The education of children in care: a research review

Purpose - This paper seeks to explore three key aspects of the education of children in care: the composition of that population of children and the extent to which they differ from the general population of children due to difficulties most of them have experienced prior to as well as after entering care; issues relating to the identification of causal relationships and the extent of "underachievement'' by children in care; and any evidence that care may provide more positive opportunities than is often supposed. Design/methodology/approach - The paper's approach is an extensive literature review of existing published research into social policy and practice of caring for looked after children. Findings - The significant factors that contribute to better achievement for children in care are: placement stability and support at school but for some children therapeutic help and specialist assessments are necessary to improve outcomes. Different analyses produce different results and the scrutiny of children's trajectories indicates better outcomes than one-off comparisons with children not in care. Originality/value - Extensive research has established that children in care achieve less educationally than their peers not in care, but does not explain why. This paper helps to fill this gap.