What Can We Learn from Rhode Island’s New Data about Students Experiencing Foster Care?

Recently, Rhode Island joined a small list of states that have implemented data-sharing agreements to better track and assess the unique needs of students in foster care. 

The list should be much longer. Academic preparation in high school is one of the strongest predictors of college enrollment and choice. But access to high-quality schooling experiences remains elusive for many young people experiencing foster care. And although youth in care often aspire to attain a college education, it is well-documented that they face severe barriers, including disproportionate exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspensions), grade retention due to the delayed transfer of academic records, and school instability driven by unstable foster care placements, to name a few. 

I have advocated for adopting state legislation to mandate state education departments and local child welfare agencies to revise and update current enrollment data systems to include students in foster care. Although the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) maintains records of children in foster care and the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) tracks student educational outcomes, the two departments had never previously implemented a data-sharing agreement to capture the academic success metrics for young people impacted by foster care. 

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