Good morning, and welcome to Kid News! I'm Tori.

Today is Tuesday, October 17, 2023.

And we begin with a question.

Who runs the best American classrooms?

Your school and your teacher are definitely amazing.

But when it comes to the best school system,

that honor appears to go to the Department of Defense.

On the National Assessment of Educational Progress,

a federal exam, which is the gold standard

for comparing states and large districts,

schools run by the Defense Department

outscored every jurisdiction in math and reading last year.

The New York Times reports these schools

even managed to avoid widespread pandemic losses

seen by many others.

There are about 50 Defense Department schools

on military bases in the U.S.

and 100 overseas.

As for why these institutions are so successful,

defense officials tell the paper,

it helps that their well-funded have a diverse student body

and there's a stable long-term plan for academic programs.

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