News Release

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

DoD School Students Continue Top Tier National Performance
Eighth Graders Tops in Nation in Reading
Fourth Graders Move Into Top Five National Ranking

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA—On November 13, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) released the results for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading 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 reading 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, tied with Massachusetts for the highest score in the nation in reading with a score of 273. Eighth graders in the Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS), the stateside schools run by the Department of Defense, ranked fourth in reading with a score of 269, behind DoDDS, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana.

      At the fourth grade level, reading scores for the DoD schools showed improvement for overseas students, achieving a third place national ranking behind Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont. DoD domestic school fourth graders incurred a two point drop in reading scores from 2002 to 2003 that reduced them to a fifth place national ranking from their fourth place score in 2002.

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 in the nation, respectively, when compared to their counterparts, continuing the high level of performance exhibited in previous NAEP assessments.

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

      Hispanic fourth graders also topped the charts in reading with DoDDS Hispanic fourth graders ranking first in reading and DDESS Hispanic fourth graders ranking third behind DoDDS and Missouri.

      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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