IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v82y2017icp466-476.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving school performance among Swedish foster children: A quasi-experimental study exploring outcomes of the Skolfam model

Author

Listed:
  • Durbeej, Natalie
  • Hellner, Clara

Abstract

The educational underachievement of foster children has long been known and interventions aiming to improve school achievements in this population are highly warranted. The Skolfam model is a Swedish preventive approach with the primary goal to improve school performance among foster children. This quasi-experimental study aimed to explore the effects of Skolfam in comparison with the effects of ordinary support from the local community among foster children in Sweden. The study comprised one baseline assessment and one follow-up assessment, including both psychological and pedagogical outcome measures. In total, 91 foster children were included, of which 54 participated in the intervention group (Skolfam) and 37 participated in the comparison group. Children who had been given support in accordance with Skolfam showed minor improvements with weak effects on perceptual reasoning, general cognitive ability and literacy skills relative to the comparison group. These improvements were found regardless of gender, native language, signs of intellectual deficiency or having been replaced in a new foster home and/or in other societal care. For foster children in Sweden, the Skolfam model could be considered promising in improving school performance and may serve as a protective factor against adverse outcomes. Given the limited sample size, further research on this topic should be conducted before firm conclusions are drawn.

Suggested Citation

  • Durbeej, Natalie & Hellner, Clara, 2017. "Improving school performance among Swedish foster children: A quasi-experimental study exploring outcomes of the Skolfam model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 466-476.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:82:y:2017:i:c:p:466-476
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.10.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740917304048
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.10.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. von Borczyskowski, Annika & Vinnerljung, Bo & Hjern, Anders, 2013. "Alcohol and drug abuse among young adults who grew up in substitute care — Findings from a Swedish national cohort study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 1954-1961.
    2. Vinnerljung, Bo & Hjern, Anders, 2011. "Cognitive, educational and self-support outcomes of long-term foster care versus adoption. A Swedish national cohort study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1902-1910, October.
    3. Mooney, Jennifer & Winter, Karen & Connolly, Paul, 2016. "Effects of a book gifting programme on literacy outcomes for foster children: A randomised controlled trial evaluation of the Letterbox Club in Northern Ireland," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-8.
    4. Berlin, Marie & Vinnerljung, Bo & Hjern, Anders, 2011. "School performance in primary school and psychosocial problems in young adulthood among care leavers from long term foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2489-2497.
    5. Forsman, Hilma & Vinnerljung, Bo, 2012. "Interventions aiming to improve school achievements of children in out-of-home care: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1084-1091.
    6. Roberts, Jennifer & Winter, Karen & Connolly, Paul, 2017. "The Letterbox Club book gifting intervention: Findings from a qualitative evaluation accompanying a randomised controlled trial," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 467-473.
    7. Trout, Alexandra L. & Hagaman, Jessica & Casey, Kathryn & Reid, Robert & Epstein, Michael H., 2008. "The academic status of children and youth in out-of-home care: A review of the literature," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 979-994, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Goulet, Julie & Maltais, Christine & Archambault, Isabelle & Noël, Véronique & Guériton, Muriel, 2024. "Supporting academic achievement of children in out-of-home care through effective interventions: results of a systematic review and meta-analyses," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Tordön, Rikard & Bladh, Marie & Svedin, Carl Göran & Sydsjö, Gunilla, 2020. "Challenging intellectual, behavioral and educational prerequisites for interventions aimed at school aged children in foster care. A compilation of Swedish test results," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. Jacobsen, Charlotte Bredahl & Koustrup, Cecilie & Sjö, Nina Madsen, 2024. "Attentive to learning? Supporting social workers’ monitoring of learning skills in children placed in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Evans, Rhiannon & Hallett, Sophie & Rees, Alyson & Roberts, Louise, 2016. "The acceptability of educational Interventions: Qualitative evidence from children and young people in care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 68-76.
