News Release

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2003
Contact: Janet Rope
Voice: (703) 588-3118
Email: Janet.Rope@hq.dodea.edu

DoD School Students Continue to Improve in Mathematics
Overseas Eighth Graders Move to Third In Nation
Measurable Improvements by All Groups Tested

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA—On November 13, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) released the results for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment administered in the winter of 2003. For the first time, all 50 states and three jurisdictions participated in the assessment at both the fourth and eighth grade levels. On the mathematics assessment, Department of Defense(DoD) fourth and eighth graders, domestically and overseas, scored significantly better than the national average.

Achievement and Rankings
      Eighth grade students in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS), the overseas schools administered by DoD, improved their national ranking on the mathematics assessment from eighth place in 2000 to the third highest score in 2003. Eighth grade students in the Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS), the stateside schools run by the Department of Defense, improved their twelfth place 2000 mathematics ranking to the seventh highest score in 2003.

      DoD fourth graders in DoDDS and DDESS achieved the same score of 237 which placed them in sixth place nationally. DoD school fourth graders have steadily improved their national rankings in the national mathematics assessments.

*Reported rankings are for all students who were tested including those with special needs who required test accommodations.

Minority Achievement
      African American and Hispanic students in the DoD schools scored at the top of the charts when compared with their stateside public school counterparts at both grade levels tested.

      African American students in DDESS and DoDDS scored in either first or second place when compared to their counterparts, except for fourth grade DDESS students who were in third place, behind DoDDS and Texas, on the mathematics assessment.

      Hispanic students in DDESS and DoDDS also continued their national chart topping performance in mathematics. Hispanic eighth graders in DoDDS and DDESS scored in first and second place respectively in mathematics. Of special note is the fact that DoD Hispanic students matched or exceeded the national average score for all students in mathematics in 2003.

      In the last six months, the Department of Education has released state comparison data for student performance in mathematics (2003), reading (2002, 2003) and writing (2002). The tests, widely known as the "Nation's Report Card," are designed to measure on a national level what students know and can do.

Additional NAEP Information
      Detailed statistical information on the 2003 NAEP mathematics and reading assessment, and all other NAEP assessments, can be found on the web at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/wnew.asp?2

      Assessment items and samples of student responses from the 2003 mathematics and reading assessments, along with sample questions from other subject areas, can be found on the web at: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrls/pickone.asp

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