ARLINGTON, VA — May 14, 2012 — Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) eighth grade students continued their strong performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2011 Science Assessment. 

The NAEP was administered to DoDEA eighth grade students from January 24 - March 4, 2011. DoDEA's domestic and overseas school systems participated in NAEP as a single jurisdiction

DoDEA Results: 2011 NAEP 8th Grade Science Assessment

• In 2011, the average scale score for DoDEA's 8th grade students on the NAEP Science Assessment was 161 while the average scale score for 8th grade public school students nationally was 151.
• The DoDEA average scale score for 8th grade students of 161 on the 2011 NAEP Science Assessment was not significantly different from their average scale score of 162 in 2009. The 2011 average score of 151 for 8th graders nationally was two percentage points higher than the 2009 average scale score of 149.
• Only two states - Montana and North Dakota - had a higher average scale score than DoDEA. Montana's average scale score was 163 while North Dakota's average scale score was 164. Thirteen states had average scale scores that were not significantly different than DoDEA's average scale score. Thirty-six states had a lower average scale score than DoDEA. In 2009, DoDEA was tied with Montana and North Dakota for the highest average scale scores in the nation.

Proficiency Performance for DoDEA Students Remains Above National Average

• In 2011, 77% of DoDEA 8th graders performed At or Above Basic proficiency on the NAEP Science Assessment while 64% of the nation's 8th grade students performed At or Above Basic proficiency on the NAEP Science Assessment. In 2009, 78% of DoDEA students performed At or Above Basic proficiency while 62% of the nation's 8th graders performed At or Above Basic proficiency.
• In 2011, 40% of DoDEA's eighth grade students performed At or Above Proficient on the NAEP Science Assessment. Nationally, 31% of eighth graders performed At or Above Proficient on the 2011 NAEP Science Assessment. In 2009, 40% of DoDEA 8th graders performed At or Above Proficient on the NAEP Science Assessment while nationally, 29% of 8th graders did so.
• The percent of DoDEA 8th grade students performing Below Basic proficiency remains significantly lower than the nation. In 2011, 23% of DoDEA 8th grade students performed Below Basic while nationally, 36% of 8th graders performed Below Basic. In 2009, 22% of DoDEA 8th graders performed Below Basic while 38% of 8th graders nationally performed Below Basic.
• The percentage of 8th graders performing At or Above Advanced on the 2011 NAEP Science Assessment remains small. In 2011, 1% of DoDEA's 8th grade students performed At or Above Advanced while nationally, 2% of 8th grade students did so. These results remain virtually unchanged from 2009 when 1% of DoDEA's 8th graders performed At or Above Advanced on the 2011 NAEP and 1% of the nation's 8th graders performed At or Above Advanced.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history. NAEP does not provide scores for individual students or schools; instead, it offers results regarding subject-matter achievement, instructional experiences, and school environment for populations of students (e.g., eighth graders) and groups within those populations (e.g., female students, Hispanic students). NAEP results are based on a sample of student populations of interest.

Additional Key Findings for the 2009 NAEP Reading Assessment
(Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES))

DoDEA's Minority Achievement DoDEA's African American and Hispanic students continued to score higher when compared with their counterparts nationally in science.

2011 NAEP Science Assessment Average Score Results
African American Students, Hispanic Students and White Students

	African American	Hispanic	White
DoDEA	143	158	169
Nation	129	137	163

• In 2011, the DoDEA 8th grade minority achievement gap on the NAEP Science Assessment between black students (143) and white students (169) was 26 points. Nationally, the minority achievement gap between African American 8th graders (129) and white 8th graders (163) was 34 points. In 2009, the minority achievement gap between DoDEA's African American 8th graders and white 8th graders was 26 points - unchanged from 2011. In 2009, this same gap nationally was 36 points.
• In 2011, the DoDEA 8th grade minority achievement gap on the NAEP Science Assessment between Hispanic students (158) and white students (169) was 11 points. Nationally, the minority achievement gap between Hispanic 8th graders and white 8th graders was 26 points. DoDEA is narrowing the minority achievement gap in the performance of Hispanic 8th grade students on the NAEP Science Assessment. In 2009, this same gap was 15 points within DoDEA. Nationally, in 2009, the minority achievement gap between Hispanic 8th grade students and 8th grade white students on the NAEP Science Assessment was 30 points.

 

DoDEA Director Marilee Fitzgerald recognized DoDEA's 8th graders for their achievements and emphasized initiatives designed to have additional impact on the system's future performance on the NAEP Science Assessment.

"DoDEA's 8th graders are performing significantly higher than the nation on the NAEP Science Assessment," said DoDEA Director, Marilee Fitzgerald. "DoDEA minority students' performance also continues to outpace the national average.

"Our student performance is excellent and reflects a system-wide emphasis on high academic standards and expectations for all students, excellence in teaching, hard-working students, and a high-level of parental involvement in their children's education," said Ms. Fitzgerald. "We're looking forward to even higher levels of student achievement as we implement our new science curriculum, and integrate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning throughout our curriculum. We will continue to focus efforts on narrowing the achievement gap that currently exists between our minority and majority group students. The NAEP results show both promise and a need for improvement in this regard."

DoDEA plans, directs, coordinates, and manages pre-kindergarten - 12th grade education programs for Department of Defense (DoD) dependents who would otherwise not have access to a high-quality public education. DoDEA schools are located in Europe, the Pacific, the United States, Guam, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. DoDEA also provides support and resources to Local Education Activities throughout the U.S. that serve children of military families.