Evans, Raymond John (2000) The educational attainments and progress of children in public care. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

There has been concern, since the 1970s, that the education of children in the care of
local authorities had been severely neglected. Reports into social services for children,
such as Utting (1991), recognised this problem, and in 1994 a joint guidance circular was
issued by the Departments for Health and Education. As recently as 1995, however, a
joint report issued by the Social Services Inspectorate and the Office for Standards in
Education stated that the care and education systems, in general, were still failing to
promote the education of children in care. The Social Exclusion Unit's report (SEU,
1998) again recognised the problem and set targets for educational attainment. It was,
however, the Health Select Committee (House of Commons, 1998) who drew attention to
the pointlessness of setting targets when the Government itself acknowledged that there
was a lack of data on the educational circumstances and achievements of children in care.
This action research prOgram set out to address this lack of data by collecting educational
information on a significantly larger scale and in a more comprehensive way than any
previous study (i.e. by covering all looked after children of school age in one authority);
by being longitudinal (i.e. to follow the progress of individuals for up to four years); and
by incorporating care histories of the young people. It was designed with the aim of
informing practice and raising attainment.
The major findings were that children in care underachieve at all stages of their education
and that disproportionate numbers have special educational needs; have poor school
attendance; and are excluded from school. The analysis also indicated that the
relationship between care experiences and academic attainments was more complex than
suggested by the targets being set for local authorities in National Priorities Guidance.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Children -- Institutional care -- Great Britain, Academic achievement -- Great Britain
Official Date:	July 2000
Dates:	Date Event July 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Institute of Education
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	viii, 340 leaves
Language:	eng

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