DOD Schools
Additional Reporting Could Improve Accountability for Academic Achievement of Students with Dyslexia Gao ID: GAO-08-70 December 6, 2007Many of our nation's military and civilian personnel depend on Department of Defense (DOD) schools to meet their children's educational needs. These schools provide a range of educational services including programs for students with disabilities and those who struggle to read, some of whom may have a condition referred to as dyslexia. To determine how DOD supports students with dyslexia and how it used $3.2 million in funds designated to support them, GAO was asked to examine: (1) what professional development DOD provides its staff to support students with dyslexia and how the fiscal year 2004-to-2006 funds designated for this purpose were used, (2) what identification and instructional services DOD provides to students who may have dyslexia, and (3) how DOD assesses the academic achievement of students with disabilities, including dyslexia. To address these objectives, GAO conducted a survey of all school principals and interviewed agency officials, school personnel, and parents in six school districts.
DOD provides a mix of online and classroom training to teachers who work with students who struggle to read, and DOD used 2004-to-2006 funds designated for professional development on dyslexia, in particular, to supplement these efforts. Most of the online and classroom professional development prepares teachers and specialists to assess student literacy and provides them with strategies to teach students who have particular difficulties. For the 2004-to-2006 funding for professional development on dyslexia, DOD supplemented its existing training with online courses that include specific modules on dyslexia and tools to assess students' literacy skills. DOD identifies students who struggle to read--some of who may have dyslexia--through standardized tests and provides them with supplemental reading instruction. DOD uses standardized tests to screen its students and identify those who need additional reading instruction, but these schools do not generally label them as dyslexic. To teach students they identify as struggling readers, DOD schools primarily employ an intensive multimedia reading program that is highly regarded by the principals, teachers, and parents GAO interviewed. Those students whose performance does not improve through their enrollment in supplemental reading programs or who have profound reading difficulties may be eligible to receive special education services. DOD is subject to many of the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 on the education of students with disabilities. Students with dyslexia may qualify for these services, but they must meet program eligibility requirements. DOD uses the same standardized tests it uses for all students to assess the academic achievement of students with disabilities, including those who may have dyslexia, but does not report specifically on the outcomes for students with disabilities. A primary goal of DOD's strategic plan is for all students to meet or exceed challenging academic standards. To measure progress towards this goal, DOD assesses all students' academic achievement and school performance by comparing test scores to a national norm or to a national proficiency level. Overall, students perform well in reading compared to U.S. public school students. DOD disaggregates test scores for students with disabilities but does not report such information publicly. In contrast, U.S. public school systems under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 must report such data. Without this information, it is difficult for parents, policy makers, and others to measure the academic achievement of students with disabilities relative to all other students in the DOD school system.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
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Report to the Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, House of
Representatives:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
December 2007:
DOD Schools:
Additional Reporting Could Improve Accountability for Academic
Achievement of Students with Dyslexia:
DOD Schools:
GAO-08-70:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-08-70, a report to the Chairman, Committee on Science
and Technology, House of Representatives.
Why GAO Did This Study:
Many of our nation‘s military and civilian personnel depend on
Department of Defense (DOD) schools to meet their children‘s
educational needs. These schools provide a range of educational
services including programs for students with disabilities and those
who struggle to read, some of whom may have a condition referred to as
dyslexia. To determine how DOD supports students with dyslexia and how
it used $3.2 million in funds designated to support them, GAO was asked
to examine: (1) what professional development DOD provides its staff to
support students with dyslexia and how the fiscal year 2004-to-2006
funds designated for this purpose were used, (2) what identification
and instructional services DOD provides to students who may have
dyslexia, and (3) how DOD assesses the academic achievement of students
with disabilities, including dyslexia. To address these objectives, GAO
conducted a survey of all school principals and interviewed agency
officials, school personnel, and parents in six school districts.
What GAO Found:
DOD provides a mix of online and classroom training to teachers who
work with students who struggle to read, and DOD used 2004-to-2006
funds designated for professional development on dyslexia, in
particular, to supplement these efforts. Most of the online and
classroom professional development prepares teachers and specialists to
assess student literacy and provides them with strategies to teach
students who have particular difficulties. For the 2004-to-2006 funding
for professional development on dyslexia, DOD supplemented its existing
training with online courses that include specific modules on dyslexia
and tools to assess students‘ literacy skills.
DOD identifies students who struggle to read”some of who may have
dyslexia”through standardized tests and provides them with supplemental
reading instruction. DOD uses standardized tests to screen its students
and identify those who need additional reading instruction, but these
schools do not generally label them as dyslexic. To teach students they
identify as struggling readers, DOD schools primarily employ an
intensive multimedia reading program that is highly regarded by the
principals, teachers, and parents GAO interviewed. Those students whose
performance does not improve through their enrollment in supplemental
reading programs or who have profound reading difficulties may be
eligible to receive special education services. DOD is subject to many
of the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 on the education of students with disabilities.
Students with dyslexia may qualify for these services, but they must
meet program eligibility requirements.
DOD uses the same standardized tests it uses for all students to assess
the academic achievement of students with disabilities, including those
who may have dyslexia, but does not report specifically on the outcomes
for students with disabilities. A primary goal of DOD‘s strategic plan
is for all students to meet or exceed challenging academic standards.
To measure progress towards this goal, DOD assesses all students‘
academic achievement and school performance by comparing test scores to
a national norm or to a national proficiency level. Overall, students
perform well in reading compared to U.S. public school students. DOD
disaggregates test scores for students with disabilities but does not
report such information publicly. In contrast, U.S. public school
systems under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 must report such
data. Without this information, it is difficult for parents, policy
makers, and others to measure the academic achievement of students with
disabilities relative to all other students in the DOD school system.
What GAO Recommends:
GAO recommends DOD improve accountability for the academic achievement
of students with disabilities, including certain students who may have
dyslexia, by publishing separate data on their performance. In
commenting on a draft of this report, DOD concurred with the
recommendation.
