Linchpin of Pentagon’s School-based Recruitment: Student Testing Program (ASVAB) Rife with Errors and Contradictions
Student Privacy Compromised by Massive Program
In late December, 2013 the Department of Defense released a
database on the military’s controversial Student Testing Program in
11,700 high schools across the country. An examination of the complex
and contradictory dataset raises serious issues regarding student
privacy and the integrity of the Student Testing Program in America’s
schools.
The data was released after a protracted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
See the
State ASVAB Databases and the
National Database.
The DoD’s Freedom of
Information office reports that 678,000 students participated in the
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Career Exploration Program
(ASVAB-CEP) during the 2012-2013 school year, down nearly 10% from the
previous school year. The three-hour test is the linchpin of the
Pentagon’s school-based recruiting program and provides the Military
Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM) an invaluable tool in
prescreening candidates for military service.
The ASVAB is the military’s entrance exam that is given to fresh
recruits to determine their aptitude for various military occupations.
Since 1968 the test has also been used as a recruiting tool in high
schools. It’s used by USMEPCOM to gain sensitive, personal information
on high school students, the vast majority of whom are under the age of
18. Students typically take the test at school without parental consent
and often without parental knowledge.
The Pentagon admits
military testing in the nation’s schools is a crucial component of
maintaining an “all-volunteer” force. In recent years military
recruiting has evolved into an exceptionally sophisticated psychological
campaign aimed at enticing high school children to enlist. From a
myriad of social websites and a host of other sources, recruiters may
know, before first contact, that a young man reads wrestling magazines,
weighs 155, can bench press 230, drives a ten year-old truck, listens to
“classic rock,” and enjoys fly fishing. They know where his girlfriend
stands on his looming decision to enlist. But the ASVAB opens the door
to a student’s cognitive abilities, something recruiting services can’t
purchase or find on line. A child’s virtual social being, his
intellectual capabilities, and mechanical aptitude are combined to
create a precise, virtual portrait, all before a recruiter’s first
contact.
In 1974 The Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA)
stood in the way of the DoD’s carte blanche access to student education
records. The law, which is still in effect today, requires a signed
parental release statement before “education records” are released to
third parties. The Pentagon’s position, explained in the ASVAB
Counselor Guide
(See page 14)
is that the ASVAB is proctored by DoD personnel and that ASVAB results
become education records only after the test is scored by the DoD and
returned to the school. This way, the brass argues, ASVAB results are
not education records. Instead, they’re “military records”. ASVAB
results are the only information about students leaving American schools
without providing for parental consent.
USMEPCOM Regulation 601-4
(Section 3)
identifies several options schools have regarding the administration
and release of ASVAB information. These options range from Option 1,
which permits test results and other student information to be released
to military recruiters without prior consent, to Option 8, the only one
that prevents test results from being used for recruiting purposes. The
problem is that many, if not most school administrators are unaware the
release options exist and USMEPCOM officials are not going out of their
way to tell them. Coalition partners in several states report telling
hundreds of school officials who did not know about release options.
Inaction on the part of a school will cause USMEPCOM to automatically select Option 1.
53% of all students taking the ASVAB across the country did so under
Release Option 1. Students and parents may not determine which release
option is used; therefore they cannot opt out of releasing the
information individually. Just 15% of students taking the ASVAB had
Option 8 selected by school officials.
DoD officials wash their hands of the privacy issue. “Whether or not a
school official seeks students’ or parents’ or guardians’ permission is
entirely up to that school, and we don’t have anything to say about
that at all,” said Curtis Gilroy, the Pentagon’s prior Director of
Accession Policy during an
NPR Interview in 2010.
Meanwhile, the DOD markets the ASVAB in high schools without
revealing its tie-in to the military or its primary function as a
recruitment tool. School counselors and administrators encourage
students to take the test that many claim assists students in matching
their abilities with certain career paths. It is terribly deceptive.
A Snapshot of the data
INDICATOR 2011-2012 2012-2013
Total Tested 752,758 678,248
Total Schools 11,754 11,741
# Students Option 8 122,636 105,222
% Option 8 16.29 15.51
# Schools Option 8 2177 2408
# Schools Mandatory 1219 938
Mandatory Testing
Pursuant to the FOIA
request, the data released by the DoD contains a column that identifies
whether the test was mandatory for students. The data shows that 931
schools required nearly 50,000 students to take the test.
