DOD Overseas Schools: Additional Assurances of Educational Quality Needed
HRD-90-13
Published: Mar 15, 1990. Publicly Released: Mar 15, 1990.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Department of Defense (DOD) schools for military dependents and civilian personnel located overseas, focusing on the: (1) quality of the schools' education information; and (2) school system's responsiveness to parental concerns.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Office of Dependents Schools to use, in addition to standardized test scores, other measures of education quality to assess its schools, such as: (1) attendance, promotion, and drop-out rates; (2) the ranges of courses students take; and (3) how successful students are in meeting college entrance requirements. |
A May 30, 1990, memorandum from the Director, DOD Dependent Schools, to regional directors, emphasized comparing DOD dependent school educational performance indicators, and the continued need for improved performance in data collection.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Office of Dependents Schools to ensure that procedures are implemented requiring school principals to document in students' files the rationale for each exception granted to minimum graduation requirements. |
A September 7, 1990, memorandum from Director, DOD Dependent Schools, to school principals, through DOD regional directors, directed compliance with DOD dependent schools regulations ensuring specific documentation for school principals waiving graduation requirements.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that teachers' files include all documents needed to demonstrate that they meet DOD requirements to teach their subjects and grade levels. |
The DOD Civilian Personnel Office directed the services to ensure that civilian personnel offices are complying with OPM requirements for record and documentation reviews and retention of official college transcripts and SF-171 for job qualifications.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require the Office of Dependents Schools to ensure that advisory committees are provided the opportunity to review school policy issues and to advise school principals on them, specifically curricula and budget issues. This can be ensured by requiring the committees to document that they have been given that opportunity and are aware that they can elevate unresolved concerns to school system management above the principal level. |
An August 31, 1990, memorandum from the Director, DOD Dependent Schools, to DOD regional directors, established guidelines requiring school advisory committees to annually certify that they have been informed of the opportunity to advise on policy issues such as curriculum and budgets, and that they can evaluate unresolved concerns above the principal level to DOD dependent schools management.
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Topics
Academic achievementAdvisory committeesSubstance abuseFacility repairsOverseas dependents schoolsSchool management and organizationTeachersSchoolsStudentsDependents