ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 7, 2014 – Department of Defense Education Activity students took nearly 100 more Advanced Placement exams in the 2012-13 school year than they did in the previous school year, DODEA officials reported today.
DODEA plans, directs, coordinates and manages pre-kindergarten through 12th grade education programs for children of Defense families who otherwise would 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 United States that serve children of military families.
DODEA students took a record-setting 6,053 AP exams in the 2012-13 school year, officials said.
DODEA student participation in AP exams has increased over the past three years. About 22 percent of DODEA students in grades 9 to 12 took at least one AP exam in the 2012-13 school year, an increase of 4 percent over the past three years.
Despite overall improvements in performance, gaps persist between white and minority students and between females and males in both participation and performance, DODEA officials said. African-American students in DODEA continue to outperform their public school peers nationally, they added.
Adrian B. Talley, DODEA’s acting director, praised the system’s students for their achievement on the 2012-13 AP exams and encouraged more students to participate in the AP experience.
“DODEA is very fortunate to be able to offer rigorous AP courses in all of our brick-and-mortar secondary schools,” he said. “In addition, thanks to the diverse offerings of AP courses provided by our Virtual High School, students can take advantage of specific AP courses not offered in their schools because of a small school size.”
DODEA officials will be working toward narrowing achievement gaps and are focusing on a goal to increase overall scores so that more DODEA students will achieve a 3 or higher on the AP exam, he added.