University of Texas at Austin to Help Military Families Who Have Children With Disabilities
A new partnership between the Texas Center for Disability Studies at The University of Texas at Austin and the Exceptional Family Member Program in Fort Hood, Texas, has created the Fort Hood Family Support 360 Project to help military families caring for children with disabilities. Using a $1 million grant recently awarded by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration on Developmental Disabilities, the Fort Hood Family Support 360 Project will educate families in how to navigate and use military and civilian public support systems to get assistance and services for their children with disabilities. Full Article +
December 10, 2008 - DoDEA Launches Grant Program
DoDEA has launched the Promoting Student Achievement at Schools Impacted by Military Force Structure Changes FY 09 Competitive Grant Competition. Projects will enhance student learning opportunities, student achievement, and educator professional development at military-connected schools that are experiencing significant military growth between 2007 and 2009 due to force structure changes based on the Report to Congress (March 2008). This solicitation is open to school districts serving 22 military installations identified through that report. Grant Details + | Grant FAQs
November 14, 2008 - (In the News) Teachers Learn How to Soldier AFN Europe
The roles are reversed for teachers in Wiesbaden, Germany. They are the students for a day, learning what military kids deal with when mom, or dad is at war. Chris Knoblauch has details on teachers skipping class, and camoflauging themselves, in the name of education. View video +
November 11, 2008: Schools Look to Smooth Transitions for Military Families
Children in military families have always had a difficult time integrating into a new school as they move from education system to education system. Full article +
November 3, 2008: Kids With Parent in War Zone Face Behavior Risks
Children 3 and older more prone to act out than those without deployed kin. Children of U.S. military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to have behavioral problems than children whose parents aren't deployed, a new study shows. Researchers studied 169 families with children aged 18 months to 5 years old enrolled in a day-care center at a Marine base. Of those families, 55 (33 percent) had a deployed parent, with an average deployment length of 3.9 months. The researchers found that children aged three years and older with a deployed parent had significantly higher scores on measures of externalizing and overall behavior problems than children of the same age without a deployed parent. Full article +
October 11, 2008 - (In the News) State Balks at Effort to Ease Military Kids' Transitions, HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com
Kaléa Leverette, the daughter of a Navy commander, went to sixth grade in Florida, crossed the globe for seventh grade in Japan, then moved to Virginia for eighth grade. Each school had a different curriculum, a different grading system and a different set of standardized tests. Full article + | Related Topic: Interstate Compact
October 10, 2008 - (In the News) TEA provides support to regions expecting student enrollment surges due to base realignments, Texas Education Agency
Military base realignments and closures will bring thousands of new families to Texas and trigger an enrollment surge in school districts in the El Paso, San Antonio and Killeen areas. El Paso's Fort Bliss alone expects to grow by 300 percent giving it 37,000 soldiers by 2012. With those soldiers come children. El Paso area schools estimate a 20,000 student increase. To assist districts in preparing for this growth surge, Commissioner of Education Robert Scott today announced his intent to transfer up to $300,000 to three Education Service Centers to fund additional field service agents. Field service agents are problem solvers who serve as liaisons between service centers and school districts. Full article +
September 22, 2008 - (In the News) Growth at Fort Bliss Begins to Hit Schools By Zahira Torres, El Paso Times
Since Kristen Pirog and her husband, Maj. John Pirog, enrolled their daughters at Milam Elementary School three years ago, the campus, which serves mostly military children, has tripled in size.The El Paso Independent School District campus, which capped enrollment last week after reaching capacity, is among dozens throughout the county that are feeling the impact of military growth. Full article +
September 3, 2008 - (In the News) Belvoir ES Faces Overpopulation: FCPS said some students may eventually have to be moved off post By Julia O'Donoghue
Fairfax County Public Schools may have to move some Fort Belvoir Elementary School students who live on the base to a school off the military post to alleviate overcrowding in the years to come, said school officials earlier this month. "We are still in the exploration stage but the facilities staff may be recommending a boundary study to provide relief at Fort Belvoir," said Dean Tistadt, Fairfax schools’ chief operations officer. Full article +
August 12, 2008 - Teacher-to-Teacher Event
DoDEA personnel participated in two programs at military-connected schools in coordination with the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher to Teacher initiative. The workshops bring together some of the nation’s most effective teachers and educators to share successful practices for raising student achievement in key academic areas. DoDEA offered courses on military culture and the challenges students sometimes face when they belong to a military family. Full story +
July 2008 - Army Education Summit
The Army through the Military Child Education Coalition sponsored the fourth Army Education Summit. Leadership teams from the most heavily impacted school districts and their service providers attended the one day forum to address such issues as growth, transitions, and support for military-connected children. The summit also focused on the goals of the Army Family and Community Covenants to build partnerships that promote excellence and opportunities in education.
June 26-26 2008 -- MISA Conference
DoDEA and the Military Impacted Schools Association offered a Showcase of Best Practices for Local Education Agency district superintendent and program leaders. The conference provide a forum for sharing promising programs, interventions, and strategies in the areas of mathematics instruction, Advance Placement and American Diploma Project implementation, School Transition Centers, deployment support, special education, model school websites, and an online reading and mathematics intervention. MISA extended its annual conference one day so that DoDEA could host this partnership opportunity. Presenters from the partnering school communities of Texas, North Carolina, and Hawaii shared information on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of promising programs.
June 13, 2008 -- Facon Named Chief of Educational Partnerships Branch
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - The Department of Defense Education Activity has named Kathy Facon as the new Chief of Educational Partnerships Branch for the organization. In her new position, Facon will be responsible for leading the branch in efforts to establish networks, processes and protocols to increase joint service initiatives, communication, and awareness surrounding quality education opportunities for military children. The team will also encourage collaboration and sharing of best practices and provide support to military-connected school systems throughout the nation. Full press release +
