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Children in care make education gains
The graduation rate for all B.C. students is 84 per cent. The percentage of students in the care of the government who turn 19 with a high-school credential is 47 per cent. Until recently, there wasn’t one student in care enrolled anywhere in B.C. in Math 12, which can be a prerequisite for the sciences track.
This is a dismaying gap, given the Children and Family Development Ministry’s acknowledgment of the obvious: “There is strong evidence that completing high school is conducive to general well-being throughout life. Furthermore, it is a good barometer of current general well-being for that particular cohort.”
The ministry runs a number of programs to maximize clients’ progress through the school system. But there is obviously still work to do.
The statistics are from a comprehensive performance review released recently that takes a look at many aspects of the lives of children in care. The ministry noted that the graduation rate for children in care is trending upward. It was 28 per cent in 2001. So 47 per cent looks good beside that abysmal earlier rate. But it’s not as simple as that.
The trend is due to the introduction a few years ago of a different category – the completion certificate. It goes to students who successfully complete goals in their individualized education plans. They are 17 per cent of the children in care considered to have a high-school credential. Take that group out for a moment and the percentage of children in care with the Dogwood certificate – the established standard signifying graduation – is 29 per cent. That’s up modestly from 22 per cent in 2001. (Another category brings the total rate that year up to 28 per cent.)
There are also measurements in earlier grades that raise concerns. Based on foundation-skills assessment marks, from a group of 296 children in care who were in Grade 4 last year, only 31 per cent are meeting or exceeding expectations in numeracy, and 40 per cent in reading. There were similar disappointing numbers for 311 students in Grade 7.
The zero enrolment in Math 12 lasted four years, although there is a small handful of children in care currently taking that course, said Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, representative for children and youth.
The statistics outline how children in care are struggling in the lower grades and finishing high school in greater numbers partly by way of reduced expectations.
Another section gives a glimpse of what happens after high school.
There’s a breakdown of the 361 clients who aged out of the child care system at age 19 in 2013. Slightly more than half applied for income assistance in some form. The majority of them were under the persons-with-disabilities category. That’s a support program for adults with severe mental or physical impairment likely to continue for two or more years.
Turpel-Lafond said Friday she’s pleased to see the ministry come out and own the issues, by way of compiling the report. There’s been some celebration the completion rate is trending up, but the completion certificate is not the Dogwood, she said. Holders often are required to take make-up post-secondary courses.
She said there is heartening news about the 170 former children in care who are getting free tuition at some B.C. institutions, something she instigated. But she said everybody now pulling for such children has to work harder to get them there.
Les Levene
17 January 2015
