Department of Defense Education Activity Schools

The schools run by the Department of Defense at military bases and other installations around the world participate in the state assessment. Participation of selected schools is mandated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). Both branches of DoDEA, known as Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) located overseas, participated in the 2000 assessment. Some minor adaptations were made in NAEP preparatory activities to accommodate the geographic diversity of DoDEA schools.

Organization and Training of Field Staff

One field manager, based in Europe, was responsible for overseeing NAEP in all DoDEA schools, foreign and domestic. One supervisor was assigned domestic schools, and one was assigned international schools. Many quality control monitors (QCMs) hired for the DoDEA schools were based overseas and had previous experience working within the DoDEA system. They were referred to the NAEP project by DoDEA. All QCMs for the DoDEA schools attended the quality control (QC) training and several assessment administrator (AA) training sessions in the geographic areas in which they worked.

Selecting the Student Sample

The samples of students assessed in the DoDEA schools were selected in the NAEP data collection home office, using standard NAEP procedures, from lists of students produced in the DoDEA offices in Virginia. Due to privacy concerns only student ID numbers, and not student names, appeared on the DoDEA lists. Thus, after sampling, the administration schedules contained only the ID numbers. The AAs consulted school records and added the names of the students to the administration schedules prior to the assessments.

Training Assessment Administrators

Two field supervisors were hired specifically to conduct AA training sessions and monitor QCMs in the DoDEA overseas schools. The DoDEA liaison in Virginia, the DoDEA version of state coordinator, arranged the AA training sessions, all of which were held in schools or other facilities on the military bases where the schools were located. In many cases, the QCMs were required to obtain special clearances through DoDEA to visit the bases for AA training as well as for the assessments.

Conducting Assessments

The assessments in DoDEA schools were conducted using the same procedures used for schools in all other states and jurisdictions.

Last updated 08 May 2008 (MH)

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