Credit hours:
1.50

Course Summary

A large contributing factor for the success of foster youth is educational stability. Young people involved in the child welfare systems deserve a quality education that allows them to develop the skills and competencies necessary for them to become successful adults. Learn what laws are in place to protect the educational experience of foster youth and special circumstances to consider.

In this course, you can expect to learn:

  • the importance of educational stability for a foster youth
  • how youth in foster care feel about their education
  • the unique challenges foster youth face in their pursuit of education
  • the role stability and positive advocacy contribute to a foster youth's education

Step 1

Read the article written by a New York youth:  "Too Many Schools" to gain perspective about the hardships many foster youth face attending school while in foster care.

Step 2

Review the Annie E Casey Foundation article,  "Youth in Foster Care Share Their School Experiences" , in which youth in and from foster care share their personal struggles with stability in education and how it has affected them long term.

Step 3

Review the following article,  "How will the every student succeeds act (ESSA) support students in Foster Care?" , which outlines what the Federal Law says about education for youth in care

Step 4

Review the article developed by Advocates for Children of New York, which speaks to  "The Importance of School Stability for Youth in Foster Care"

Step 5

Join the discussion in the comments below to answer the following question:

What do you think is the number one issue with young people frequently changing schools?

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Course Discussion

mossy09hd's picture
1 month 1 day ago

mossy09hd said:

Repeating a grade in school significantly increases the chance of dropping out. High school students who change schools even once are less than half as likely to graduate as those who do not change schools. Foster youth are half as likely as their peers to graduate from high school and are more than twice as likely to drop out of school.
mossy0824's picture
1 month 2 days ago

mossy0824 said:

When they change schools, older students may risk losing credits. Districts often have different course requirements or credit policies. In some cases, school officials may not review records carefully enough to recognize when transferring students have taken comparable courses. Which then leads to them repeating the same grade.
Bdean's picture
1 month 2 weeks ago

Bdean said:

I think the number one issue with children youth frequently changing schools, is the lack of stability. When a child is constantly switching schools that don't have the opportunity to build bonds with peers and staff. Also the youth is constantly learning and unlearning teaching styles, curriculum, and rules.
amy.hay's picture
2 months 2 days ago

amy.hay said:

The number one issue is that the more the young people transfer to new schools, the more likely they will drop out of school.
MichaelCaputo420's picture
2 months 4 days ago

MichaelCaputo420 said:

I think stability of any kind is the most important thing that you could offer a foster child. It's hard to develop relationships with anyone, teachers, family, other students if you are worried about being ripped away every couple of years.
HannahT's picture
2 months 1 week ago

HannahT said:

I believe isolation becomes a highlighted factor whenever children constantly changing school. Students avoid becoming.ing close with fellow students or counselors because of the fear of leaving again.
swashington12's picture
2 months 1 week ago

swashington12 said:

all children needs stability in everything home, school, friends this helps them have a stable path in life.
benrandrews's picture
2 months 2 weeks ago

benrandrews said:

At the core level, it seems that the simple fact that consistency is so important would be a huge reason why changing schools is so tough on a young person. Nothing works at optimum level with inconsistency.
lmarkins's picture
3 months 4 days ago

lmarkins said:

Children being bounced around in school causes low self esteem; therefore making it difficult to ask for help and results in them struggling to the point that they give up and drop out.
CWpurvis's picture
3 months 6 days ago

CWpurvis said:

social skills and trust skills