Foster children often face different challenges than their peers, and a new Arizona study shows they lag behind academically. A new study calls it “the invisible achievement gap.”

The study found many troubling statistics, including low standardized test scores and a graduation rate for foster kids of just 33 percent — less than half the state average.

Meghan Arrigo is with Children’s Action Alliance, which commissioned the study. She said foster kids often face gaps in their education, lasting weeks or even months, when they change families within the system.

“So we know that movement, that consistent movement to school to school, disrupts their educational path and also their outcomes,” she said.

Arrigo said the lag time often comes from waiting for school records to catch up with kids, so they can enroll. Her group is looking for ways to make educational continuity a part of the conversation when it comes to foster children’s well-being. That includes giving all foster kids what she calls an “educational champion” who would work with the child’s guardian, judge and others.

“There should be educational outcomes that are identified in the case plan and are talked about at every meeting,” she said. “So it’s a priority.”