Improving the educational achievement of young people in out-of-home care

A strong link between research and practice is essential to ensure<br/>that the best available evidence gets into the hands of child welfare<br/>practitioners, who are faced with the daunting task of making decisions<br/>about vulnerable children on a daily basis. In 2007, a group of<br/>senior child welfare leaders in the province of Ontario (Canada) created<br/>a research dissemination model that replicated the worldrenowned<br/>UK program, Research in Practice (http://www.rip.org.<br/>uk). Practice and Research Together (PART; www.partontario.org) is<br/>an Ontario consortium of 45 child welfare organizations whose mandate<br/>is to disseminate research to its member agencies, which include<br/>85% of the local child welfare organizations in the province. Each<br/>member pays an annual membership-fee that is based on its size<br/>(Dill & Shera, 2011). A key factor in PART's success has been its ability<br/>to link its program offerings (i.e., webinars, literature reviews, conferences,<br/>and publications) to issues of real-world relevance to child<br/>welfare practitioners and senior leaders. A central and highly anticipated<br/>program offering is PART's annual conference (learning<br/>event). These conferences bring evidence to bear on practice in priority<br/>areas in child welfare.<br/>On May 31 and June 1 and 2, 2011, PART, in collaboration with the<br/>Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services (CRECS)<br/>at the University of Ottawa, co-hosted an international conference in<br/>Ottawa that was focused on improving the educational achievement<br/>of young people in out-of-home care (hereafter, in care). Speakers<br/>from five countries – Canada, USA, Germany, Sweden, and UK – presented<br/>the results of their research at the conference. The speakers<br/>addressed three main topic areas: the disadvantaged socio-political<br/>status of young people in care, many of whom do not complete secondary<br/>or post-secondary education; innovative interventions to improve<br/>their educational outcomes; and the effectiveness of tutoring,<br/>which is the most common educational intervention for young people<br/>in care.