Background
Consistently documented in the child-welfare literature is the difficulty of young children in care in reaching key developmental milestones necessary for learning. When compared to preschool children in the general population, those receiving out-of-home care are more likely to display a lag in language, executive functioning and general cognitive development (e.g., Pears & Fisher, 2005; Kovan, Mishra, Susman-Stillman, Piescher, & LaLiberte, 2014). Unfortunately, these trends carry through to the school-aged years where children in-care are more likely than their community-based counterparts to score significantly lower on standardized tests, experience grade retention issues, expulsions, suspensions and absenteeism (Eckenrode, Laird, & Doris, 1993, Leiter & Johnson, 1994, for a review, see Stone, 2006). These observations are concerning because children in-care who are failing to meet appropriate academic milestones are also more vulnerable to lower levels of well-being and success in adulthood (e.g., Attar-Schartz, 2009; Schiff & Benbenishty, 2006; Taylor, Johnson, & Brownridge, 2008).
Interestingly, the extent to which children in-care experience academic success varies across individuals, with some demonstrating better outcomes than others. To date, certain foster placement and child-specific characteristics have been found to relate to educational outcomes. These patterns of results raise important questions concerning how foster placement and child-specific factors operate together to influence academic achievement. Perhaps this can be best understood through an ecological perspective, where development occurs within a multi-level framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The ecological model theorizes that children are directly and indirectly influenced by various reciprocal factors that are embedded within multiple layers of influence. This suggests that to understand academic outcomes in children in-care, we need to consider the dynamic co-influence of the foster placement and children themselves.
Objective
The goal of the current literature review is to critically examine existing evidence in order to understand the extent to which academic outcomes can be understood as a function of the foster placement and children themselves.
Method
There will be three main components to the literature review. Following a brief overview of the ecological model, the first component will examine how differences across foster placements are associated with educational outcomes. Concepts similar to caregiver cognitive sensitivity, placement literacy environments and caregiver involvement will be explored. Component 2 will focus on understanding how differences between children can account for individual differences in academic achievement. Specifically, the literature review will focus on the effects of the child’s own cognitive ability (e.g., language, executive functioning) in predicting academic achievement. Lastly, the third component will examine how these patterns can be interpreted within a multi-level framework. Specifically, the literature review will focus on examining how children cluster on academic achievement within foster placements. Mediation processes that can explain how foster placements indirectly impacts on children’s academic outcomes will also be explored.
Implications
The implications of the critical review of the literature for intervention will be discussed, especially with regard to preparing caregivers (e.g., foster or kinship parents) to maximize the developmental progress of the preschool-aged children in their charge.
Prevention and family intervention programs , Education and qualification of children and young people in care
