Students in foster care were consistently more likely than other high-need groups to attend a low-performing school¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2030: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Across 2018–19 through 2022–23, students in foster care attended ESSA-identified low-performing schools at higher rates than low-income students and English learners, though rates decreased for this group and all students. → Ximenes Barrat 2025
Evidence¶
Ximenes Barrat 2025¶
Ximenes Barrat, V., Diercks, C., Berliner, B., Derby, K., Chen Gaddini, M., & Pivnick, L. (2025). Revisiting California's invisible achievement gap: Trends in education outcomes of students in foster care in the context of the local control funding formula. WestEd. https://www.wested.org/resource/revisiting-californias-invisible-achievement-gap/
q2 · i? · associational · r2
Analysis of CDE CALPADS data and ESSA Assistance Status Data Files for 2018–19 through 2022–23. Rates fell so that "fewer than one in four students in foster care attended a low-performing school" by 2021–22, yet the group's rate remained the highest of any group studied.
"Compared to students in other high-need groups, students in foster care were also consistently more likely to attend a low-performing school; that is, one eligible for Comprehensive Support and Improvement or for Additional Targeted Support"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Students in foster care were increasingly identified with disabilities, reaching nearly one in three by 2022–23 and far exceeding other high-need groups — related
- Academic achievement of students in foster care improved before the pandemic but lost all gains afterward, with only 19 percent meeting ELA standards in 2022–23 — related
- Students in foster care were consistently about three times more likely to be suspended than all other student groups, with rates reverting to pre-pandemic levels by 2022–23 — related
- Chronic absence among students in foster care peaked after the pandemic, with nearly half chronically absent in 2021–22 — related
- School stability for students in foster care improved from 62 percent to 66 percent but remained far below the roughly 90 percent rate of other groups — related
- Arizona students in foster care attended nontraditional schools at several times the rate of other students, especially in high school — related
- Arizona students in foster care were less likely than all students statewide to attend the state's highest-performing schools — related
- Arizona students in foster care changed schools during the school year at about four times the rate of other students — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
foster-care-low-performing-school-attendance |
title |
Students in foster care were consistently more likely than other high-need groups to attend a low-performing school |
description |
Students in foster care were consistently more likely than other high-need groups to attend a low-performing school |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2025 |
recheck_by |
2030 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-09 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — ximenes-barrat-2025 |
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