Abstract

Educational achievements for children in care are significantly poorer than for the general school population. This book explores why this is and how to enable children in care to succeed in the classroom.

It evaluates the educational experience and performance of a sample of 'difficult' adolescents living in foster families, residential children's homes and residential special schools for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). The book addresses factors such as the failure to prioritise education for children in care, placement instability and disrupted schooling. It investigates care environments, policy changes and young people's background experiences - as well as the costs of services - in order to gauge the effectiveness of targeted initiatives. The authors adopt a multidisciplinary approach to suggest how best to support children in care in educational settings.

This book will be essential reading for professionals supporting children in care, including social workers, directors of children's services, policy makers, school leaders, teachers and managers in the public, voluntary and private sectors. It is also highly relevant for social work and education lecturers, researchers and students.

The book's interest often lies in the wealth of detail it produced, sometimes supporting, sometimes challenging existing knowledge in this important area.
Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Journal
Despite the strong policy emphasis over more than ten years on raising the educational attainment of looked after children, progress has been slow and there remains a dearth of high-quality research on the subject (Brodie, 2009). This book, aimed at researchers, policy makers, managers and practitioners, is therefore a welcome addition to the still sparse literature.
Adoption & Fostering
David Berridge is Professor of Child and Family Welfare in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. He began his career as a residential social worker and has been a researcher for 25 years. He is the author of several books, chapters and articles. David was awarded the OBE in January 2005 for services to children. Cherilyn Dance is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Applied Social Research at the University of Bedfordshire. She previously worked at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, and her primary concern is with services for looked-after children. Jennifer Beecham is Professor of Health and Social Care Economics at the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU), University of Kent, and Principal Research Fellow at the PSSRU, London School of Economics and Political Science. Sarah Field is a researcher in the Department of Applied Social Studies at the University of Bedfordshire.