Giving Compass Take:

• As Education Dive discusses, students in foster care often receive a substandard education because the curriculum can be packed with electives, rather than core courses to help prepare them for the real world.

• How can we take steps to improve the foster care system, making sure that all students have access to a robust, equality education? Which private-public partnerships are worth pursuing in this regard?

• Here's more on how donors can make an impact for students in foster care.

Some students in the foster care system in Pennsylvania, as well as other parts of the country, are sometimes placed in institutions or residential facilities that provide substandard education, which is filled with electives instead of rigorous core courses that challenge them and prepare them for the world ahead, according to reporting from The Huffington Post and The Hechinger Report.

In 2013, data reveals there were roughly 56,000 students nationwide in such educational settings, about 37% below the figure for 2004. Though placement in these settings is falling out of favor, roughly half of the 51,000 children ages 13 or older in foster care in 2015 had spent some time in such institutional environments.

These systems often fall between government departments and are largely unregulated educationally, even though they tend to cost far more than a traditional public school. As a result, some advocates want better oversight of these institutions so students emerge better prepared for the challenges of college and career.

Read the full article about foster children and education by Amelia Harper at Education Dive.