An exploratory study of the academic performance of foster children in a residential group home environment, 1997

The education of children who are looked after by local authorities is now rightly a national issue, and among the many disadvantages suffered by children looked after by local authorities, low educational achievement probably has the most serious consequences for their future life chances. This paper examines the importance of education and reasons why foster children do poorly in the educational arena. Secondary data was used in collecting data needed for the study. The academic records from case files of Brantwood Children's Home were the source of gathering the appropriate information. The researcher found that the academic performance is influenced by the length of time a child is in the program. The findings also suggest other factors such as past histories, health, physical and emotional abuse are causes for low educational attainment and the length of stay has no affect on these variables