Military Kids on the Move: Parent, Student, and Teacher Perspectives on a Newly Developed Digital Tool to Support Military-Connected Students’ School Transitions

Introduction: Over 900,000 school-aged children of Active-Duty Military parents are enrolled in civilian schools. Yet recent studies indicate as few as 10% of public- school teachers feel equipped with the necessary training and resources to effectively serve MC students within their classrooms. In addition, military-connected (MC) children experience 6 to 9 moves during their K-12 grades, a mobility rate 3 times that of non-military children. Military Kids on the Move (MKM) is a light-touch tool designed to lessen the stress of mobility and support the psychological health of military families moving to a new school district by sensitizing teachers to the needs of MC students. Through an animated web-based interview, information is gathered from MC parents and students to populate the MKM Profile, which can be shared with teachers in the receiving school district. This profile includes information about the military parent(s)’ service branch, timeline of family moves, and the child’s needs and interests. Here we report data collected from parents, students, and teachers who engaged with the tool during our proof-of-concept trial to assess the acceptability, usability, and importance of the tool.

Methods: Participants were 6 teachers, 7 parents, and 7 MC students at 4 elementary schools and 1 middle school in a district located near a U.S. military installation. After creating their MKM Profile, parents and children completed surveys about their experience using the tool. Three families also completed qualitative interviews to offer more in-depth impressions. The teachers met as a group and were presented with a demonstration of MKM. They then offered their impressions in the group and completed an individual survey about their perceptions of the tool. Descriptive analysis of both the survey and qualitative interview data were conducted.

Results: Results suggest MC parents and students view MKM as acceptable, usable, and important to military families. All parents either agreed or strongly agreed that MKM is a practical resource for military families and would recommend MKM to other military families who are relocating. Similarly, all students who tested MKM agreed that “MKM is a good way to help students in military families.” Teachers reported that receiving an MKM Profile from an incoming student would help them better support the arriving student and increase their understanding of military family life. Stakeholders consistently noted that MKM is distinct from existing resources for MC families making school transitions.

Conclusion: MKM appears to be a viable tool for helping ease school transitions for highly mobile MC families by introducing students to their new teacher. Most teachers in civilian schools report a lack of training and resources needed to effectively serve MC students. Teachers trained to support diverse groups of students are unlikely to view MC students as a distinct group or to understand their shared culture. MKM may foster greater awareness of and appreciation for military family life and promote increased teacher support for MC students. Future research should focus on identifying ways to optimize use of and engagement with MKM by military families who are experiencing school transitions.