In a "banner year" for Army education, the service has embraced the Defense Department's rollout of a universal pre-K program and implemented new practices aimed at developing the service's cadre of highly qualified teachers, the DoD's acting chief academic officer said Oct. 14.

Speaking on a panel of liaisons and advocates at the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Lori Pickel, of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), said 80 schools already have the universal pre-K program, with 10 left to go. Five of those are expected to get the rollout next year, and the last five schools will have programs established pending military construction programs, she said. 

According to DoDEA's website, the five stateside schools still awaiting universal pre-K include four Army elementary schools at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and one at Fort Novosel, Alabama; four schools in Europe also are on the list.

"We know that the college and career-ready journey begins at birth," Pickel said. "To get us to that readiness for not only career, college but [also] citizenship, what does that look like? So, we spent a great deal of time preparing for that."

Another component of the improvements taking place at military schools across the globe, Pickel said, is a multiyear effort to ensure that highly qualified teachers were in every DoDEA classroom on the first day of the school year. She and other officials found, she said, that one barrier to this standard was clearing overseas security hurdles and hiring, which could result in school years beginning with long-term subs instead of established teachers. Establishing 100% state credentialing reciprocity for military spouses at overseas schools, she said, helped to address the shortage while also representing a "major coup" for spouses who want to teach. 

Officials also addressed resourcing and recruiting challenges, organizing "strategic sourcing" for teacher recruitment that included career fairs and conference and university visits. 

As a result, according to Pickel, the school year began with highly qualified teachers in 98% of military classrooms.

Bridget Plummer, a school liaison officer for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, said her job exists to help address student and family concerns and help ease the transition of military moves. Fort Leonard Wood's "Arrive Strong" in-processing program, she said, aims to help with common moving challenges. But if families arrive at a school that doesn't have a program they enjoyed at a past DoDEA school or lacks a desired resource, she advised them to "put the pressure on" and ask for the officer to bring it to the installation or find another solution.

"School liaisons love their job, they really do," Plummer said. "I think the school liaisons need to do a little legwork and make sure they have the same resources."

—Hope Hodge Seck