Interestingly,
military regulations forbid recruiters from suggesting the ASVAB be
made mandatory. According to USMEPCOM Regulation 601-4,
“School and
student participation in the Student Testing Program is voluntary. DOD
personnel are prohibited from suggesting to school officials or any
other influential individual or group that the test be made mandatory.
Schools will be encouraged to recommend most students participate in the
ASVAB CEP. If the school requires all students of a particular group or
grade to test, the Military Entrance Processing Command will support
it.”
School officials in several states are under the impression that
ASVAB testing is mandated by federal law. For instance, counselors in
Nebraska have reported they’ve been told by recruiters that testing is
required.
Kevin Haake of the Nebraska
Coalition to Protect Student Privacy explains it this way, “We’d rather
not have the military actively recruiting in our schools but I don’t
see an egregious violation of civil rights when a couple of kids
voluntarily sign up to take this military test. It’s another matter
when entire classes of children are told they’ve got to take this thing
and all their information is shipped to the Pentagon without mom and dad
knowing about it.”
The line between mandatory and voluntary testing is blurred with U.S. Army Recruiting Command Regulation 601-107 page 25 Item 8 which ranks
each high school based on how receptive it is to military recruiters.
Schools are awarded extra points when they make the ASVAB mandatory.
Regardless of the perceptions of school officials concerning the
voluntary or mandatory nature of the testing regime many principals and
counselors are sold on the utility of the ASVAB as a useful career
exploration program that assists students in determining career paths.
Critics claim 16 year-olds are generally clueless regarding the
“careers” they may eventually choose. They say the test fails miserably
in this regard – and they’re not alone.
The U.S. Marine Corps Military Personnel Procurement Manual contains the following,
“The ASVAB
is used by the Armed Forces for recruiting purposes and by school
counselors for vocational guidance counseling. The ASVAB’s ability for
determining civilian job skills has not yet been proven.” See Sec. 4104 3b (pg 237 of this document)
It’s mind boggling.
Once the test is administered and scored, the recruiting command
sends recruiters to the schools after the tests are scored to discuss
“career paths” with students.
The military has done a
tremendous job marketing the program in high schools across the
country. American high schools are blanketed with posters and
announcements that read like this:
“Explore
your interests. Expand your horizons. Realize your strengths. Realize
your dreams. Start opening doors to your future. Participate in the
ASVAB Career Exploration Program on (DATE). It’s free! See your
counselor to register today.” See ASVAB Snippets.
The Pentagon’s marketing to students in the high schools never
explains what “ASVAB” stands for and never mentions the primary purpose
of the testing regime, which is to procure leads for recruiters. Its
website,
http://www.asvabprogram.com/ looks nothing like a DoD site and buries any mention of the military.
Do huge numbers voluntarily take the test?
The database purports to
reflect the number of schools and students that participate in mandatory
testing but there are several problems with its accuracy.
The ASVAB provides the first, massive, national litmus test for
enlistment. Consider five schools in the Miami area. North Miami Beach
HS tested 855. It has a minority population of 96%.. Coral Gables HS
tested 695 with a minority population of 90%. Coral Park HS had 429
take the test. It has a minority population of 96% Miami Central High
School tested 645 and Miami Northwestern HS sat down 642. Both have
minority populations of 99%. None of these five schools are listed in
the DoD database as having “mandatory” testing and there’s no evidence
online that students were required to take the test.
Voluntary?
A web search of seven
Michigan high schools listed in the newly released data as “Not
Mandatory” clearly shows that students are required to take the ASVAB.
Pickford, Watersmeet, Goodrich, Manistique Lake Linden, Rapid River,
and Ironwood High Schools all force students to take the test.
Munford High School in
Munford Tennessee tested 855 but is listed in the database as not
mandatory. Perhaps patriotism is rampant in Munford, but how, exactly,
do they manage to get 855 teenagers to voluntarily sit for three hours
to take a military exam?
Scranton High School in
Arkansas is listed as being mandatory for all grades but only 11
students took the test, according to the data. Scranton has a total
enrollment of 181. It begs the question: Just how many students are
required to take the test in Arkansas? Last year the state led the
nation with more than 10,000 students being forced to take the ASVAB.
After a robust email campaign to school officials, that number has
dropped to 7,333 although 140 schools still require students to take the
test. (That’s an average of 52 per school.) One school counselor
explained that the test has always been required and no one had ever
complained. Certainly there have been no complaints from the Military
Entrance Processing Command in Little Rock, until now, perhaps.
