GAO Finds Screening Gaps in Pentagon Schools
The Pentagon’s system of schools for military families needs better ways to identify and support students struggling with reading, math or specific learning disabilities, according to a Government Accountability Office review released August 26, 2026.
The report examined the Department of Defense Education Activity, or DODEA, which operates schools for military-connected children in the United States and overseas. GAO said gaps in screening tools, referrals, evaluations, teacher training and student-data access can delay support, a concern for families who may move between schools during a child’s education.
What the numbers show
In the 2024–2025 school year, about 10 percent of approximately 60,000 full-time K-12 DODEA students received strategic instruction, a form of targeted, short-term help in a small-group setting. About 5 percent had a specific learning disability, including conditions such as dyslexia and dyscalculia.
The number of DODEA students identified with specific learning disabilities rose 29 percent from the 2018–2019 school year through 2024–2025. Those figures cover full-time K-12 students in the data GAO analyzed. They do not represent every child in a military family or every DODEA enrollment category.
DODEA educated more than 67,000 children from military families in 161 schools during 2024–2025. GAO noted that DODEA students have performed above national averages on some assessments. The review did not characterize the system’s overall academic performance as poor; it focused on whether students needing targeted or special-education support are identified promptly and receive consistent services.
Screening and evaluation gaps
GAO visited 11 elementary, middle and high schools across six military installations in five of DODEA’s nine districts. The districts served 59 percent of DODEA’s total student population and 63 percent of students with specific learning disabilities. The schools were selected to provide insight into the system and were not intended to represent every DODEA school.
Staff at nine of the 11 schools said they needed more or better screening tools. GAO found that existing tools did not directly assess foundational phonics skills for elementary students and were not available to all students. Those limitations can make it harder to identify children who arrive behind grade level after a family move.
The review also found incomplete referrals for strategic instruction and special education, inconsistent practices and delays in special-education evaluations. DODEA policy requires the Case Study Committee to review a parental referral within 15 school days and, after the evaluation process begins, complete the evaluation and eligibility meeting within 55 school days after receiving written parental consent. An individualized education program meeting generally must be held within 10 school days after a student is found eligible.
These timelines do not mean every concern is resolved within 55 school days. GAO noted that the evaluation clock begins at a defined stage in the process, and some delays may involve circumstances outside DODEA’s full control.
Strategic instruction is not a prerequisite for special education. A student can be referred directly to the Case Study Committee for a special-education evaluation.
Teachers reported limited support
GAO found that staff cited limited access to student performance data, uneven practices among schools and professional learning that did not always match their roles. In interviews, 32 of 44 strategic-instruction and special-education teachers rated their professional-learning opportunities as “bad” or “very bad.”
Staff at all 11 schools said teachers needed a way to provide input about training. GAO said that feedback could help DODEA target professional learning toward identifying literacy and math deficits, delivering specialized interventions and using student data.
At 10 of the 11 schools, strategic-instruction and special-education teachers expressed frustration that agencywide training focused mainly on general education. Staff at nine schools were unaware that existing feedback forms could be used to describe broader future training needs.
What DODEA plans next
DODEA officials told GAO in July 2026 that the agency had procured universal screening tools for all grades and planned to begin administering them in late 2026. That rollout is a planned change, not evidence that the tools are already in use across the system.
GAO issued eight recommendations to the Department of Defense. They include improving literacy and math screening, analyzing rejected referrals, addressing factors contributing to evaluation delays, gathering teacher input on training, tracking specialized-reading certifications, improving teacher access to student data and ensuring that eligible students receive needed support.
DOD agreed with five recommendations and partially agreed with three. GAO lists all eight recommendations as open.
What military families can ask
Parents who suspect a reading, math or learning-disability issue can ask the school which screening tools are currently available, whether a Student Support Team referral is appropriate and how the separate special-education evaluation process works.
Families should also ask when a special-education referral was accepted or when written consent to evaluate was received, because the applicable evaluation timeline generally runs from that point. A referral for special education does not require a student to complete strategic instruction first.
The next major developments to watch are whether DODEA begins the promised all-grade screening rollout in late 2026 and whether the Defense Department takes actions that allow GAO to close its eight recommendations.
Sources
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