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Foster Children Lost in Schools, Study Says

Posted on: Saturday, 13 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

ericeyre@wvgazette.com

Fewer than half of West Virginia's 3,000 foster children stay at the same school for the entire school year.

Foster-care children score far below their peers in all subjects on standardized tests. They're more likely to get suspended.

And some foster children are getting as little as two hours of instruction each day.

In a 33-page report released Wednesday, a state task force concluded that there's a "perpetual air of distrust, lack of communication and understanding of all parties" in the schooling of foster children across the state.

"It seems to me these are lost children in West Virginia," said Priscilla Haden, a state school board member.

The state board established the task force in response to a 2004 Alliance for Children report on foster-care children.

About 60 percent of West Virginia's foster children live in family homes, 30 percent in group residences and 10 percent in institutional settings.

The task force found that there are no education standards for foster children, and no expectations for them in school. No one monitors the academic performance of foster kids, according to the report, titled "Already Behind."

Many West Virginia foster children attend "alternative schools" for struggling students, but the task force concluded that most of those programs are "ineffective and sometimes counterproductive."

Foster children scored behind their peers at all grade levels in reading, science, social studies and math, according to the report. Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Resources databases were merged to compare students' scores.

Foster children also were disciplined at higher rates.

In a sample of 2,000 foster children in West Virginia schools, 300 were suspended at least 10 times last year. Forty-two percent of foster children were disciplined at school during the 2003-04 school year. More than half of the children under the state's care reported they got sent back to their residences from schools on a "regular basis."

"This is not just a public education problem. This is a child welfare problem, too," said Frank Andrews, an assistant superintendent at the Department of Education. "These children come from homes - child abuse, child neglect. They have been removed from their homes."

Task force members plan to meet in the coming months and discuss proposals to close the education achievement gap for foster children.

"We have a challenge before us," state board President Lowell Johnson said. "We need to educate these children. In the past we have not done the job we need to do."

Also Thursday, the Department of Education released a report on West Virginia's high schools.

State board members want to bolster academics for high school seniors. Only about 30 percent of high school seniors take a full load of courses their final year.

"You will find many senior classes vacant," said Assistant Superintendent Stan Hopkins, who's heading the task force that's examining high schools. "The group of students not availing themselves that senior year are the ones who need it most."

Some state school board members also want to increase the number of "end of course" exams that high school students must take.

To contact staff writer Eric Eyre, use e-mail or call 348-4869.

Source: Charleston Gazette, The

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