Educators' Toolkit: Working with Students in Foster Care

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

University of West Georgia

Second Presenter's Institution

NA

Third Presenter's Institution

NA

Fourth Presenter's Institution

NA

Fifth Presenter's Institution

NA

Location

Session 4 (Ballroom F)

Strand #1

Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Academic Achievement & School Leadership

Relevance

Students who experience foster care (SEFC) are a unique population whose childhood experiences with abuse/neglect impact their social and emotional skills. However, their independence and resilience are tools SEFC can utilize to navigate the barriers to academic success from elementary school through college. When school and community leaders collaborate, and create systems to increase SEFC interpersonal skills and sense of self, students have the potential to increase their social and emotional skills, as well as their academic achievement.

Brief Program Description

This program will emphasize promising practices for professionals working with students who experience foster care in schools and/or the community. Based on data collected from one-on-one interviews with students, professionals can create opportunities for youth to engage in academics, increase their peer relationships, and embrace their unique identities.

Summary

During this presentation participants will consider the unique characteristics of students who experience foster care (SEFC), as well as the potential barriers to development and academic success this population faces. The presenter will discuss participant data and the practices that students identified as helpful in their educational transitions. After, participants will work individually, then in pairs to formulate a plan to engage SEFC in their environments. As a result of this presentation, participants will leave with a list of strategies (i.e., group counseling in K-12 schools, student organization involvement in colleges, and a therapeutic relationship with a counselor in the community) that can be implemented at their work sites.

Evidence

This presentation is based on a phenomenological research that included eight one-on-one interviews with students who experienced foster care who were in their second year in college. Data gleaned from participants, and analyzed rigorously included ways school counselors, community counselors, teachers, administrators, and higher education professionals can collaborate to increase students' ability to form interpersonal connections while increasing a sense of self.

Biographical Sketch

Sarah Jones is an Assistant Professor of College Student Affairs at the University of West Georgia. Sarah’s experiences across the PK-20 continuum, including roles as a K-12 public school classroom teacher, university instructor, and assistant director of first-year experience, inform her practice and research. Sarah’s research interests include educational transitions for historically marginalized students, including students who experienced foster care.

Keyword Descriptors

Foster Care, Education, College, Mental Health, Counselors, Schools, Leadership

Presentation Year

2019

Start Date

3-5-2019 8:30 AM

End Date

3-5-2019 9:45 AM

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Mar 5th, 8:30 AM Mar 5th, 9:45 AM

Educators' Toolkit: Working with Students in Foster Care

Session 4 (Ballroom F)

This program will emphasize promising practices for professionals working with students who experience foster care in schools and/or the community. Based on data collected from one-on-one interviews with students, professionals can create opportunities for youth to engage in academics, increase their peer relationships, and embrace their unique identities.