Supporting California's Students in Foster Care and Students Experiencing Homelessness: Developing a Whole-Child Approach

• In Event: Equitable Systems for Thriving Students: Policy Implications of the Science of Learning and Development

Abstract

Students experiencing homelessness (SEH) and students in foster care (FY) experience multiple barriers to educational success. For example, compared to their peers, SEH & FY are more likely to experience trauma (Goodman et al., 1991; Morton, 2018), which can generate physical and psychological effects that influence one’s affect (e.g., depression, anxiety) and disrupts one’s memory, cognition, and attention span (Darling-Hammond & Cook-Harvey, 2018). In addition, SEH & FY often change living arrangements and/or school mid-year (Rumberger, 2015)—moves that entail navigating different campuses, transportation arrangements, curricula, and teacher expectations (Zetlin & Weinberg, 2004). This instability disrupts the relationships and consistency that SoLD indicates are foundational conditions for learning, well-being, and psychological safety (Darling-Hammond et al., 2019).

The experiences of trauma, instability, and broken relationships can impact learning as well as manifest in behavioral challenges that stifle student success and well-being. Yet, while SEH and FY commonly face these obstacles, their needs have sometimes been rendered invisible in education systems. For example, for SEH, schools and districts may not have the resources to adequately identify the signs of student homelessness (Piazza & Hyatt, 2019). For FY, they may not want their foster status known to teachers or other students. Each student group may fear stigmatization from teachers or peers (Clemens et al., 2017). This invisibility can result in students not receiving the services they need to succeed.

This paper synthesizes two research studies—a quantitative study of SEH data, and a mixed method study of FY—to address: What are the educational experiences and outcomes of these student groups, and what can we learn from SoLD to support them? We use a post-positivist lens to critically interpret the implications from data analysis (Panhwar et al., 2017). Quantitative data sources include both publicly available and restricted-use enrollment and achievement data for years 2015-16 to 2018-19 (pre-pandemic) from the California Department of Education. We use descriptive and inferential statistics, supplemented with analysis of interviews with county-level coordinators.

Our analyses suggest that SEH and FY indeed experience significant disruptions that affect their academic success. For instance, SEH and FY change schools mid-year at rates five to seven times that of peers and are most likely to be enrolled in high-poverty or struggling schools. In addition, SEH and FY have rates of chronic absenteeism twice that of other students, and suspension rates three to five times higher. Consequently, their achievement and graduation rates are significantly lower. Our qualitative findings also indicate that educational systems are ill-equipped to mitigate the challenges that SEH and FY face, as data systems, transportation, funding, and child welfare capacity constraints operate as barriers to supporting their distinct needs.

These findings point to necessary SoLD-aligned shifts in educational policy that can enable SEH and FY to have their needs and assets more fully addressed in schools. These include creating relationship-centered learning environments that incorporate support systems and restorative approaches to discipline; instituting professional learning that addresses social-emotional learning; and allocating equitable funding for targeted support to vulnerable student groups.

Authors

• Dion Burns, Learning Policy Institute
  Presenting Author

• Daniel Espinoza, Learning Policy Institute
  Presenting Author