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Serving the military community
DoDEA's schools serve the children of military service members and Department of Defense civilian employees throughout the world. Children of enlisted military personnel represent 85 percent of the total enrollment in DoDEA schools.
Instructional Program
The DoDEA instructional program provides a comprehensive prekindergarten through 12th grade curriculum that is competitive with that of any school system in the United States. DoDEA maintains a high school graduation rate of approximately 97 percent. The 3,102 graduating seniors in DoDEA's Class of 2002 earned more than USD$35 million in scholarships and grants.
Assessment
DoDEA monitors student progress through the use of standardized tests. Students take the Terra Nova Achievement Test, a norm-referenced test for students in grades 3 through 11. Every year, at every grade level tested, and in every subject area, DoDEA students score above the national average. DoDEA 4th and 8th grade students also take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), "the Nation's Report Card." DoDDS and DDESS student scores consistently rank at or near the top of the scale when compared with the scores of other participating states and jurisdictions.
History
Shortly after the end of World War II, the United States military established schools for the children of its servicemen stationed in Europe and East Asia (at that time, servicewomen were not allowed to be mothers and remain on active duty).
Schools for children of military members stationed in the United States were established in the South after President Truman's 1949 order desegregating the United State military services. The need for integrated schools can be seen in the pattern of today's Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS).
First administered by the military branches they served, the growing number of schools was soon transferred to civilian managers. Federal schools in the United States meant to serve the children of military and federal personnel were known as "Section 6 schools," and defined in federal directives as, "When a DoD-operated school is established on Federal property to provide a free public education for eligible children or, if not established on such property, the eligible child resides on such property."
Overseas schools were often titled, "American Dependent Schools." They were staffed mainly by teachers recruited from the United States. The European branch of the overseas dependent schools was called the United States Dependents Schools, European Area (USDESEA).
Later, the various organizations were combined and two separate but parallel systems developed: the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) overseas, and the Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States. In 1994 the two systems were brought together under an umbrella agency, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).
DoDEA today
DoDEA operates 200 public schools in 15 districts located in 12 foreign countries, eight states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. All schools within DoDEA are fully accredited by U.S. accreditation agencies. Approximately 8,785 teachers serve DoDEA's 87,000+ students.
The highest number of schools DoDEA had before many started closing was 200, with over 120,000 students.
Organizational structure
DoDEA is divided into three Area Service Centers:
- DDESS/DoDDS-Cuba — Operates all DoDEA schools on the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico, and the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
- Georgia/Alabama District — Operates schools on the following bases in Georgia and Alabama:
- Kentucky District — Operates schools on two bases in Kentucky:
- Fort Campbell (NB: Some of the schools on this base, including the high school, physically lie in Tennessee.)
- Fort Knox
- North Carolina District — Operates schools on two North Carolina installations:
- New York - Virginia - Puerto Rico - DoDDS Cuba District — Operates schools on these installations:
- South Carolina/Fort Stewart District — Operates schools in South Carolina and one Georgia installation:
- DoDDS Europe — Operates schools in Europe and the Mediterranean.
- Bavaria District (scheduled for closure, with its schools transferring to the Heidelberg District)
- Heidelberg District
- Isles District — Mostly schools in the United Kingdom, with schools also operating in Bahrain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
- Kaiserslautern District
- Mediterranean District — Schools in Italy, Portugal (specifically the Azores), Spain, and Turkey.
- DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam
- Guam District
- Japan District
- Korea District
- Okinawa District
External links
- dodea.edu
- DoD Directive 1342.16 Provision of Free Public Education for Eligible Dependent Children Pursuant to Section 6, Public Law 81-874, as Amended
- PART 345—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SECTION 6 SCHOOLS
- History of DDESS
- "It's a way of life for us": High mobility and high achievement in department of defense schools from the Winter 2003 volume of The Journal of Negro Education
- Section 6 Schools in Six States: Eleven Case Studies of Transfer Issues
- American Overseas Schools Historical Society
