[Federal Register: July 16, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 137)]
[Notices]
[Page 40858-40859]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16jy08-61]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting
AGENCY: Department of Education, National Assessment Governing Board.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting and partially closed meetings.
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SUMMARY: The notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a
forthcoming meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board. This
notice also describes the functions of the Board. Notice of this
meeting is required under Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act. This document is intended to notify members of the
general public of their opportunity to attend. Individuals who will
need special accommodations in order to attend the meeting (i.e.,
interpreting services, assistive listening devices, materials in
alternative format) should notify Munira Mwalimu at 202-357-6938 or at
Munira.Mwalimu@ed.gov no later than July 21, 2008. We will attempt to
meet requests after this date, but cannot guarantee availability of the
requested accommodation. The meeting site is accessible to individuals
with disabilities.
DATES: July 31-August 2, 2008.
Times:
July 31:
Committee Meetings:
Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--8:30 a.m. to 1:45
p.m.
Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting: Open Session--2:15
p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Closed
Session--5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
August 1:
Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.; 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Committee Meetings:
Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--9:15 a.m. to
12:15 p.m.
Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--9:15
a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Closed Session--10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:15 a.m. to
12:15 p.m.
August 2:
Nominations Committee: Closed Session--8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Full Board: Open Session--9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: Mandarin Oriental Washington DC, 1330 Maryland Avenue,
SW., Washington DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Munira Mwalimu, Operations Officer,
National Assessment Governing Board, 800 North Capitol Street, NW.,
Suite 825, Washington, DC 20002-4233, Telephone: (202) 357-6938.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Assessment Governing Board is
established under section 412 of the National Education Statistics Act
of 1994, as amended.
The Board is established to formulate policy guidelines for the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The Board's
responsibilities include selecting subject areas to be assessed,
developing assessment specifications and frameworks, developing
appropriate student achievement levels for each grade and subject
tested, developing standards and procedures for interstate and national
comparisons, developing guidelines for reporting and disseminating
results, and releasing initial NAEP results to the public.
On July 31 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. the Assessment Development
Committee will meet in closed session to review secure test items for
grades 4, 8, and 12 for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) science assessments and for the 2010 NAEP pilot
assessments in civics and geography at grades 4, 8, and 12. The meeting
must be conducted in closed session as disclosure of proposed test
items for the assessments would significantly impede implementation of
the NAEP program, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of
section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
On July 31, the Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting on
Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners will meet in
open session from 2:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. The Executive Committee will
meet in open session from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on July 31 and in closed
session from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. During the closed session the Executive
Committee will receive a briefing from the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) on options for NAEP contracts covering the
2008-2012 assessment years, based on funding for Fiscal Year 2010. The
discussion of contract options and costs will address the implications
for congressionally mandated goals and adherence to Board policies on
NAEP assessments. This part of the meeting must be conducted in closed
session because public discussion of this information would disclose
independent government cost estimates and contracting options,
adversely impacting the confidentiality of the contracting process.
Public disclosure of information discussed would significantly impede
implementation of the NAEP contract awards, and is therefore protected
by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
The second item of discussion during the Executive Committee's
closed session is a discussion of personnel matters and the nomination
of the Board Vice Chair for the one-year term beginning October 1,
2008. These discussions pertain solely to internal personnel rules and
practices of an agency and will disclose information of a personal
nature where disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy. As such, the discussions are protected by exemptions
2 and 6 of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
On August 1, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30
a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The Board will approve the agenda and the May 2008
Board minutes. Thereafter, the Governing Board will receive a report
from the Executive Director of the Governing Board, and hear an update
on the work of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
On August 1, the Board's standing committees--the Assessment
Development Committee; the Committee on Standards, Design and
Methodology; and the Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet
from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
The Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session
from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. on August 1 to review secure hands-on
tasks and computer based tasks for the 2009 NAEP science assessment in
grades 4, 8, and 12. The meeting must be conducted in closed session as
disclosure of proposed test items for the science assessment would
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP program, and is
therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5
U.S.C.
On Friday, August 1, the Committee on Standards, Design and
Methodology will meet in open session from 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and
in closed session from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. During the closed
session, the Committee will first receive results of a study conducted
by
[[Page 40859]]
NCES on test items for the NAEP 2009 reading and math assessments to
demonstrate the effectiveness of new item development strategies. The
second portion of the closed session briefing from NCES is to receive
preliminary results of NAEP studies to maintain trend lines for the
2009 NAEP reading and mathematics assessments. The meeting must
therefore be conducted in closed session in order to allow the
Committee to receive and discuss confidential test items and results of
NAEP studies that have not been publicly released. This would
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP program, and is
therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5
U.S.C.
The Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet in open session
on August 1 from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
On August 1, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. the full Board will meet
in open session to hear a presentation from the Virginia Superintendent
of Public Instruction and the Chair of the Governing Board's Policy
Task Force that works with the Council of Chief State School Officers.
From 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Board will receive a briefing from the
Chair of the Board's 12th Grade Technical Panel on Preparedness
Research. From 2:45 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Board will hear a presentation
from the Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools on
how Trial Urban Districts make use of NAEP data. The August 1 session
of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 4 p.m.
On August 2, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session
from 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. to receive an update on the status of the
2008 Board nominations and to review and discuss confidential
information regarding nominees for Board vacancies for terms beginning
on October 1, 2009. These discussions pertain solely to internal
personnel rules and practices of an agency and will disclose
information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute an
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As such, the discussions are
protected by exemptions 2 and 6 of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
The full Board will meet in open session on August 2 from 8:15 a.m.
to 12 p.m. to hear a presentation on ``Inside NAEP: Background
Variables.'' From 10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. the Board will receive and take
action on Committee reports and elect the Board Vice Chair. The August
2, 2008 session of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 12 p.m.
Detailed minutes of the meeting, including summaries of the
activities of the closed sessions and related matters that are
informative to the public and consistent with the policy of section 5
U.S.C. 552b(c) will be available to the public within 14 days of the
meeting. Records are kept of all Board proceedings and are available
for public inspection at the U.S. Department of Education, National
Assessment Governing Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol
Street, NW., Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time, Monday through Friday.
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/index.html.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF,
call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free at 1-888-293-
6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
nara/index.html.
Dated: July 11, 2008.
Mary Crovo Clark,
Deputy Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S.
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. E8-16223 Filed 7-15-08; 8:45 am]
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