K-12 Education: Improved Oversight Could Help DOD Schools Better Support Students with Literacy and Math Skill Deficits

The Government Accountability Office reports that about 10 percent of the roughly 60,000 students in Department of Defense schools received short-term small-group instruction for learning gaps last school year, while about 5 percent have a diagnosed specific learning disability — a population that grew 29 percent since 2018. GAO visited 11 schools across five districts serving nearly two-thirds of DODEA students with such disabilities and found staff at every single one describing the same obstacles: weak screening tools, incomplete referral processes, and delayed evaluations.

Nine of eleven schools said they needed better tools just to identify which students were behind, partly because DODEA's screening doesn't directly test elementary phonics skills. Of 44 strategic instruction and special education teachers interviewed, 32 rated their professional learning opportunities as 'bad' or 'very bad' — and DODEA never asked them what training would actually help.

DODEA told GAO in July 2026 that it has procured universal screening tools and plans to roll them out by late 2026. GAO issued eight recommendations; DOD agreed with five and partially agreed with three.

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