Unexpected leader in school district governance

[robcat2075]

NYT:

Amy Dilmar, a middle-school principal in Georgia, is well aware of the many crises threatening American education. The lost learning that piled up during the coronavirus pandemic. The gaping inequalities by race and family income that have only gotten worse. A widening achievement gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students.

But she sees little of that at her school in Fort Moore, Ga.

The students who solve algebra equations and hone essays at Faith Middle School attend one of the highest-performing school systems in the country.

It is run not by a local school board or charter network, but by the Defense Department.

I knew the military ran schools for children of service-people stationed overseas but did not know they also did it for the stateside personnel.

The article notes that the DoD spends as much per student as the highest-spending states. That surely helps in attracting/retaining good teachers. But the highest-spending states aren't all getting these good results.

The more telling point is that the DoD school system is not subject to an elected school board. it is not roiled by the culture wars and fads in education that locally-controlled schools may be. Democracy makes for poor management of a school system, apparently.

Also alarming: a chart in the article shows that the DoD schools have the a higher percentage of reading-proficient eighth-graders than any state... but that winning percentage is still only 55%.

Read the unlocked NYT article:
Who Runs the Best U.S. Schools? It May Be the Defense Department.

[officermayo]

I attended DOD run schools from 1st to 6th grade then entered public school when my father retired from the Marine Corps. At the end of 8th grade, the admin recommended that I advance to 12th grade and graduate at 13 yrs of age. Parents said no and so I coasted through 9th to 12th grade taking every band/chorus/music theory class available.

I was not some super smart egg head type of student, but my educational foundation in DOD schools put me way ahead of my civilian peers. My older brother was in DOD schools for 12 yrs and became a Dr.

When educators aren't controlled by the whims of a local BOE and have the full support of the military parents, discipline is never an issue and learning is accelerated.

[harrisonreed]

The DODEA schools have their own issues. Kids are appearing and disappearing from the class at weird times in the school year because of the movement of troops/families from base to base at a much higher rate than would be "normal" at a civilian school. So they are constantly having to play catch up with kids who just show up in the second half of the year or semester.

Another issue is that it is often military spouses who take on the roles of teachers, especially overseas, and this brings up the same issues as above. It's not that the spouses are unqualified teachers, but imagine that they just up and leave in the middle of the school year because of a military move to another base.

What is interesting is that your post brings up issues of economic inequality due to race or family income -- the DoD has effectively eliminated this issue for service members. You get paid a DoD pay scale salary no matter what your gender or background is and there is no bargaining for better pay. Everyone is different, of course, but for the most part the only way to be economically challenged in the military is to be financially illiterate and mismanage your family budget, rather than coming from a place of disadvantage and being paid less because of who you are perceived to be. Not surprisingly, given a fair shot, most families do just fine. Typically you see that families are pretty well off and the kids and families are not stressed out about rent or paying bills. This might be a big reason why the DODEA schools do well.

[officermayo]

What is interesting is that your post brings up issues of economic inequality due to race or family income -- the DoD has effectively eliminated this issue for service members. You get paid a DoD pay scale salary no matter what your gender or background is and there is no bargaining for better pay. Everyone is different, of course, but for the most part the only way to be economically challenged in the military is to be financially illiterate and mismanage your family budget, rather than coming from a place of disadvantage and being paid less because of who you are perceived to be. Not surprisingly, given a fair shot, most families do just fine. Typically you see that families are pretty well off and the kids and families are not stressed out about rent or paying bills. This might be a big reason why the DODEA schools do well.

I was in DOD schools in the 60s and 70s. At that time military pay was nothing to brag about. The only "divide" between students (at that time) was determined by your father being either Enlisted or an Officer. I had to start school in the civilian world to learn about race problems. Going from a DOD school in Hawaii to a public school in Alabama was quite the cultural shock in many ways.

[robcat2075]

The DODEA schools have their own issues. Kids are appearing and disappearing from the class at weird times in the school year because of the movement of troops/families from base to base at a much higher rate than would be "normal" at a civilian school. So they are constantly having to play catch up with kids who just show up in the second half of the year or semester.

The article notes a determined effort to make sure the curriculum is the same across all schools worldwide. It would still be a disruption for the kid to have to move but at least the teacher can be confident of what the new student has previously studied and is not starting from zero.

That has to be better than the result for another frequently-moving demographic, migrant farm workers' kids.

[harrisonreed]

Yeah I'm not surprised at all that they are scoring better than average. I have to be careful because it's easy to compare my time in school with DODEA, and my town was small and had a very well funded and excellently staffed school system. DODEA has set standards, and they have to meet those standards, and it comes down to the DoD to ensure that the inspections and testing happens to keep that standard.

I believe that a lot of the politics is removed from what is taught at the schools as well -- I am no expert but I believe they fall under the same general principles that govern the DoD policies on Equal Opportunity and inclusiveness, which have tended to be ahead of the curve compared to the nation as a whole. So you've got decently funded, very diverse schools with a lot of oversight. Not a bad system. This is what I can glean from my interactions with the schools each year, and there may be more to it.

[Conn100HGuy]

When educators aren't controlled by the whims of a local BOE and have the full support of the military parents, discipline is never an issue and learning is accelerated.

I've been a school board member for more than 10 years. The whims of a local BOE plus the whims of state departments of education plus the whims of parents all conspire AGAINST academics and rigor.

The whim storm is strong and persistent.