Children of National Guard and reserve members are military kids, too — and should be included in a new federal mandate for data gathering, advocates say.
The new requirement is part of 2015's Every Student Succeeds Act, which goes into effect no earlier than the 2017-18 school year. Officials at the U.S. Education Department are still ironing out how to implement the comprehensive new law. The requirement adds children of active-duty members to the various demographic information already collected, such as ethnic groups.
"Ultimately we'll have a better understanding of the potential 1.2 million K-12 military students in public schools, including public charter schools," said Mary Keller, president and CEO of the Military Child Education Coalition. She and other advocates have long asked for a military student data identifier in order to get a clearer picture of how military students fare in comparison to other students.
One major issue that military children face is the transition to a new school each time a parent is transferred to a new duty station. In many cases, children of Guard and reserve members don't move as frequently as kids of active-duty troops.
"It isn't just about moving. It's about recognizing and accommodating the needs of military children," Keller said. The Military Child Education Coalition has asked the Department of Education to include three separate options for identifying military children at enrollment: active duty, National Guard, or reserve.
There are more than 500,000 school-aged children of National Guard and reserve members, living within all 50 states. Parents of these children routinely deploy, the coalition noted in a letter to Education Department officials. The Education Department is in the midst of rule-making and clarified in an earlier rule that the law applies only to children of active-duty members.
"Teachers and school administrators are often unaware of military-connected children being within their schools and classrooms and therefore not attentive to not only the academic needs, but also the social and emotional well-being of these children. More accurate considerations of the amplified needs of these children would be possible via the military student data identifier," the coalition wrote.
Currently 19 states collect information about a child's parents' military status. Almost all also ask if the parent is National Guard or reserve, Keller said. For parents, the new requirement means that when they enroll their child in a school after the law takes effect, they will be asked about their military status. Providing that information is voluntary.
At the local level, school officials will know about military parents, and it will help those officials provide resources if needed for children during transitions and deployments, Keller said.
But once the enrollment information is sent to the school district, the child's information is anonymous. The child will be assigned a randomly generated number identifier, which protects the child's identity, Keller said.
At the national level, the data about these anonymous military students won't be available for several years after the military student data identifier is implemented. And when it is available, researchers and officials will need to look at data over multiple years, Keller said.
"You're looking at student growth and progression over time," she said. If there are gaps in certain areas, or certain patterns relating to military children, officials can add resources to help address those needs, as they can with other student populations, she said.
Examples of areas that can be compared are attendance; achievement; participation in advanced programs such as gifted programs; participation in special education programs; and those whose primary language is other than English.
While some assume that the military lifestyle has an overall negative impact on children, that's not necessarily a correct assumption, Keller said.
"That's unfair to our kids. I think we're going to find a lot of strength" in the military child population, she said. "That's as important as where the gaps are. When things are going well, how do you keep that trajectory?"
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