Two important questions
remain concerning mandatory testing, despite the data. How can we tell
from the statistics furnished by the DoD exactly how many are taking the
test and how do we know if a school requires students to take the
ASVAB? If the Pentagon admits there are nearly a thousand schools that
require military testing, how many are there, really? There’s
never been outside accountability. This is tragically ironic because
we’re dealing with the most sensitive information the state can possess
regarding our children.
According to the data,
6,536 schools or 56% of the total nationally, tested ten or fewer
children, comprising just 6% of the total number of students tested.
Most of these children, it may reasonably be assumed if the data is
accurate, were offered the opportunity to participate, rather than being
required to do so.
The average American high
school has an enrollment of 595 students and the average junior class
has about 120 students. If our hypothetical high school has 120 juniors
what number of juniors tested might provide us a clue that the test was
required? Alternately, how small must the number of test takers be to
reasonably demonstrate the voluntary nature of the exam?
There have been numerous
press reports concerning student and parent dissatisfaction with
mandatory military testing. Often, juniors and seniors use these ASVAB
testing days to simply skip school, reducing the numbers of those being
tested. 3,600 schools tested more than 50 students. Is it reasonable to
assume that these students were required to do so? Is it a stretch to
suggest that the number of children in America that are forced to take
the ASVAB is substantially higher than what the Pentagon publicly
admits?
The U.N. weighs in on mandatory testing
In early 2013 The UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the Obama Administration to “Ensure
that schools, parents and pupils are made aware of the voluntary nature
of the ASVAB before consenting to the participation into it.” See
the Concluding observations on the Second Report of the United States
of America, Adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at its
sixty-second session (14 January–5 2013) regarding the Optional
Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
http://www2.ohchr.org/English/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC_C_OPAC_USA_CO_2.doc
The Committee had previously found that “Parents
and children are often unaware of the voluntary nature of the Armed
Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test organized in schools
or its links to the military and that in some instances students were reportedly informed that the test was mandatory.”
Members of the
Committee in Geneva found it incredulous that a thousand American
schools force underage children to take this military test without
parental consent.
The United States ratified
the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) in 2002.
Article 3.3 of OPAC states that recruitment practices involving minors should be voluntary.
Forced military testing in American public schools for recruitment purposes without parental consent violates the treaty. In late 2012 the Obama Administration denied the mandatory nature of the testing regime. The US replied to the Committee,“Participation
in the ASVAB CEP is entirely voluntary. DOD does not require schools to
participate, nor does it require schools to test all students within a
participating school.”
There is a compelling
financial reason why so many take the ASVAB. It is often the only
“free” assessment on “test day”. A third of all high school students
are not college bound. If these students are offered a choice between
taking the PSAT which is a college entrance exam and involves paying a
fee — or taking the ASVAB which is free, they’ll typically pick the
ASVAB. The military will list these children as voluntarily taking the
ASVAB, although they’re actually forced to do so.
At Crown Point HS in Indiana,
“11th grade students that wish to take the PSAT, and
potentially qualify for national merit scholarships, will be required to
pay $14.00. Juniors may register to take the PSAT in room c-203 from
September 7-14th. 11th grade students that do not wish to take the
PSAT will be administered the ASVAB exam. The ASVAB exam is free of
charge.”
Crown Point tested 469
students last year and they’re listed as not mandatory. All had their
results shipped to recruiting services without parental consent.
It’s the same deal at Woodridge High School in Ohio,
“Juniors may take the PSAT or the ASVAB. The cost of
the PSAT is $14, Students register for the PSAT in Guidance and the
deadline is September 16, 2013. There is no cost for the ASVAB.” The DoD lists Woodridge as “not mandatory”.
Administrative and Legislative Inroads by the DoD
New Jersey allows the
ASVAB to be used as a substitute for mandatory graduation tests. The
guidelines call for receiving a 31 on the AFQT, the Armed Services
Qualifying Test. The ASVAB is used to calculate the AFQT. A 31 is the
minimum score for enlistment in the Army. A 31 on the AFQT is roughly
comparable to 5th or 6th grade proficiency in reading and math.
Kentucky calls for a 55 on the AFQT for a student to earn a diploma.
A 55 on the AFQT is the same as a composite SAT score of 840, according
to the widely distributed
ASVAB Concordance Table
provided by the recruiting command. An 840 on the SAT won’t open
college doors. It represents the bottom 5th of national SAT scores. A
55, however, opens the door to a host of military occupations.
