DoDEA Pushing to Keep Schools Moving in Right Direction
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2004 – As the Department of Defense Education Activity
prepares for the coming school year, DoDEA's director said efforts are under
way to make DoD's good schools even better for the families of military people.
Joseph Tafoya said a primary focus this school year would be curriculum and
staff development.
"We have very high reading scores. We have very good math scores," Tafoya said.
"This is the first place I've worked where the math scores are a little lower
than the reading scores."
DoDEA's response to this, he said, is to work to reinforce its already
excellent literacy program with a much stronger math program. In its second
year of a program called "Math Matters" that started in the high schools, DoDEA
is looking very carefully at the curriculum and how it is taught.
Other efforts may not be so obvious to parents and students.
Tafoya said some less visible changes would focus on curriculum and how to
deliver staff development to employees scattered around the world. He added
that it's difficult to ensure that every school is getting the same kind of
training. "But we're trying to be very creative in how we help teachers teach
better," he added.
"My comment to staff at the beginning of the year," he said, "(is) that we need
to continue to analyze how we teach, but more importantly, to continue to
analyze how students learn."
The process of analyzing how students learn has paid off for DoDEA schools. DoD
students' fourth- and eighth-grade scores are consistently near the top of the
National Report Card, an annual ranking of schools nationwide based on several
criteria.
Keeping the students at the top of their academic game, however, sometimes
requires extra help. In high school, it's very easy to schedule students with
academic problems into a support class to bolster their learning in a
particular subject. This same assistance is not so easily achieved in
elementary school, Tafoya explained, where scheduling a support class may
require pulling a student from a lesson in another subject.
"It is much easier to address individual student needs at the high school and
middle school level from a scheduling standpoint," he said. "What we've got to
do is find a way to do it better at the elementary school, without interrupting
the regular program."
Initiatives introduced in DoDEA high schools several years ago will now be
broached at the elementary and middle school levels. Committees will address
whether staff levels are sufficient to meet objectives and whether the most
positive learning environment is being provided.
One committee will examine practices at the elementary level, and another will
do the same for the middle school level. The initiative will involve teachers,
principals and administrators, parents, and command representatives, Tafoya
said.
The year-end goal of the initiative is a K-12 program that spells out what is
offered in all of the schools.
Though there is no legal obligation for DoDEA to adhere to the letter of the
"No Child Left Behind" law, Tafoya said the agency is following the law's
spirit. He feels sure, he added, that DoDEA will be in full compliance with the
law by 2007, a full six years ahead of mandatory civilian school compliance.
Science standards are the only reason DoDEA hasn't yet attained full
compliance, and officials are reworking them, Tafoya said.
"We feel very comfortable about (the level of compliance)," Tafoya said. "The
last time we looked at our data, every single ethnic group, boys and girls,
whatever category you want to separate, our average test scores are above the
50th percentile for all students."
Such success is not accidental, Tafoya said, noting a combination of factors
that contribute, including DoD teachers being "part and parcel" of the missions
that affect their bases as well as being open to change and new ideas.
"I think our teachers and administrators are very proud to be a part of this
system," he said. "I think our teachers have bought into the mission. … I find
a lot of satisfaction. People are happy."
On the flip side, he said, the students really have a sense of connection with
the teachers. The students tell him hey can relate to their teachers and their
teachers care about them, he added.
When he's confronted with the question of what makes DoDEA schools different,
his answer is simply "support."
"I am just blown away by the level of support (from the parents and the
military)," Tafoya said. "That's our advantage."
DoDEA operates 222 public schools in 15 districts located in 13 foreign
countries, seven states, Guam and Puerto Rico. All schools within DoDEA are
fully accredited by U.S. accreditation agencies. About 8,785 teachers serve
DoDEA's 102,600 students.
Biography:
DoDEA Director Joseph Tafoya
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