DODEA looks for boost to stagnant math scores

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DODEA looks for boost to stagnant math scores
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, November 13, 2009

Recent scores on a national mathematics test for Defense Department schools fourth- and eighth-graders were essentially unchanged from 2007, further evidence that DODEA math programs need a boost.

Department of Defense Education Activity eighth-graders scored an average of 287 out of 500 on the math portion of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress — two points higher than in 2007 — while fourth-grade scores remained the same at 240. The test is administered every two years.

Those scores place DODEA students in those grades slightly below the proficient range, as defined by NAEP. And while both grade levels earned scores that placed each above the national average in 2009, DODEA has lost ground to some states on the test since 2003 as reflected by their national ranking.

Fourth-graders in 26 states scored higher than DODEA in 2009, compared to 16 states in 2003. In 2003, DODEA’s eighth-graders ranked seventh in the nation. This year, they rank 15th.

The NAEP scores did not meet expectations, DODEA officials said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66076