Kentucky,
it should be noted, allows the military access to all student academic
records upon request by any agency of the federal or state government
for the purpose of determining a student’s eligibility for military
service. It’s the worst law in the nation.
Mississippi’s Department of
Education is close to allowing students who score a 36 or better on the
ASVAB in addition to a passing score on a state vocation test or
approved industry certification to receive a high school diploma. The
Magnolia State’s board of education is seeking public input and is
widely expected to approve the changes in January of 2014. The proposed
policy does not address privacy concerns.
In Minnesota a new policy allows students to take the ASVAB to meet
graduation assessment requirements in reading, mathematics and writing.
Missouri schools now
encourage the universal use of the ASVAB and track all ASVAB scores as
an integral part of the state’s school improvement program.
Missouri and Kentucky alone tested 21,000 more students than they
did last year. The rapid decline in the popularity of the testing
regime nationally is somewhat arrested by these developments. Meanwhile,
the vast majority of these new test takers had their personal
information sent to military recruiting services without parental
consent, undermining the efforts of privacy advocates.
The Military Entrance
Processing Command is also aided by a dozen state governors who have
issued proclamations calling on all students to take the ASVAB. In 2008
Alaska’s Governor Palin became one of the first to proclaim
ASVAB Career Exploration Month although no arrangements were made in Alaska or any other state to protect student privacy.
We’re witnessing the institutionalization of a direct informational pipeline to the Military Entrance Processing Command.
Psychology 101
School officials often ask, “What’s the problem with sharing student information with the recruiting command?”
Some aren’t too smart and they can get killed would be the answer.
Military recruiting is an exceptionally sophisticated psychological
program aimed at enticing high school children. The American Public
Health Association
(APHA)
has called for the cessation of military recruiting in the nation’s
high schools, citing the vulnerable stage of brain development of youth
and their “limitations in judging risk at this stage in life. They are
unable to fully evaluate the consequences of making a choice to enter
the military.” The APHA specifically calls for the end to military
testing in the high schools.
Patterns of Obfuscation
In 2010 Maryland became the first state to pass a law requiring the
universal selection of Option 8 for all high school students taking the
ASVAB. When the bill was working its way through the legislature, the
USMEPCOM Battalion Commander at Fort George G. Meade warned school
officials and legislators of a “disinformation campaign” regarding the
school testing program. The Colonel wrote that the efforts to encourage
schools to select Option 8 are “bent on disrupting any effort to build,
support, or sustain the military.”
It is apparent the Pentagon has orchestrated a “disinformation” campaign of its own.
Guidance counselors in high schools in a dozen states across the
country have said they were told by MEPS personnel that privacy concerns
are misplaced because students sign a “Privacy Act Statement” that is
part of the ASVAB answer sheet. It is a very familiar refrain. The
counselors are led to believe that the Privacy Act Statement gives
students notice of the release of test results to military recruiters
and provides student consent for the release of information. The
statement, however, says nothing about recruiter contact. The statement
is not a proper waiver of rights because it does not disclose that ASVAB
test results may be used for recruitment purposes, and it does not do
away with the obligation to obtain consent from a parent or guardian
when a student is under age 18. This is precisely where the program runs
afoul of state laws.
See the 2013 report
Best Practices for ASVAB-CEP Administrationfrom
Rutgers Law School. The report makes a compelling case that high school
counselors have both legal and professional responsibilities to ensure
that ASVAB student test information is not automatically released to
military recruiters.
Another misperception spread by the recruiting command is the notion
that the “Opt Out” law covers ASVAB testing. Every fall parents of
American high school children are provided the opportunity to “opt out”
of information being forwarded to recruiting services pertaining to
their children. If parents haven’t “opted out”, the reasoning goes,
their kids are fair game for the ASVAB. The “opt out” law is found in
Section 9528 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and is
limited to the release of a student’s name, address, and phone number.
The ASVAB, on the other hand, provides an in-depth cognitive picture of
a student, along with detailed demographic information and social
security number. ESEA doesn’t regulate ASVAB testing.
Still, another obfuscation practiced by USMEPCOM is the use of ASVAB
Test Request Forms that are distributed to high school administrators
that purposely leave off Option 8. See
this form
distributed by the recruiting command to school administrators in
Prince George’s County, Maryland. School officials were so incensed
they supported an effort that resulted in passing a law that mandates
the selection of Option 8 across the state.
