations in academic achievement for the more than 43,000 children in foster care across the state.
The new report comes on the heels of the 2013 release of the first part of the study, which compared the educational outcomes of foster youth with other K-12 students in California, including many other at-risk groups with low educational outcomes. Part 2 focuses on the impact of living situations on disability diagnosis, school changes, standardized-test performance, dropout, and graduation rates.
To read the full report, please click here.