DoDEA Pacific Director for Student Excellence Bio

Ms. Lois J. Rapp assumed the position of Director for Student Excellence (DSE) on April, 17, 2016. As the DSE, a Senior Executive Service (SES) position, Ms. Rapp's primary responsibility will be to provide organizational leadership in the areas of performance, accountability, leadership development, and support for districts across DoDEA Pacific in the implementation of education initiatives.

The DSE is a newly-established position under the Restructuring for Student Achievement (RSA) priority which has a goal of enabling DoDEA to become a more effective and efficient school system, by implementing the best practices of U.S. state and local education agencies. The position is a critical leadership component of the restructured DoDEA in the Pacific. The position serves under the authority and direction of the Director, DoDEA and has oversight of 48 schools and more than 22,000 children of U.S. military and eligible Department of Defense civilian personnel families stationed in Guam, Okinawa, Japan, and Korea.

Prior to this appointment, Ms. Rapp was the superintendent of the Pacific East District. She served as the Superintendent of the Department of Defense Education Activity's Georgia/Alabama District. In that position, Rapp oversaw all aspects of education and administration for the District which includes ten schools located on Ft Benning, Ft Rucker, and Maxwell AFB.

Prior to this assignment, Rapp served as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the South-Western City School District in Columbus, Ohio. The school district is the 6th largest school district in the state, with approximately 20,000 students. The District was the only one to receive the designation of "Excellent" by the state of Ohio from the Urban 21 - a group of 21 urban school districts in the state.

Previously, Rapp was the Assistant Superintendent for Greenon Local Schools as well as a curriculum coordinator for the Clark County Educational Service Center in Springfield, Ohio. Rapp has also been an adjunct professor for Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Rapp began her career as an educator in the Springfield City School District as a middle school classroom teacher.

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Rapp lived in Ohio from 1970 to 2010 and received her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from The Ohio State University. She earned both her master's and Educational Specialist degrees from Wright State University.

Rapp was selected by the Ohio Department of Education to serve as an assessor for Praxis III, the new teacher licensure performance-based assessment. Rapp received commendations for her contributions to education by the Ohio House of Representatives and the Clark County Commissioners Board. She has served on the executive board for the Ohio Association of Supervisors of Curriculum and Development (OASCD) and is a past president of the Ohio School Supervisors' Association (OSSA).

As a certified trainer, Rapp is recognized for her work with the Pathwise model of mentoring new teachers. She also served on the state of Ohio Teacher Evaluation Committee.