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
[hyperlink, http://www.GAO-08-70]. For more information, contact
Cornelia Ashby, (202) 512-7215, or ashbyc@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Results in Brief:
Background:
DOD Offers Professional Development to Teachers of Struggling Readers
and Has Used Funds Designated for Dyslexia to Support That Effort:
DOD Screens Students to Identify Those Who Struggle to Read and
Provides Them with Supplemental Instruction:
DOD Assesses All Students Using Standardized Tests but Does Not Report
Separately on the Academic Achievement of Those with Disabilities:
Conclusions:
Recommendation:
Agency Comments:
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Interviews and Documentation from DOD and Others:
Survey of Principals:
Site Visits and Phone Interviews:
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Defense:
Appendix III: Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Tables:
Table 1: Use of Funds Designated for Dyslexia Support (FY 2004-06):
Table 2: Literacy Assessment Tools, Purpose, and Use:
Table 3: Districts and Schools Selected for Visits or Phone Interviews:
Abbreviations:
CTOPP: Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing:
DOD: Department of Defense:
DODEA: Department of Defense Education Activity:
DIBELS: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills:
FCRR: Florida Center for Reading and Research:
IEP: Individualized Education Program:
IDEIA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004:
LETRS: Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling:
LiPS: Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program:
NAEP: National Assessment of Educational Progress:
NCLBA: No Child Left Behind Act of 2001:
OWLS: Oral Written Language Scales:
TOWRE: Test of Word Reading Efficiency:
TWS-4: Test of Written Spelling, Fourth Edition:
WWC: What Works Clearinghouse:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
December 6, 2007:
The Honorable Bart Gordon:
Chairman:
Committee on Science and Technology:
House of Representatives:
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The children of many of our nation's military and civilian personnel
overseas and on certain military bases in the United States depend on
the Department of Defense (DOD) schools to meet their educational
needs--from prekindergarten through 12th grade. Through the Department
of Defense Education Activity, DOD serves about 90,000 students in 208
schools worldwide and provides a full range of educational services to
its students, including supplemental reading programs for struggling
readers and special education services for children with disabilities.
Some students who struggle to read may have a condition referred to as
dyslexia, a brain-based learning disability that impedes a person's
ability to read. DOD schools are subject to many of the same
requirements that apply to public schools under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA),[Footnote 1]
such as the requirement that they provide a free appropriate public
education to children with disabilities, but are not subject to the
requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA). However,
DOD has adopted its own framework for assessment and accountability.
To support students with dyslexia in DOD schools through professional
development of teachers and staff, the conference committee for defense
appropriations designated $3.2 million in funding for fiscal years 2004-
to-2006.[Footnote 2] While DOD has broad authority to use these funds
for general operations and maintenance expenses, your committee
expressed interest in whether and how DOD provides support to students
with dyslexia. In response to these questions, we examined: (1) what
professional development DOD provides its staff to support students
with dyslexia and how the fiscal years 2004-to-2006 funds designated
for this purpose were used, (2) what identification and instructional
services DOD provides to students who may have dyslexia, and (3) how
DOD assesses the academic achievement of students with disabilities,
including dyslexia.
To meet these objectives, we obtained documentation from DOD, conducted
a Web-based survey of all 208 DOD school principals, visited or
interviewed by phone officials and parents in six school districts, and
interviewed agency officials and representatives of education
organizations. We obtained several agency reports including: a 2007
report to Congress on DOD's efforts to assist students with dyslexia
and a 2005 survey of DOD special education personnel. We reviewed
relevant federal laws, regulations, and agency guidance and also
obtained information on DOD's obligation and disbursement of funds
designated for professional development on dyslexia. We reviewed the
agency Web site for schools' student performance data. For our Web-
based survey of all DOD school principals, we received completed
surveys from 175--an 84 percent response rate. We visited school
officials and parents of struggling readers in two of the three areas
(the Americas and Europe) overseen by the Department of Defense
Education Activity. We contacted schools in the third area (the
Pacific) by phone. We selected 6 of DOD's 12 school districts, 2 from
each area, using the following criteria: (1) geographic dispersion, (2)
representation of all military service branches, (3) variety of primary
and secondary schools, and (4) range in the proportion of students
receiving special education services. We interviewed representatives
from organizations such as the International Dyslexia Association and
the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. We
also obtained summary reports on the scientific evidence on the
effectiveness of DOD's supplemental reading programs from the
Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse and the Florida
Center for Reading Research, organizations that compile and evaluate
research on reading. We did not evaluate the quality or sufficiency of
the professional development provided. We conducted our work between
January 2007 and October 2007 in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. See appendix I for details of our
methodology.
Results in Brief:
DOD provides both online and classroom-based professional development
to teachers who work with students who struggle to read, and it used
2004-to-2006 funds designated for professional development on dyslexia
to supplement those efforts. Most of this professional development
prepares teachers to assess student literacy and provides them with
strategies to teach students who have particular difficulties, such as
reading comprehension and fluency. The department offers its staff
training online through a professional development program known as
Scholastic RED, a series of courses that focuses on raising reading
achievement and improving classroom instruction. In responding to our
survey, almost all principals indicated their staff had taken these
courses, and more than 80 percent of the principals rated the classes
as very useful for such specialized instruction. Also, under a recent
initiative, DOD provided its special education teachers and
specialists, such as speech therapists, with training on how students
develop literacy skills and how to teach reading across all grade
levels. According to a survey conducted by DOD, most special education
teachers and specialists surveyed said they had completed this
training. With the 2004-to-2006 funding designated to support students
with dyslexia, DOD purchased additional seats for its Scholastic RED
courses, purchased tools to assess students' literacy skills, and
developed two online courses that include specific modules on dyslexia.
The online professional development includes a newly developed course:
Fundamentals of Reading K-2 and a course under development for grades 3
to 5. After piloting the K-2 course, it was made available to all
teachers in February 2007, and according to our survey results, 29
percent of the schools serving those grades had used it by the end of
the school year. The grades 3-to-5 course, according to DOD officials,
will be available systemwide to all staff in the 2007-08 school year.
DOD relies on standardized tests to identify students who struggle to
read, including those who may have dyslexia, and DOD provides them with
supplemental literacy instruction, such as a multimedia program. DOD
uses standardized tests to screen students and identify those who may
need additional reading instruction. Like many public school systems in
the United States, DOD school officials generally do not use the term
"dyslexia" but rather identify struggling readers. According to DOD
officials, however, the department has provided an optional checklist
to all schools to help them identify students who may have dyslexia, if
they choose to do so. Our survey results indicated that 17 percent of
schools used it during the 2006-07 year. On instruction for struggling
readers, DOD schools primarily employed an intensive multimedia reading
program. Schools used this program to instruct all students who fell
below a certain threshold on a standardized assessment test. Some
schools, districts, and geographic regions used additional strategies,
such as tutoring with a literacy specialist, including in kindergarten
and the early grades. Those students whose performance does not improve
through their enrollment in supplemental reading programs or who have
profound reading difficulties may be eligible to receive special
education services. DOD is subject to many of the requirements of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004
pertaining to the education of students with disabilities. Students
with dyslexia may qualify for these services, but they must meet
program eligibility requirements.
