Skip to main content
  • Click to open or close the program search boxShow Me Programs
    • Show me the programs that are
      performing Go
    • Show me the programs that are
      not performing Go
ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
Program Assessment

Program

View Assessment Details

Department of Defense Education Activity

The Department of Defense Education Activity purpose is to provde a free public education to eligible dependents of DoD employees. It operates over 200 public schools in 15 districts located in 13 foreign countries, seven states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Moderately Effective

In general, a program rated Moderately Effective has set ambitious goals and is well-managed. Moderately Effective programs likely need to improve their efficiency or address other problems in the programs' design or management in order to achieve better results.
  • DoD provides eligible military dependents with a high-quality public education. Students consistently achieve high scores in the National Assessment of Educational Progress and above the national average on standardized assessments. Minority students have been especially successful, scoring at or near the highest in the nation in mathematics.
  • The costs per pupil in domestic DoD schools is $11,773, which is among the highest in the nation. These costs are 43 percent higher than the estimated national average cost of $8,229 per student. DoD has no evidence that links cost per pupil with high student achievement.
  • There is no uniform policy that outlines circumstances when DoD should operate schools on its domestic bases and when it should rely on existing public school systems.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Analyzing options to reduce per pupil costs without affecting student achievement and safety/security.
  • Establishing partnerships with education organizations and local education agencies to promote high quality programs for school age children of military families.

Learn More

The content on ExpectMore.gov is developed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal agencies.