A bill is being introduced that would require the state´s annual standardized tests to note if a child is in foster care. The measure – by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg – would compare the scores of foster children with the scores of other students.

Foster children´s advocates say that if they could have hard data to show how poorly foster children perform compared to their peers, programs could be tailored to help them succeed.

Nearly half the nation´s foster children lack a high school diploma when they leave the system. Forty percent are on welfare or in prison within four years.