Coalition for Military-Connected Student Success Charter
Mission: To provide policymakers with insights about the unique educational needs of the 1.2 million military-connected children and concrete recommendations on how to meet those needs.
Rationale for the advisory group: Military-connected children are a unique demographic. On average, military families move every two to three years, which can greatly impact a child’s K–12 education journey. Military-connected students face challenges associated with inconsistent education standards – they often are playing catch up to grade level in a new state or are struggling to sit through material they’ve already learned. In addition, the highly mobile nature of military life can impact the social and emotional aspects of military-connected students’ school experiences.
Member organizations:
- Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA)
- Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC)
- Military Families for High Standards (MFHS)
- Military Impacted Schools Association (MISA)
- National Association for Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS)
- National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI)
- National Military Family Association (NMFA)
Target audiences: The primary target audiences for our advisory efforts include the U.S. Department of Education; uniformed and civilian senior leaders of the military services; members of Congress (including those on committees and caucuses with responsibility over military family and educational matters); state-level education officials; service members and their spouses; and news media.
What we stand for: Each of our organizations is committed to ensuring the highest quality education opportunities for military-connected children in accordance with our individual organizational missions and goals. We care about education continuity and access issues and recognize that there are a number of areas where, collectively, we may provide viable advice and counsel. Because of this commitment, we are united on the following priorities:
- Championing rigorous education standards and access to high-quality education in public schools attended by military-connected children;
- Encouraging full funding of Impact Aid – the federal government’s program for reimbursing school districts for a loss of local tax revenue – and the main means by which the federal government supports schools serving military-connected children;
- Advocating for the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, which has been adopted by all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Compact addresses transition issues commonly faced by military-connected children as they move to new school districts and states;
- Raising awareness of issues faced by military-connected children in the curricula of institutions of higher learning to help better prepare future teachers and other youth-serving professionals in identifying and responding to their needs;
- Raising awareness about the importance of the Military Student Identifier required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The law mandates that states collect information about military-connected students’ assessment results as a distinct subgroup in order to better shape policies and direct resources; and
Highlighting effective practices, worthy of replication, that have been adopted by school districts and military installations to support military-connected children and families through school transitions and throughout their education journey.