- DoDEA schools simultaneously “do the right things” and “do things right,” including the way individual schools -and the system- respond to high mobility rates.
- Students in the Department of Defense schools perform at a high achievement level in reading and writing. The 1998 NAEP scores in reading and writing for all students, and for specific subgroups of students -African American students and Hispanic American students- are the highest in the nation.
- The 1998 NAEP scores in reading and writing for DoDEA schools are impressively high. Students in DDESS were second in the nation, with 38% scoring at or above the proficient level in writing; DoDDS students were fourth in the nation, with 31% scoring at or above the proficient level in writing. This compares favorably to the national rate of 24%.
- Although achievement gaps exist between White students and Hispanic American and White students are far smaller in DoDEA than the nationwide comparative results in writing. All groups in DoDEA report higher scales scores in writing than national averages.
- There is no significant gap in reading between White and Hispanic American students in DDESS. However, a gap exists between Black and White students. Again, all reading scaled scores are higher than the national average for comparable groups.
- Results provide compelling evidence of the benefits of linking assessment with strategic intervention for school improvement and system wide reform against the backdrop of high student mobility. DoDEA assessment systems are embedded within a coherent policy structure that links instructional goals with accountability systems, supported by professional training and development programs.
- Discussion section proposes several education policy levers: strong and stable teaching force, high expectations, individual attention, sufficient staffing, small school size, “corporate” commitment to public education, robust sense of community, racial diversity and integration.
- The DoDEA system provides a counterpoint to this nationwide portrait of educational segregation. The US military was the first major institution or organization to recognize the need to integrate housing and schools simultaneously; this effort was initiated shortly after World War II. Military housing is racially integrated, a pattern that creates naturally integrated schools on base.