More high praise for the Defense Department's school system, where last year black and Hispanic 8th graders outperformed their peers in every single state. To be sure, the DoD system has built-in advantages, such as a unified command structure and ability to enforce parental involvement that other schools can't match. (It is not unheard of for principals in DoD schools to call the commanding officers of parents who miss back-to-school night.) Note, though that these schools also deliver excellent results despite enormous turnover (some kids changing schools twice in a year), relatively low levels of parental education, and below-par household incomes. As we've said before (pace Immanuel Kant): the fact that it can happen somewhere means it can happen anywhere.
"Military schools producing army of solid performance," by Fredreka Schouten, USA Today, March 30, 2004