Another reprehensible practice involves recruiters who lurk on
internet chat rooms like Yahoo Answers. It’s a way for Staff Sergeants
to procure leads to meet their monthly quotas and sometimes it’s
laughable. Consider this post in mid-December, 2013,
“I’m a junior in high school (17) and I took the
ASVAB. When I was taking the test it didn’t seem hard. Yes it was timed,
and I have test anxiety. I think that’s why I did so poorly. I made a
score of 16. I cried afterwards because one, I felt stupid, and two, I
want to join the military and I know getting a 16 won’t qualify me for
any jobs. I am planning on joining the Marine Corp. I know you’re
probably going to tell me to study. But can you give me some good advice
on what to do to keep my head up and keep trying?”
A score of 16 would mean our Yahoo friend is functionally illiterate.
A 16 roughly equates to a 2nd grade level and is half of the score
necessary to enlist in the Army. Several of the comments alluded to the
contradiction between the claimed score of 16 and the rather well
written question. Yahoo Answers enforces Community Guidelines. Under
the heading “Exploiting the Community” Yahoo requires participants “to
be responsible and don’t misrepresent yourself or claim false
credentials… Yahoo Answers is a place to gain knowledge, not customers.”
Yahoo is quick to remove these miscreants and has done so a dozen times.
The question has been deleted.
The greatest fallacy perpetrated by the Pentagon is their insistence
that ASVAB testing is not subject to the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act. It is ludicrous to suggest that ASVAB results are not
education records because the military, instead of the school, proctors
the test. Although the recruiting command may send one civilian employee
to officially administer the exam, it is school employees who market
the test over several weeks, assemble and keep track of students, and
provide much of the work controlling a large group of teenagers for a
few hours.
It’s unconscionable that ASVAB results are the only information
leaving American schools regarding children without providing for
parental consent, but the tide is turning.
Diane Wood with the Texas Coalition to Protect Student Privacy
reflects common sense Lone Star State attitudes, “I support the military
but I got fired up when I discovered this egregious violation of civil
liberties that’s been going on entirely unnoticed. I don’t care if it’s
the Department of Defense or who ever. The thing that’s surprised me is
that this privacy campaign has resonated with Tea Party activists down
here. We all see ASVAB testing as an unwarranted and illegal federal
incursion into our lives.” It’s a peculiar campaign that attracts
allies on opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Wood’s tireless organizing and her testimony to the nationally
maligned Texas State School Board probably contributed to Texas testing
6,600 fewer students in 2012-2013 than the year before. In Texas Option
8 rates increased from 14.7% to 15.5% while the number of students
forced to take the test shrunk from 15,805 to 4,825 and the number of
schools requiring students to take the ASVAB decreased from 181 to 70.
In many states, smart, targeted community activism has been shown to translate into quantifiable results.
Barbara Harris with the New York Coalition to Protect Student Privacy
has been at it for years and has helped to eliminate mandatory testing
in the Empire State. “We’ve witnessed several trends here in New York.
The number of test takers continues to drop, the percentage of schools
that have selected Release Option 8 continues to rise, and mandatory
testing has disappeared. I’m hopeful we’ll soon get the Board of Regents
to mandate Option 8 across the state.”
It’s the same in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Seth Kershner with
the Connecticut Coalition to Protect Students Privacy reports, “Testing
numbers in Connecticut and Massachusetts have plummeted in recent years
to about 4,000 in each state. There’s no mandatory testing. Nearly half
of the students being tested do so under Option 8. We’re hoping to
duplicate successes in Hawaii and Maryland and have policies or laws
enacted that mandate Option 8.”
Oregon’s school officials have responded to our campaign. Don Chapin
with the Oregon Coalition to Protect Student Privacy reports that 57.2 %
of students taking the test have Option 8 selected. See the statistics
on the National Coalition’s website
www.studentprivacy.org
Will Hopkins with the Coalition in New Hampshire has lobbied to introduce a bill in the New Hampshire.
HB 1321 mirrors Maryland’s law.
Outreach to moderate school board members in the north citing
privacy concerns are often taken into consideration, resulting in policy
changes. In the South and the Midwest, however, many responses have
been hostile, especially after school officials consult with their local
military entrance processing command.
If the Pentagon called the shots across the country every high school
student would be subjected to taking the ASVAB for enlistment
purposes. The program is fraudulent but it is sponsored by the
military, a sacrosanct institution that remains above constitutional
restraint and the rule of law in the view of many American school
officials and state legislators. We must convince them otherwise.
Pat Elder is the Director of the National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy. www.studentprivacy.org
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