Sec. 552. Management of special education in schools operated by Department of Defense Education Activity
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The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity, shall implement the following measures to improve staffing of special education teachers and staff at schools operated by the Activity: Require the inclusion, in the staffing model for a school, of service minutes required by the individualized education programs of students attending the school to more effectively determine appropriate staffing for the school. Collect the following data on underutilized special education staff members:
When such staff members are requested to transfer to a school with greater needs for such staff members. How many requests for such transfers the Activity receives. Whether such requests are approved or denied, and at what locations. Once such a request is received, the likelihood that the transfer occurs. Collect data on the turnover of special education teachers and staff, including reasons for departure. Review access to and requirements for crisis training, publicize Activity-wide policies with respect to such training for consistency, and expand such training to relevant special education teachers and staff, such as paraeducators, who are not required, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, to receive such training.
Require district and regional administrators to track training requirements for special education teachers and staff to ensure that such teachers and staff are meeting such requirements. The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall implement the following measures to improve and clarify guidance relating to special education provided by schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity: Review the list of types of disabilities recognized by the Activity as of the date of the enactment of this Act and determine if that list meets the most recent best practices for special education.
Standardize and implement instructions for providing special education materials to students across schools operated by the Activity. Develop and implement a plan for standardizing special education training across the Activity. Standardize reading intervention guidance and requirements across schools operated by the Activity, including by requiring each school and district operated by the Activity to have the same resources and instructions, and provide clear guidance on how to access additional support materials if required.
Not later than April 1, 2026, the Director shall brief the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the following: Coordination by the Department of Defense Education Activity with the Educational and Developmental Intervention Services programs of the military departments to determine what medical services the military departments are required to provide based on the needs of students attending schools operated by the Activity. A description of the process in effect as of the date of the briefing, if any, to resolve a dispute with respect to required services under a student’s individualized education program.
A description of issues pending, and resolutions of previous issues, under that process. An assessment of how support instructional specialists can better assist teachers with developing curriculum for special education students. A description of how the Activity provides services in the case of civilian or military dependents with severe medical or special education requirements that a school cannot meet, including any data on how many such cases arise an annual basis and in what locations.
A description of the process in effect as of the date of the briefing for reassigning a family from a school located outside the United States if the education needs of a child in the family cannot be met at that school and data, for the 5 school years preceding the briefing, on where such reassignments have been done and the frequency of such reassignments. An assessment of the pay scale for special education teachers and staff in effect as of the date of the briefing, an identification of the last time the pay scale was updated, a description of how the pay scale is determined, and a statement of how often the pay scale is updated.
Data on school and district-level requests for additional reading intervention curriculum, including the locations of such requests and whether such requests were approved or denied. The Director shall brief the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the progress made in implementing the measures described in subsection (a)— not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act; and every 180 days thereafter until the Director certifies that each such measure has been implemented.