Lawmakers once again have tried to address the need for early intervention for young disruptive students.

Several education measures under evaluation this week during West Virginia's ongoing special session deal with teachers and administrators.

Leadership, unquestionably, has to be a major consideration. However, dealing with the causes of disruptive behavior, especially in younger students, may need to involve an overhaul of the way children in the foster care system are processed.

More often than not, children removed from their families by the Department of Health and Human Resources are placed in several short-term situations.

Young children may be moved from one school district to another and may be in a particular school only a few weeks or a few months.

The constant upheaval and changes in both home and school environments puts these kids behind the eight ball. It's next to impossible for them to keep up with reading and math skills.

Their poor performance on test scores has a direct impact on the schools they happen to be attending when test time rolls around.

Add to that children's fears and frustrations, coupled with the traumatic circumstances they have undergone, and you get disruptive behavior.

Except for unusual circumstances, a foster children should be allowed to remain in one school for at least a full school term. Not only would that improve his or her chances for better academic performance. It would also provide a sense of stability and community.

There's no question the DHHR has to get these children out of environments where there is physical or sexual abuse or the presence of illegal drugs, addicted parents or other threatening conditions.

However, there seems to be no regulations in place to cut down the transience of so many of these children in Child Protective Services.

Studies have already shown many of those schools on the low end of the performance scale have high transient populations.

Fortunately, the House Education Committee has pulled back on a proposal for a sweeping overhaul of the state's educational system. That's a wise move.

It's more likely that a sweeping overhaul of the way foster children are managed would be the biggest single step in improving their individual performance levels. As students become more successful, so do the schools they attend.

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