DOD is subject to many of the major provisions of IDEIA and must include  students with disabilities in its standardized testing. 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. 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. Reported obligations also included tools to help teachers identify  and support students who struggle to read, some of who may have  dyslexia. 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 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. Students with dyslexia may qualify for special education services under  the specific learning disability category, but students must meet specific  criteria. 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. DOD does not generally report disaggregated test scores for students with  disabilities. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.