Giving Compass' Take:

· According to Education Dive, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it will now begin to report extensive data on foster care youths in school, looking at numerous metrics including academics and both social and emotional health.

· Why is this important information to monitor? How will this help address bigger issues in the area? 

· Here's how you can make an impact for foster care students.

The school board also directed Superintendent Austin Beutner to create partnerships with higher education institutions to help students in foster care transition into college.

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to now report achievement data and graduation rates for students in foster care. But LAUSD’s efforts to report a broader set of indicators go well beyond what most districts do, according to Michelle Francois, senior director for compassionate systems with the nonprofit National Center for Youth Law. The center's FosterEd initiative helps school districts improve services for students in the child welfare system.

The resolution "is significant in acknowledging this data is vital in serving kids involved with the child welfare system," Kawena Cole, FosterEd's program manager for the Antelope Valley, part of Los Angeles County, said in an email. "I hope that this will lead to understanding the complex challenges relevant to LAUSD and helps the district see where target supports are needed and how those challenges and supports need to be changed from year to year."

But even with improved attention to the complex issues facing students in the child welfare system, districts often don’t have the resources or systems in place to provide additional support, such as transportation to a school of origin or extra tutoring to overcome learning loss as a result of changing schools.

Read the full article about reporting on foster care youths by Linda Jacobson at Education Dive.