    2. Lindner, Abigail Rose & Hanlon, Ryan, 2024. "Outcomes of youth with foster care experiences based on permanency outcome – Adoption, aging out, long-term foster care, and reunification: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Forsman, Hilma, 2020. "Exploring educational pathways over the life course in children with out-of-home care experience: A multi-group path analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. Hansson, Åse & Gustafsson, Jan-Eric & Nielsen, Bo, 2018. "Special needs education and school mobility: School outcomes for children placed and not placed in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 589-597.
    5. Goulet, Julie & Maltais, Christine & Archambault, Isabelle & Noël, Véronique & Guériton, Muriel, 2024. "Supporting academic achievement of children in out-of-home care through effective interventions: results of a systematic review and meta-analyses," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Vinnerljung, Bo & Brännström, Lars & Hjern, Anders, 2015. "Disability pension among adult former child welfare clients: A Swedish national cohort study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 169-176.
    7. Kääriälä, Antti & Hiilamo, Heikki, 2017. "Children in out-of-home care as young adults: A systematic review of outcomes in the Nordic countries," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 107-114.
    8. Flynn, Robert J. & Marquis, Robyn A. & Paquet, Marie-Pierre & Peeke, Lisa M. & Aubry, Tim D., 2012. "Effects of individual direct-instruction tutoring on foster children's academic skills: A randomized trial," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1183-1189.
    9. Borgen, Nicolai T. & Frønes, Ivar & Raaum, Oddbjørn, 2023. "Every tenth child: Heterogeneity in characteristics and life-course patterns among children in contact with child welfare services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    10. Brännström, Lars & Vinnerljung, Bo & Hjern, Anders, 2015. "Risk factors for teenage childbirths among child welfare clients: Findings from Sweden," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 44-51.
    11. Forsman, Hilma & Vinnerljung, Bo, 2012. "Interventions aiming to improve school achievements of children in out-of-home care: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1084-1091.
    12. Tordön, Rikard & Bladh, Marie & Svedin, Carl Göran & Sydsjö, Gunilla, 2020. "Challenging intellectual, behavioral and educational prerequisites for interventions aimed at school aged children in foster care. A compilation of Swedish test results," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    13. Olsson, Tina M & Blakeslee, Jennifer & Bergström, Martin & Skoog, Therése, 2020. "Exploring fit for the cultural adaptation of a self-determination model for youth transitioning from out-of-home care: A comparison of a sample of Swedish youth with two samples of American youth in o," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    14. O'Higgins, Aoife & Sebba, Judy & Gardner, Frances, 2017. "What are the factors associated with educational achievement for children in kinship or foster care: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 198-220.
    15. Hickey, Andrea J. & Flynn, Robert J., 2020. "A randomized evaluation of 15 versus 25 weeks of individual tutoring for children in care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    16. Connolly, Paul & Sebba, Judy & Winter, Karen & Roberts, Jennifer & Tah, Priya & Millen, Sharon, 2023. "The effectiveness of book-gifting programmes to enhance the reading skills of children in care: A randomised controlled trial of ‘Reading Together’ in England," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    17. Olsen, Rikke Fuglsang & de Montgomery, Christopher J., 2018. "Revisiting out-of-home placed children's poor educational outcomes—Is school change part of the explanation?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 103-113.
    18. Nho, Choong Rai & Park, Eun Hye & McCarthy, Mary L., 2017. "Case studies of successful transition from out-of-home placement to young adulthood in Korea," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 315-324.
    19. Goyette, Martin & Blanchet, Alexandre & Esposito, Tonino & Delaye, Ashleigh, 2021. "The role of placement instability on employment and educational outcomes among adolescents leaving care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    20. von Borczyskowski, Annika & Vinnerljung, Bo & Hjern, Anders, 2013. "Alcohol and drug abuse among young adults who grew up in substitute care — Findings from a Swedish national cohort study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 1954-1961.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:82:y:2017:i:c:p:466-476. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.