DOCUMENT RESUME ED 459 218 UD 034 466 AUTHOR Smrekar, Claire; Guthrie, James W.; Owens, Debra E.; Sims, Pearl G. TITLE March toward Excellence: School Success and Minority Student Achievement in Department of Defense Schools. A Report to the National Education Goals Panel. Lessons from the States. INSTITUTION National Inst. on Early Childhood Development and Education (ED/OERI), Washington, DC.; Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN. Peabody Coll. PUB DATE 2001-09-00 NOTE 87p.; Research performed by team from the Peabody Center for Education Policy, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. Photographs may not reproduce adequately. AVAILABLE FROM National Education Goals Panel, 1255 22nd Street, N.W., Suite 502, Washington, DC 20037. Tel: 202-724-0015; Fax: 202-632-0957; e-mail: negp@ed.gov. For full text: http://www.negp.gov/report/DoDFinal921.pdf. PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Academic Achievement; Academic Standards; *Black Students; *Educational Quality; Foreign Countries; Governance; *Hispanic American Students; Junior High Schools; Minority Group Children IDENTIFIERS African Americans; Department of Defense; *Dependents Schools; Germany; Japan; Latinos; National Assessment of Educational Progress ABSTRACT This study examined how Department of Defense (DoD) schools have attained high achievement levels among all students, emphasizing Hispanics and African Americans. Researchers investigated organizational and governmental structures linking the daily operations of DoD schools and districts to policy-setting authorities; the nature and quality of instructional practices in DoD domestic and overseas schools; and social and economic conditions associated with students and their families. Data came from visits to 15 U.S., German, and Japanese middle schools and interviews with administrators, teachers, parents, and DoD staff. DoD schools scored at or near the top of all states in reading and writing on the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress. White, African American, and Hispanic students scored well compared to their counterparts in other states, and the racial/ethnic achievement gap was narrower than the gap in other states. The military context of the DoD schools supported student achievement in specific ways. Success rested on a combination of in- and out-of-school factors (a community strategic planning process, alignment of key system components, high expectations, teacher quality, preschool and after-school programs, small school size, and corporate commitment from the military) . Appendixes include Overseas Educators School Year 2000-01 Salary Schedule, DDESS (Domestic Dependents Elementary and Secondary Schools) 2000-01 School Year Salary Schedule, and numerous tables and charts displaying statistics relating to the study. (Contains 3 figures, 18 tables, 8 appendixes, and 51 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.