DOD Schools are tops - NAEP 2002 Reading results are in

NAEP ^

[buwaya]

The NAEP (National Assesment of Educational Progress) 2002 Reading results were released yesterday.

Department of Defense Schools are very good indeed, and seem to almost eliminate the racial gaps in reading, particularly the Hispanic one. It should also make it clear that members of the armed forces seem to be either peculiarly intelligent, or they breed intelligent children.

California does very badly, BTW, and Texas does quite well, particularly for Hispanics.

% over basic

DOD schools 8th grade - Black - 80 Hispanic - 85 White - 92

US 8th grade Black - 54 Hispanic - 56 White - 83

TX 8th Grade Black - 57 Hispanic - 62 White - 88

CA 8th Grade Black - 50 Hispanic - 46 White - 79

[buwaya]

Follow the links on the NAEP site, particularly

[Lil'freeper]

they breed intelligent children.

More likely it reflects active parental particpation. After all, the parent that refuses to keep his kid in line is likely to be called into his commander's office for a little talking-to.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

It should also make it clear that members of the armed forces seem to be either peculiarly intelligent, or they breed intelligent children.

Could be too, that military parents come to expect the same discipline that is demanded for their jobs to naturally extend into all aspects of their personal lives; childrens' schooling included.

(thanks mom and dad!)

[Tai_Chung]

DoDDS has better teachers also.

[SauronOfMordor]

It should also make it clear that members of the armed forces seem to be either peculiarly intelligent, or they breed intelligent children.

IIRC, you need to have graduated high school in order to be admitted into the military, so that excludes the bottom.

The military culture also does not foster a culture of saying "it's society's fault" when the answer is really your own lack of planning and energy in accomplishing your assigned tasks.

The losers are thus excluded

[JeeperFreeper]

Amazing what discipline can accomplish.

[blanknoone]

Actually HS dropouts make a significant number of recruits. And while the worst are kept out, in addition to some of the best and brightest, many join the military because it is their best economic option. I would bet it is overall pretty representative of America.

I think the better than average scores are more a result of discipline and parental participation. I would love to see the funding comparison...I bet it would drive the liberals nuts to try to explain why minority children in military families do better with less money, than say minorities in DC schools (most expensive, and one of the worst, major public school systems)

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you for posting this. I used it in my column for this week, that will be up on FreeRepublic in a few hours.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, now up FR, "The Perfect Country and Western Song."

[Ace's Dad]

the parent that refuses to keep his kid in line is likely to be called into his commander's office for a little talking-to.

Also, they can lose base housing privileges if the kids misbehave!

DTOM

[Teach_G]

The primary difference has nothing at all to do with "edukashun unions" trying to run the schools. Instead, look at the following as really good reasons why all students in the DOD schools perform at such a higher level.
First, the class sizes are capped, with the stated goal of 18 students @ classroom teacher in grades K-3, and 20 for grades 4-12. Compare that with stateside classes that I have seen with 30 to 35 students in a classroom for 4th or 5th graders. With the smaller classes comes more attention to each and every student. Feedback is quicker, and the teacher becomes more attuned to each students learning style than in a class with over 30 students.

Think of it this way; In a class with 18 students, during the course of a 6hr day the teacher averages 20 minutes of direct contact per student. Yet in a class of 34 students a teacher will average just over 10 minutes per day of direct contact. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which group of students is going to perform at a higher level.

Lastly as others alluded to being in a military family means there is a certain level of discipline already present and foolish behavior is not tolerated. Of course the fact that military personnel are expected to participate in activities and are given the time to do so is a huge difference to stateside where on open house nights the average teacher might see only a third of the parents of her students. So leave the union out of it, they are irrelevant to the issue.

[Congressman Billybob]

I am well aware that the military schools do an EXCELLENT job of educating students of all races, and all economic and educational backgrounds. There are unique reasons why the military schools succeed so well, even with the children being moved from school to school and even nation to nation during their careers.

You point out a principal reason for that difference, the environment of discipline and parental involvement in the military schools. But there is no magic may to replicate those characteristics in the non-military public schools. In THOSE schools the "edukashun" unions ARE the key to the problem. And breaking their stranglehold by various methods IS the central means to solve the problems there.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, "Slime and Bigotry on the Campaign Trail," discussion thread on FR. IF YOU WANT A FREEPER IN CONGRESS, CLICK HERE.