DOD assesses the academic achievement of its students with
disabilities, including dyslexia, through the same standardized tests
it uses for all students, but it does not report on the outcomes for
students with disabilities. A primary goal of its strategic plan is for
all students to meet or exceed challenging academic standards, and DOD
has established an accountability framework to measure progress toward
this goal. DOD assesses all students' progress and school performance
by comparing test scores to a national norm or to a national
proficiency level and reports these scores on its Web site as well as
in its annual performance report. The reported test scores for reading
show the average for DOD students at each grade level. Overall, DOD
students perform well compared to public school students. However,
while students with disabilities, some of whom may have dyslexia, are
included in these data, DOD does not report separately on their
academic achievement. In contrast, U.S. public school systems under the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 must report such data. DOD officials
and most of the school principals we surveyed disaggregate test scores
for students with disabilities for internal use. However, DOD does not
report this information in its annual report or on its Web site. DOD
officials said they do not disaggregate test results for small groups
of students because it may violate their privacy. For large groups of
students with disabilities, DOD officials said they do not report
disaggregated data publicly because it might invite comparisons between
one DOD school and another when DOD believes that all their schools do
well compared to U.S. public schools. DOD officials did not comment on
any negative implications of such comparisons.
To improve DOD's accountability for the academic achievement of its
students with disabilities, we recommend that DOD publish separate data
on the academic achievement of students with disabilities at the
systemwide, area, district, and school levels when there are sufficient
numbers of students with disabilities to avoid violating students'
privacy. In its comments on a draft of this report, DOD concurred with
the recommendation.
Background:
DOD oversees a worldwide school system to meet the educational needs of
military dependents and others, such as the children of DOD's civilian
employees overseas. The Department of Defense Education Activity
(DODEA) administers schools both within the United States and overseas.
In school year 2006-07, DODEA had schools within 7 states, Puerto Rico,
Guam, and in 13 foreign countries. DOD has organized its 208 schools
into three areas: the Americas (65), Europe (98), and Pacific (45).
Almost all of the domestic schools are located in the southern United
States. The overseas schools are mostly concentrated in Germany and
Japan, where the U.S. built military bases after World War II. Given
the transient nature of military assignments, these schools must adapt
to a high rate of students transferring into and out of their schools.
According to DOD, about 30 percent of its students move from one school
to another each year. These students may transfer between DOD schools
or between one DOD school and a U.S. public school.
Although DOD is not subject to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(NCLBA), it has its own assessment and accountability framework. Unlike
public schools, DOD schools receive funding primarily from DOD
appropriations rather than through state and local governments or
Department of Education grants. U.S. public schools that receive grants
through the NCLBA must comply with testing and reporting requirements
designed to hold schools accountable for educating their students and
making adequate yearly progress. DOD has adopted its own accountability
framework that includes a 5-year strategic plan, an annual report that
measures the overall school system's progress, and data requirements
for school improvement plans. The strategic plan sets the strategic
direction for the school system and outlines goals and performance
measures to determine progress. In annual reports, DOD provides a broad
overview of its students' overall progress, including the results of
standardized tests. On DOD's Web site, DOD publishes more detailed test
score results for each school at each grade level. DOD also requires
each school to develop its own improvement plan that identifies
specific goals and methods to measure progress. School officials have
the flexibility to decide what goals to pursue but must identify
separate sources of data to measure their progress in order to provide
a more complete assessment. For example, if a school chooses to focus
on improving its reading scores, it must identify separate assessment
tests or other ways of measuring the progress of its students.
DOD is subject to many of the major provisions of IDEIA and must
include students with disabilities in its standardized testing.
However, unlike states and districts subject to NCLBA, DOD is not
required to report publicly on the academic achievement of these
students. States and public school districts that receive funding
through IDEIA must comply with various substantive, procedural, and
reporting requirements for students with disabilities. For example,
they must have a program in place for evaluating and identifying
children with disabilities, developing an individualized education
program (IEP) for such students, and periodically monitoring each
student's academic progress under his or her IEP. Under IDEIA, children
with disabilities must be taught, to the extent possible, with non-
disabled students in the least restrictive environment, such as the
general education classroom, and must be included in standardized
testing unless appropriate accommodations or alternate assessments are
required by their IEPs. Although DOD schools do not receive funding
through IDEIA, they generally are subject to the same requirements
concerning the education of children with disabilities.[Footnote 3]
However, unlike states and districts that are subject to NCLBA, DOD
schools are not required to report publicly on the performance of
children with disabilities on regular and alternate assessments.
Definitions of dyslexia vary from broad definitions that encompass
almost all struggling readers to narrow definitions that only apply to
severe cases of reading difficulty. However, DOD and others have
adopted a definition developed by dyslexia researchers and accepted by
the International Dyslexia Association, a non-profit organization
dedicated to helping individuals with dyslexia. This definition
describes dyslexics as typically having a deficit in the phonological
component of language, the individual speech sounds that make up words,
which typically causes difficulty with accurate or fluent word
recognition, poor spelling ability, and problems in reading
comprehension that can impede growth of vocabulary.[Footnote 4] Recent
research has identified a gene that may be associated with dyslexia and
has found that dyslexia often coincides with behavior disorders or
speech and language disabilities and can range from mild to severe.
Nevertheless, the percentage of people who have dyslexia is unknown
with estimates varying from 3 to 20 percent, depending on the
definition and identification method used. Research promotes early
identification and instruction for dyslexics to help mitigate lifelong
impacts.
DOD Offers Professional Development to Teachers of Struggling Readers
and Has Used Funds Designated for Dyslexia to Support That Effort:
DOD offers professional development to all staff to help them support
students who struggle to read, including those who may have dyslexia,
and used designated funds to supplement existing training efforts
across its schools. This professional development prepares teachers to
assess student literacy skills and provides strategies to help instruct
struggling readers. DOD used funds designated to support students with
dyslexia for the development of two new online training courses
containing modules on dyslexia, for additional seats in existing online
courses, and for additional literacy assessment tools.
Professional Development for Staff Working with Struggling Readers
Mainly Focuses on General Literacy Assessment and Instruction:
DOD offers professional development to all staff who teach struggling
readers, including students who may have dyslexia, primarily through
online courses. The department offers online training courses through a
professional development series known as Scholastic RED. These courses
are DOD's primary professional development on literacy for general
education teachers. According to DOD, the department began offering the
courses during the 2003-04 school year. DOD officials told us that
since that time about half of the nearly 8,700 teachers in DOD schools
have taken at least one Scholastic RED online course. Of the school
principals who responded to our survey, almost all indicated that some
of their staff members, including administrators and general and
special education teachers, had participated in Scholastic RED
training. Beyond Scholastic RED courses, DOD officials we interviewed
told us that general education teachers also receive literacy
development through instructional training in subject areas other than
reading. For example, professional development on teaching at the
middle school level may include guidance on how to enhance students'
reading skills through the study of a particular science.
