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RESEARCH PRODUCT

A review of interventions to support the educational attainments of children and adolescents in foster care

subject

description

This rapid review seeks to harvest and draw out common findings from intervention studies aimed at supporting the educational and socio-emotional attainments of school-age children and adolescents in foster care. Using carefully executed inclusion and exclusion criteria, data were collected systematically from six electronic databases. The 19 articles included were appraised critically for quality and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The survey of studies revealed an initial need to improve the quality and quantity of research designed to evaluate interventions of this kind. Nevertheless, an analysis of the findings produced sufficient robust evidence to inform policy and practice with regard to 10 aspects of children’s educational and socio-emotional development. The implementation of collaboration models involving all significant parties was especially effective in enhancing adults’ knowledge of and participation in children’s lives, thereby achieving a consistent circle of support. The children also benefited from individualised school-based support, across both academic and socio-emotional dimensions.