‘Closing the gap’
The conditions under which children in care are most likely to catch up in mainstream schools
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21510941 |
|---|---|
| Authors | I Sinclair (0000-0003-2052-4234), John Fletcher (0000-0003-0752-2568, University of Oxford), Aoife O’Higgins (0000-0002-2558-401X, University of Oxford), Nancy Luke (0000-0001-6170-4982, corresponding author), Nikki Luke (0000-0003-3921-2142, University of Oxford), Sally Thomas (0000-0001-9337-9168, University of Bristol) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 252-269 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Oxford Review of Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-4985 • E-ISSN: 1465-3915 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03054985.2021.1967118 |
| OpenAlex | W3194849837 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 17 |
BSTRACTChildren ‘in care’ have, on average, lower educational attainment than their peers. This article tests the hypothesis that many of these children can ‘catch-up’, if in stable placements and secondary schools ‘apparently effective’ with other children with ‘similar’ difficulties. In a cohort of 542,998 16-year-old English children in mainstream schools, those in care for at least a year were on average 148,465 ranks behind their peers on measured attainment at age 7. At age 16, 21% of this group had ‘caught up’ improving their ranking by at least this amount. Allowing for covariates, we found that schools were differentially effective for disadvantaged pupil groups defined by eligibility for free school meals at age 7, in the bottom 3 deciles of attainment at entry to secondary school, or deemed ‘in need’ or as having behavioural, emotional or social difficulties. As predicted, the conditions for children in care catching up related to placement stability and measures of their school’s apparent impact on these disadvantaged groups. In the ‘worst’ conditions 4% caught up as against 52% in the ‘best’. The results support the hypotheses that best practice can reduce the educational gaps between children in care, other low attaining groups and their peers
Cohort · Decile · Developmental psychology · Disadvantaged · Educational attainment · Mainstream · Political science · Sociology · Child Welfare and Adoption · Demography · Early Childhood Education and Development · Medicine · Parental Involvement in Education · Psychology
Educational effectiveness research (EER)
Trauma-Informed Practices in Schools Across Two Decades
Multilevel Statistical Models
Understanding Foster Placement Instability for Looked After Children
Theory and explanation in child welfare
The education of children in care
Differential Secondary School Effectiveness
Matches and Mismatches
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |