Child maltreatment, out-of-home placement and academic vulnerability: A fifteen-year review of evidence and future directions

Increasing attention is being paid to the poor educational progress of maltreated and foster youth. This paper reviews research on educationally-related issues and outcomes for maltreated and foster children and youth conducted since 1990. Existent research is plagued with methodological limitations including inattention to selection effects and reliance on mostly cross-sectional designs. Given inter-correlations between educational risk factors, maltreatment and placement characteristics, surprisingly little research moves beyond main effects of either maltreatment or basic foster care characteristics. This paper presents conceptual and methodological considerations for future research, with particular emphasis on enhancing the policy relevance of the literature.