Our View: Pentagon could teach public schools some lessons

U.S. Defense Department officials are reviewing a freshly delivered report on whether to close down parts of a unique education success story: the network of 223 separate schools serving the 102,000 sons and daughters of U.S. troops around the world. The report examines whether the Defense Department could save money by transferring students in some of the 58 schools it operates within the U.S. to local public schools.

Given the devotion military families show their school system, any move to disband the schools faces significant resistance. But losing those schools would endanger more than a special military benefit. Defense Department schools offer valuable lessons, particularly in educating low-income, minority students. Their successful strategies deserve wider application regardless of what the Defense Department concludes about the future of its individual schools.

Instead, public school educators routinely dismiss comparisons between regular public schools and Defense schools. They say teachers in Defense schools enjoy better discipline, because the students' parents share values learned in the military. And they ignore other ways students in Defense schools resemble those in many troubled urban school districts.

Each year, for instance, about 35% of the student population turns over. Half the students qualify for free and reduced lunches. And only 20% of the students' parents have more than a high school education.

In spite of these challenges, the black and Hispanic students in Defense Department schools lead the nation in minority test scores. The successes aren't limited to minority students, either. On federal writing tests, eighth-graders rank second nationally.

Studies by researchers at Vanderbilt University reveal that such success comes by holding students to high expectations. All students — not just top achievers — are required to take demanding courses.

Other reasons for success include:

Focused teacher training. About 25 years ago, Defense curriculum experts selected an effective writing program and stuck with it. Each teacher receives elaborate training in teaching that program.

The Defense Department schools also wrap professional development tightly around academic goals, according to a Vanderbilt researcher who studied them. By contrast, professional development in public schools is haphazard, many studies have concluded.

Wise testing. In Defense schools, testing lines up perfectly with curriculum. For example, Defense Department curriculum experts designed their own test to ensure students learn the writing program. In public schools, students aren't always tested on the curriculum they're taught.

Adjustments for mobility. When military families move, new students receive an individual diagnosis of academic skills, a visit from a counselor and a "buddy" to help them adjust. In many public schools, new students are left to survive on their own.

Wartime spending needs may force the Defense Department to close some of its domestic schools. That's all the more reason for public schools to find ways now to transfer the success of Defense Department schools into their own classrooms.

Opposing View: Military has unique advantage of discipline, common values
By Paul D. Houston
Public schools in America should be learning organizations; so when someone does something that works in one set of schools, we should pay attention.

The fact that the Department of Defense schools have proved to be effective bears attention. However, in our rush to congratulate them, we must be cautious about how much is transferable.

The schools run by the Department of Defense exist in a context that is difficult to replicate in the broader community. By their very nature, theirs is a cloistered environment. They serve children whose parents are in the same business and who live in communities that are not part of the greater world. This isolation creates a community of common values and strong ties. While the military is very diverse in its makeup, that diversity is trumped by the common expectations and culture of the uniform.

Further, the hierarchical and disciplined culture of the military gives the schools serving its children a major advantage.

I once served as a superintendent of a school district that had two schools on a military base. My principals competed to head those schools because they knew they would never have discipline problems or suffer from a lack of parental interest. When problems occurred, they merely called the commanding officer. He spoke with the parent, and cooperation followed immediately.

While military schools are scattered around the world, they are directed from the Pentagon, and they tend to have a common curriculum and common expectations. That makes it very easy to deal with children who might be transferring from one school to another.

It is ironic that while these schools are funded 100% by the federal government, they are not required to follow the dictates of the No Child Left Behind law, which is driving much of what happens in public schools in the United States.

Yet the nation's public schools receive, on average, only about 7% of their funds from the federal government.

While it is good to see what we can learn from each other, we must remember the words of Yogi Berra: "We have a lot of similarities, but our similarities are different."

Paul D. Houston is the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, based in Arlington, Va.