‘Closing the gap’

The conditions under which children in care are most likely to catch up in mainstream schools

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21510941
AutoresI 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, autor de correspondencia), Nikki Luke (0000-0003-3921-2142, University of Oxford), Sally Thomas (0000-0001-9337-9168, University of Bristol)
Año2022
Volumen48
Número2
Páginas252-269
Fecha de publicación2022-03-04
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaOxford Review of Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0305-4985 • E-ISSN: 1465-3915
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03054985.2021.1967118
OpenAlexW3194849837
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas17

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