Most professional development for staff working with struggling readers
focuses on the assessment of student literacy skills and presents
strategies for instructing students who struggle to read, some of whom
may have dyslexia. Scholastic RED online courses train teachers in five
basic elements of reading instruction: phonemic awareness,
comprehension, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary. Research suggests that
both phonics and phonemic awareness pose significant challenges to
people who have dyslexia. According to course implementation materials,
the training is designed to move beyond online course content and allow
participants the opportunity to apply new skills in site-based study
groups as well as in the classroom. Some principals and teachers
indicated their schools follow this model with groups of teachers
meeting to discuss best practices for applying Scholastic RED knowledge
and resources in their classrooms.
DOD districts and schools sometimes offer their own literacy training
through a localized effort or initiative. Professional development
unique to a DOD district or school may be offered by a district's
special education coordinator. For example, the special education
coordinator in a domestic district told us she offers literacy training
to all staff, explaining that she tries to create a broader base of
professionals who can more accurately identify and instruct students
who are struggling readers. Regarding overseas schools, administrators
in Korea told us they offer in-service workshops to help teachers
improve student literacy, reading comprehension, and writing.
DOD designed and provided additional training on literacy instruction
for most special education teachers and other specialists under a
special education initiative. The training provided these staff members
with courses on how students develop literacy skills and how to teach
reading across all grade levels. According to a 2004-05 DOD survey on
the initiative, over half of special educators and other specialists
said they had completed this training. Since the 2003-04 school year,
special education teachers and other specialists have received training
on topics such as the evaluation of young children's literacy skills
and adjusting instruction based on student performance. The department
also provided speech and language pathologists specialized training to
help them assist struggling readers, including guidance on basic
elements of literacy instruction and development, such as phonological
awareness and vocabulary development.
DOD offers another literacy professional development program for
special education teachers and other specialists known as Language
Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS). According to
the department, LETRS is designed to give teachers a better
understanding of how students learn to read and write, showing
instructors how to use such knowledge to improve targeted instruction
for every type of reader. According to our survey results, about 10
percent of schools had staff who had taken this course. The LETRS
course is based on the concept that once teachers understand the manner
in which students approach reading and spelling tasks, they can make
more informed decisions on instructional approaches for all readers.
Much like the other literacy training DOD offers, LETRS modules contain
reading instruction approaches on areas that may present challenges for
those who have dyslexia: phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and reading
comprehension.
Overall, DOD staff told us the literacy training the department offered
was useful for them, with some indicating they wanted additional
training. In responding to our survey, more than 80 percent of the
principals who said their staff used Scholastic RED courses rated them
as very useful for specialized instruction. Principals we interviewed
told us their teachers characterize Scholastic RED concepts as
practical and easy to apply in the classroom. While teachers we
interviewed told us Scholastic RED training is helpful, some special
education teachers indicated the course material is basic and better-
suited to meet the developmental needs of general education teachers
than special education teachers. For example, one special education
teacher we spoke to said Scholastic RED courses do little to enhance
the professional skills of special education teachers because many of
these teachers have already received advanced training on reading
interventions. Special education teachers did indicate, however, that
training offered through the department's special education initiative
has provided them with identification strategies and intervention tools
to support struggling readers. Regarding the impact of the initiative's
training, a DOD survey of special education teachers and other
specialists found that over half of respondents said they had seen
evidence of professional development designed to maximize the quality
of special education services, and most had completed some professional
development. The department did report, however, that respondents
working with elementary school students frequently requested more
training in areas such as phonemic awareness, while respondents working
with high school students requested more professional development in a
specific supplemental reading program used at DOD schools: Read 180.
Moreover, teachers we interviewed in both foreign and domestic
locations said they would like additional training on identifying and
teaching students with specific types of reading challenges, including
dyslexia. For example, one special education teacher we interviewed
told us this specific training could help general education teachers to
better understand the types of literacy challenges struggling readers
face that in turn could help teachers better understand why students
experience difficulties with other aspects of coursework.
Designated Funds Were Used for Online Courses That Include a Component
on Dyslexia and for Additional Tools to Assess Student Literacy:
DOD reported it had fully obligated the $3.2 million designated for
professional development on dyslexia, with about $2.9 million for
online courses and literacy assessment tools. Between fiscal years 2004
and 2006, the conference committee on defense appropriations designated
a total of $3.2 million within the operation and maintenance
appropriation for professional development on dyslexia. As of September
2007, DOD reported it had obligated these funds for professional
development in literacy, including online training courses containing
components on dyslexia. Reported obligations also included tools to
help teachers identify and support students who struggle to read, some
of who may have dyslexia. DOD obligated the remaining designated funds
for general operations and maintenance purposes.[Footnote 5] All
related obligations, as reported by the department, are outlined in
table 1.
Table 1: Use of Funds Designated for Dyslexia Support (Fiscal Years
2004 to 2006):
Use of funds: Literacy assessment tools: Dynamic Indicators of Basic
Early Literacy Skills;
Amount obligated: $268,881.
Use of funds: Literacy assessment tools: Four other tools;
Amount obligated: $1,072,851.
Use of funds: Online courses: Fundamentals of Reading K-2 and 3-5;
Amount obligated: $1,109,029.
Use of funds: Online courses: Scholastic RED (additional seats);
Amount obligated: $425,645.
Use of funds: Other: General operations and maintenance;
Amount obligated: $321,361.
Use of funds: Other: Supplies;
Amount obligated: $2,233.
Total;
Amount obligated: $ 3,200,000.
Source: Department of Defense Education Activity.
Note: These funds were designated by the conference committee for
defense appropriations.
[End of table]
The online training included two newly developed courses that may be
too new to evaluate and the purchase of extra seats in existing
Scholastic RED training courses. The first of the new training courses
to be fully developed was Fundamentals of Reading K-2. According to
DOD, this course was designed to present teachers with strategies for
instructing struggling readers in the early K-2 grade levels and
contains six modules on the components of reading, including a specific
module on dyslexia. The K-2 course was first made available in January
2006 to teachers who participated in a pilot project. DOD then opened
the course to all teachers in February 2007. According to our survey
results, 29 percent of the schools serving grades K-2 had used the
course by the end of the school year. Nearly half of those school
principals who indicated their staff used the course, however, did not
indicate the extent to which it had been helpful in supporting
struggling readers. It is possible the course is still too new for DOD
schools to evaluate as some principals indicated on our survey that
they had not heard of the course or they were not aware it was
available to their staff. The second of the new online training
courses, Fundamentals of Reading Grades 3-5, is not fully developed for
use at this time. According to DOD officials, the course will be
available to all staff in the 2007-08 school year and will also contain
six modules on the components of reading, including a module on
dyslexia. Additionally, DOD reported purchasing another 1,100 seats in
selected Scholastic RED online training courses. The department also
added a page entitled, Help your Students with Dyslexia to its main
online resource site that is available to all teachers.
DOD reported also using designated funds to purchase electronic
literacy assessment tools and other instruments that were widely used
in DOD schools, one of which received mixed reviews on its usefulness.
DOD reported obligating about one-third of the designated funds for the
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessment
tool. The DIBELS assessment allows a teacher to evaluate a student's
literacy skills in a one-on-one setting through a series of one-minute
exercises that can be administered via pen and paper or through the use
of a hand-held electronic device. By using the exercises, teachers can
measure and monitor these students' skill levels in concepts such as
phoneme segmentation fluency, a reading component that often gives
dyslexics significant difficulty. DIBELS was used to help identify
struggling readers in at least half of the schools serving grades K-2,
according to our survey results, and DOD plans to begin use of the
assessment in additional locations during the 2007-08 school year.
However, school officials and teachers had mixed reactions regarding
the ease and effectiveness of using DIBELS to help identify struggling
readers. In responding to our survey, about 40 percent of principals
whose schools used DIBELS to help identify struggling readers indicated
it was very or extremely useful, about 30 percent indicated it was
moderately useful, and about 20 percent indicated it was either
slightly or not at all useful.[Footnote 6] Several principals we
surveyed indicated that they liked the instant results provided by the
DIBELS assessment. For example, one principal called the assessment a
quick and easy way to assess reading skills, saying it provides
teachers with immediate feedback to help inform decisions about
instruction. Others indicated the assessment is time-consuming for
teachers. One kindergarten teacher we interviewed said that it is
challenging to find the time to administer the test because it must be
individually administered. Another principal expressed concern about
the difficulty in using the electronic hand-held devices, saying the
technology poses the greatest challenge to teachers in using the DIBELS
assessment. According to DOD officials, the agency is currently
evaluating its use of DIBELS, searching for other assessment tools, and
will use the results to determine whether to continue using DIBELS or
replace it with another tool. DOD purchased four other instruments to
aid teachers in the evaluation of literacy skills; however, the tools
are targeted to specific reading problems. According to DOD officials,
they selected these tools because they measure specific skills
associated with dyslexia. Table 2 shows reported use of each literacy
assessment tool across DOD schools.
Table 2: Literacy Assessment Tools, Purpose, and Use:
Assessment tool: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
(DIBELS);
Purpose: Assesses literacy skills of students in grades K-2 to help
identify struggling readers;
Usage (percentage of all DOD Schools, unless otherwise indicated):
51[A].
Assessment tool: Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP);
Purpose: Measures a student's phonological processing skills;
Usage (percentage of all DOD Schools, unless otherwise indicated): 68.
Assessment tool: Oral Written Language Scales (OWLS);
Purpose: Measures a student's sight-word and phonemic decoding skills;
Usage (percentage of all DOD Schools, unless otherwise indicated): 56.
Assessment tool: Test of Written Spelling, Fourth Edition(TWS-4);
Purpose: Measures a student's spelling skills;
Usage (percentage of all DOD Schools, unless otherwise indicated): 37.
Assessment tool: Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE);
Purpose: Measures a student's written and oral language skills;
Usage (percentage of all DOD Schools, unless otherwise indicated): 52.
Source: GAO 2007 survey of DOD school principals.
[A] This percentage represents the percentage of DOD schools with
grades K-2. The DIBELS assessment is most appropriate for use in grades
K-2 to help identify struggling readers.
[End of table]
DOD Screens Students to Identify Those Who Struggle to Read and
Provides Them with Supplemental Instruction:
DOD schools identify students who have difficulty reading and provide
them with supplemental reading services. DOD uses standardized tests to
determine which students are struggling readers, although these tests
do not screen specifically for dyslexia. DOD then provides these
students with a standard supplemental reading program. For those
children with disabilities who meet eligibility requirements, DOD
provides a special education program in accordance with the
requirements of IDEIA and department guidance.
DOD Schools Identify and Support Struggling Readers, Although the
Schools Do Not Specifically Screen for Dyslexia:
Schools primarily determine students' reading ability and identify
those who struggle through the use of standardized assessments. DOD
uses several standardized assessments, including the TerraNova
Achievement Test, and identifies those students who score below a
certain threshold as having the most difficulty with reading and in
need of additional reading instruction. DOD requires that schools
administer these reading assessments starting in the third
grade.[Footnote 7] However, some schools administer certain assessments
as early as kindergarten. For example, some schools used Dynamic
Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to identify
struggling readers in grades K-2. In an effort to systematically assess
students in kindergarten through second grade, DOD plans to identify
assessment tools designed for these grades during school year 2007-08
and require their use throughout the school system. In addition to
assessments, schools also use parent referrals and teacher observations
to identify struggling readers. Several school officials with whom we
spoke said that parent feedback about their children to school
personnel and observations of students by teachers are both helpful in
identifying students who need additional reading support. Like many
public school systems in the United States, DOD school officials do not
generally use the term "dyslexia." However, DOD officials told us they
provided an optional dyslexia checklist to classroom teachers to help
determine whether students may need supplementary reading instruction
and if they should be referred for more intensive diagnostic screening.
According to our survey results, 17 percent of schools used the
checklist in school year 2006-07.
DOD schools provide a supplemental reading program for struggling
readers, some of whom may have dyslexia, a program that has some
support from researchers and has received positive reviews from school
officials, teachers, and parents we interviewed. The program, called
READ 180, is a multimedia program for grades 3 through 12. It is
designed for 90-minute sessions during which students rotate among
three activities: whole-group direct instruction, small-group reading
comprehension, and individualized computer-based instruction. The
program is designed to build the reading skills, such as phonemic
awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. In
responding to our survey, over 80 percent of the school principals
indicated it was very helpful in teaching struggling readers. Several
school administrators stated that it is effective with students due to
the nonthreatening environment created by its multimodal instructional
approach. Several teachers said the program also helped them to monitor
student performance. Several parents told us that the program increased
their children's enthusiasm for reading, improved their reading skills,
and boosted their confidence in reading and overall self-esteem. Some
parents stated that their children's grades in general curriculum
courses improved as well since the children were not having difficulty
with course content but rather with reading. At the secondary level,
however, school officials stated that some parents chose not to enroll
their child in READ 180 because of the stigma they associate with what
they view as a remedial program. According to the Florida Center for
Reading Research, existing research supports the use of READ 180 as an
intervention to teach 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students comprehension
skills, however; the center recommends additional studies to assess the
program's effectiveness.
Certain districts and schools have implemented additional strategies
for instructing struggling readers such as using literacy experts,
offering early intervention reading programs, and prioritizing reading
in annual improvement plans. In the Pacific region and the Bavaria
district, literacy experts work in collaboration with classroom
teachers and reading specialists to design appropriate individualized
instruction for struggling readers and monitor student performance. All
of the elementary schools in the Pacific region offer reading support
to struggling readers. Some schools offer early reading support in
grades K-2. Certain districts offer early intervention to first and
second graders in small groups of five and eight students,
respectively. Some schools in Europe provide intensive instruction to
students in first grade through Reading Recovery, a program in which
struggling readers receive 30-minute tutoring sessions by specially
trained teachers for 12 to 20 weeks. According to the Department of
Education's What Works Clearinghouse, Reading Recovery may have
positive effects in teaching students how to read. Several
superintendents and principals we interviewed said that improved
reading scores was one of the school's goals in their annual school-
improvement plan, which is in line with DOD's strategic plan milestone
of having all students in grades three, six, and nine read at their
grade level or higher by July 2011. For example, to improve reading
scores, officials in the Heidelberg District developed a literacy
program requiring each school to identify all third grade students who
read below grade level and develop an action plan to improve their
reading abilities.
DOD Schools Provide Special Education Services for Eligible Children
with Disabilities:
Those students whose performance does not improve through their
enrollment in supplemental reading programs or who have profound
reading difficulties may be eligible to receive special education
services. DOD provides this special education program in accordance
with the requirements of department guidance and the IDEIA, although
DOD is not subject to the reporting and funding provisions of the act.
According to our survey results, almost all schools provided special
education services in the 2006-2007 school year.
The level of special education services available to students with
disabilities varies between districts and schools, and may affect where
some service-members and families can be assigned and still receive
services. DOD established the Exceptional Family Member Program to
screen and identify family members who have special health or
educational needs. It is designed to assist the military personnel
system to assign military service members and civilian personnel to
duty stations that provide the types of health and education services
necessary to meet their family members' needs. In general, parents with
whom we spoke said that they were pleased with the services their
children received in DOD schools at the duty locations where they were
assigned.
DOD conducts a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment to evaluate
whether a student is eligible to receive special education services
under any of DOD's disability categories, and most parents we
interviewed were complimentary of the program. A student who is
identified as having a disability receives specific instruction
designed to meet the student's academic needs. A team comprised of
school personnel and the student's parents meets annually to assess the
student's progress. While the majority of parents we interviewed were
complimentary of DOD's special education program, a few expressed
concern that their children were not evaluated for special education
eligibility early enough despite repeated requests to school personnel
that their children needed to be evaluated for a suspected disability.
According to DOD officials, department guidance requires school
officials to look into parent requests, but officials do not have to
evaluate the child unless they suspect the child has a disability.
However, they must provide parents with written or oral feedback
specifying why they did not pursue the matter.
Students with dyslexia may qualify for special education services under
the specific learning disability category, but students must meet
specific criteria. To qualify as having a specific learning disability,
students must have an information-processing deficit that negatively
affects their educational performance on an academic achievement test
resulting in a score at or near the 10th percentile or the 35th
percentile for students of above average intellectual functioning.
There must also be evidence through diagnostic testing to rule out the
possibility that the student has an intellectual deficit.
DOD schools provide children with disabilities instruction through two
additional programs that have some research support. Fifteen percent of
our survey respondents were principals of schools that used the
Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program (LiPS), a program that helps
students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with the oral motor
characteristics of individual speech sounds. According to the What
Works Clearinghouse, one research study it reviewed in 2007 suggested
the LiPS program may have positive effects on reading ability. Our
survey results indicated that 37 percent of schools serving grades 7
through 12 used a program called Reading Excellence: Word Attack and
Rate Development Strategies that targets students who have mastered
basic reading skills but who are not accurate or fluent readers of
grade-level materials. According to a Florida Center for Reading
Research report, there is research support for the program, but
additional research is needed to assess its effectiveness.
DOD Assesses All Students Using Standardized Tests but Does Not Report
Separately on the Academic Achievement of Those with Disabilities:
DOD assesses the academic achievement of all students using
standardized tests. The department administers the TerraNova
Achievement Test to students in grades 3 through 11. Test scores
represent a comparison between the test taker and a norm group designed
to represent a national sample of students. For example, if a student
scored at the 68th percentile in reading, that student scored higher
than 68 percent of the students in the norm group-the national average
is the 50th percentile. DOD uses these scores to compare the academic
achievement of its students to the national average. In addition, DOD
schools participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP), known as the nation's report card, which provides a national
picture of student academic achievement and a measure of student
achievement among school systems. According to an agency official, DOD
administers NAEP to all of its fourth and eighth grade students every
other year. The NAEP measures how well DOD students perform as a whole
relative to specific academic standards.
Overall, DOD students perform well in reading compared to the national
average and to students in state public school systems, as measured by
their performance on standardized tests. The latest available test
results showed that DOD students scored above average and in some cases
ranked DOD in the top tier of all school systems tested. According to
the 2007 TerraNova test results, DOD students scored on average between
the 60th and 75th percentile at all grade levels tested. The 2007 NAEP
reading test results ranked the DOD school system among the top for all
school systems. Specifically, on the eighth grade test, DOD tied for
first place with two states among all states and jurisdictions and on
the fourth grade test, tied with one state for third place.[Footnote 8]
All students, including those with disabilities, participate in DOD's
systemwide assessments using either the standard DOD assessment or
alternate assessments. In some cases, students who require
accommodations to complete the standard assessment may need to take the
test in a small group setting, get extended time for taking the test,
or have directions read aloud to them. Some students with severe
disabilities may take an alternate assessment if required by the
student's individualized education program. An alternate assessment
determines academic achievement by compiling and assessing certain
documentation, such as a student's work products, interviews,
photographs, and videos. According to an official from DODEA's Office
of System Accountability and Research, DOD provides an alternate
assessment to fewer than 200 of its roughly 90,000 students each year.
For use within the department and in some districts and schools, DOD
disaggregates TerraNova test scores for students with disabilities. DOD
officials reported that they disaggregate scores for the entire school
system, each area, and each district, in order to gauge the academic
performance of students with disabilities. DOD's policy states that DOD
shall internally report on the performance of children with
disabilities participating in its systemwide assessments. According to
DOD officials, they use the data to determine progress toward goals and
to guide program and subject area planning. According to our survey
results, over 90 percent of DOD schools disaggregate their test scores
by gender and race and about 85 percent disaggregate for students with
disabilities for internal purposes. Some school officials told us they
use test data in order to track students' progress, assess the
effectiveness of services they offer students, identify areas of
improvement, and assess school performance. For example, one
Superintendent who shared her disaggregated data with us showed how
third-grade students with disabilities made up over half of those who
read below grade level in her district.
DOD does not generally report disaggregated test scores for students
with disabilities. DOD's annual report provides data at each grade
level, and test scores posted on its Web site provide data for each
school. DOD also reports some results by race and ethnicity for the
NAEP test. However, DOD does not disaggregate its TerraNova test data
for students with disabilities or other subgroups. A primary goal of
its strategic plan is for all students to meet or exceed challenging
academic content standards, and DOD uses standardized test score data
to determine progress towards this goal. Disaggregating these data
provides a mechanism for determining whether groups of students, such
as those with disabilities, are meeting academic proficiency goals.
However, unlike U.S. public school systems that are subject to the No
Child Left Behind Act, DOD is not required to report test scores of
designated student groups. According to DOD officials, they do not
report test results for groups of fewer than 20 students with
disabilities because doing so may violate their privacy by making it
easier to identify individual students. Where there are groups of 20 or
more students with disabilities, DOD officials said they do not report
it publicly because it might invite comparisons between one school and
another when all of them do well compared to U.S. public schools. DOD
officials did not comment on any negative implications of such
comparisons.
Conclusions:
On the whole, DOD students perform well in reading compared with public
school students in the United States, and in some cases DOD ranks near
the top of all school systems, as measured by students' performance on
standardized tests. DOD has programs and resources in place to provide
supplemental instruction to students who have low scores on
standardized tests or who otherwise qualify for special education
services, some of whom may have dyslexia. The department generally
includes these students when administering national tests.
Nevertheless, by not reporting specifically on the achievement of
students with disabilities, including those who may have dyslexia, DOD
may be overlooking an area that might require attention and thereby
reducing its accountability. Without these publicly reported data,
parents, policymakers, and others are not able to determine whether
students with disabilities as a whole are meeting academic proficiency
goals in the same way as all other students in the school system. For
example, high performance on the part of most DOD students could mask
low performance for students with disabilities.
Recommendation:
To improve DOD's accountability for the academic achievement of its
students with disabilities, including certain students who may have
dyslexia, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense instruct the
Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity to publish
separate data on the academic achievement of students with disabilities
at the systemwide, area, district, and school levels when there are
sufficient numbers of students with disabilities to avoid violating
students' privacy.
Agency Comments:
We provided a draft of this report to DOD for review and comment. DOD
concurred with our recommendation. DOD's formal comments are reproduced
in appendix II. DOD also provided technical comments on the draft
report, which we have incorporated when appropriate.
We will send copies of this report to the Secretary of Defense, the
Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity, and other
interested parties. We will also make copies available to others upon
request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on
GAO's Web site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
Please contact me at (202) 512-7215 if you or your staff have any
questions about this report. Contact points for our offices of
Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last
page of this report. Major contributions to this report are listed in
appendix III.
Signed by:
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Cornelia M. Ashby:
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Our objectives were to determine: 1) what professional development DOD
provides its staff to support students with dyslexia and how the fiscal
year 2004-to-2006 funds designated for this purpose were used, (2) what
identification and instructional services DOD provides to students who
may have dyslexia, and (3) how DOD assesses the academic achievement of
students with disabilities, including dyslexia. To meet these
objectives, we interviewed and obtained documentation from DOD and
others, conducted a Web-based survey of all 208 DOD school principals,
and visited or interviewed by phone officials and parents in six school
districts. We conducted our work between January 2007 and October 2007
in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Interviews and Documentation from DOD and Others:
To obtain information on how schools support students with dyslexia we
interviewed officials from the Department of Defense Education Activity
(DODEA) and the Department of Education, as well as representatives
from the International Dyslexia Association and the National
Association of State Directors of Special Education. We obtained
several DODEA reports including: a 2007 report to Congress on DODEA's
efforts to assist students with dyslexia, a 2006 evaluation of DODEA's
English and language arts instruction, and a 2005 survey of DODEA
special education personnel. We reviewed relevant federal laws,
regulations, and DOD guidance, and also obtained information on DOD's
obligation and disbursement of funds designated for professional
development on dyslexia. We also reviewed the DODEA web site for
schools' student performance data to determine how DOD assesses the
academic achievement of students with disabilities. We also obtained
summary reports on the scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness
of DODEA's supplemental reading programs from the Department of
Education's What Works Clearinghouse[Footnote 9] and the Florida Center
for Reading Research,[Footnote 10] two organizations that compile and
evaluate research on reading.
Survey of Principals:
To gather information concerning dyslexic students in DoDEA schools,
including how DoDEA schools identify dyslexic students and the
instructional services provided to such students, we designed a Web-
based survey. We administered the survey to all 208 DODEA school
principals between May 10, 2007 and July 6, 2007, and received
completed surveys from 175 school principals--an 84 percent response
rate. In order to obtain data for a high percentage of DOD schools, we
followed up with principals through e-mail and telephone to remind them
about the survey. We also examined selected characteristics to ensure
that the schools responding to our survey broadly represent DODEA's
school levels, geographic areas, and special education population.
Based on our findings, we believe the survey data are sufficient for
providing useful information concerning students with dyslexia.
Nonresponse (or, in the case of our work, those DOD school principals
that did not complete the survey) is one type of nonsampling error that
could affect data quality. Other types of nonsampling error include
variations in how respondents interpret questions, respondents'
willingness to offer accurate responses, and data collection and
processing errors. We included steps in developing the survey, and
collecting, editing, and analyzing survey data to minimize such
nonsampling error. In developing the web survey, we pretested draft
versions of the instrument with principals at various American and
European elementary, middle, and high schools to check the clarity of
the questions and the flow and layout of the survey. On the basis of
the pretests, we made slight to moderate revisions of the survey. Using
a web-based survey also helped remove error in our data collection
effort. By allowing school principals to enter their responses directly
into an electronic instrument, this method automatically created a
record for each principal in a data file and eliminated the need for
and the errors (and costs) associated with a manual data entry process.
In addition, the program used to analyze the survey data was
independently verified to ensure the accuracy of this work.
Site Visits and Phone Interviews:
We visited school officials and parents of struggling readers in two of
the three areas (the Americas and Europe) overseen by DODEA and
contacted schools in the third area (the Pacific) by phone. For each
location we interviewed the district Superintendent or Assistant
Superintendent, school principals, teachers, and special education
teachers. At each location we also interviewed parents of struggling
readers. Each group had between two and seven parents, and in some
cases we interviewed a parent individually. To see how DOD schools
instruct struggling readers we observed several reading programs during
classroom instruction including Read 180, Reading Recovery, and Reading
Improvement, as well as the use of literacy tools such as the Dynamic
Indicator of Basic Literacy Skills. We selected 6 of DOD's 12 school
districts, 2 from each area, using the following criteria: (1)
geographic dispersion, (2) representation of all military service
branches, (3) variety of primary and secondary schools, and (4) range
in the proportion of students receiving special education services.
Table 3: Districts and Schools Selected for Visits or Phone Interviews:
Area: Americas;
Country(ies): United States of America;
District: Kentucky;
Location: Fort Knox, Kentucky;
School: Van Voorhis Elementary;
MacDonald Intermediate;
Scott Middle;
Fort Knox High.
Area: Americas;
Country(ies): United States of America, Puerto Rico, and Cuba;
District: New York, Virginia, Puerto Rico, Cuba;
Location: Quantico, Virginia;
School: Ashurst Elementary;
Russell Elementary;
Quantico Middle/High.
Area: Europe;
Country(ies): Germany;
District: Heidelberg;
Location: Heidelberg, Germany;
School: Patrick Henry Village Elementary;
Heidelberg Middle;
Heidelberg High.
Area: Europe;
Country(ies): Germany;
District: Kaiserslautern;
Location: Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany;
School: Ramstein Elementary;
Ramstein Intermediate;
Ramstein Middle;
Ramstein High.
Area: Pacific;
Country(ies): Japan;
District: Japan;
Location: Yokusuka, Japan;
School: Ikego Elementary;
Sullivans Elementary.
Area: Pacific;
Country(ies): Korea;
District: Korea;
Location: Seoul, Korea;
School: Seoul Elementary;
Seoul Middle;
Seoul American High.
Source: GAO.
Note: We visited schools in the Americas and Europe and phoned school
officials and parents at locations in Japan and Korea.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Defense:
Department of Defense:
Education Activity:
4040 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, Virginia 22203-1635:
November 9, 2007:
Ms. Cornelia Ashby:
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G. Street, N.W.:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Ms. Ashby:
This is the Department of Defense (DoD response to the GAO draft
report, "DoD Schools: Accountability for the Academic Achievement of
Students With Dyslexia Could Be Improved with Additional Reporting,"
dated October 25, concurs with the report recommendation as shown in
the enclosure.
The Department would also like to express its appreciation to the GAO
staff for their professionalism and assistance during this review.
Signed by:
Joseph D. Tafoya:
Director:
Enclosure:
As stated:
GAO Draft Report - Dated October 25, 2007 GAO Code 130635/GAO-08-70
"DOD Schools: Accountability for the Academic Achievement of Students
with Dyslexia Could Be Improved with Additional Reporting"
Department Of Defense Comments To The Recommendation:
Recommendation 1: The GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense
instruct the Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity
to publish separate data on the academic achievement of students with
disabilities at the system-wide, area, district, and school levels when
there are sufficient numbers of students with disabilities to avoid
violating students' privacy. (p. 19/GAO Draft Report):
DOD Response: Concur: The total number of students with disabilities by
grade level is large enough that DoDEA can report on the academic
achievement of students with disabilities at the system-wide, area, and
district levels without violating student privacy. Data cannot be
reported at the school level because of the low number of students with
disabilities at each grade level. The data can be disaggregated to
report student performance by: grade level, gender, and specific
learning disability (students with reading problems). DoDEA can also
report the overall performance for students who took an alternate
assessment.
[End of section]
Appendix III: Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Cornelia Ashby, (202) 512-7215 or ashbyc@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
Harriet Ganson, Assistant Director, and Paul Schearf, Analyst-In-
Charge, managed this assignment. Farah Angersola and Amanda Seese made
significant contributions throughout the assignment, and Rebecca Wilson
assisted in data collection and analysis. Kevin Jackson provided
methodological assistance. Susan Bernstein and Rachael Valliere helped
develop the report's message. Sheila McCoy provided legal support.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] The IDEIA is the most recent reauthorization of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
[2] H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 109-359, at 226 (2005); H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 108-
622, at 120 (2004); and H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 108-223, at 120 (2003).
[3] 10 U.S.C. § 2164(f) and 20 U.S.C. § 927(c). In addition, DOD has
also adopted guidance that outlines its approach to providing special
education services to children with disabilities. DOD Instruction
1342.12, Provision of Early Intervention and Special Education Services
to Eligible DoD Dependents (Apr. 11, 2005).
[4] Lyon, G.R., Shaywitz, S. E., and Shaywitz, B.A., 'A definition of
dyslexia,' Annals of Dyslexia, (2003). 53, 1-14. Dyslexia is a specific
learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. Word recognition
and other difficulties typically result from a deficit in the
phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation
to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom
instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems such as
reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede
growth of vocabulary.
[5] Unless otherwise specified in statute, committee reports do not
establish binding legal requirements on an agency's use of funds.
[6] The remaining 10 percent did not respond to the question.
[7] In school year 2006-2007, DOD required schools to administer the
TerraNova Achievement Test in grades 3-11, the Developmental Reading
Assessment in grade 3, and Scholastic Reading Inventory in grade 6.
[8] Lee, L., Grigg, W., and Donahue, P., The Nation's Report Card:
Reading, 2007, (Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education
Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of
Education, 2007).
[9] The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) was established in 2002 by the
U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. WWC
publishes reports on the organization's review of studies that discuss
the effectiveness of educational interventions.
[10] The Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) was established in
2002 and is jointly administered at Florida State University by the
Learning Systems Institute and the College of Arts and Sciences. FCRR
uses scientifically based studies of reading programs to evaluate and
report on the programs' strengths and weaknesses.
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