[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24869-24870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10682]


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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 Sessions.

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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 (e.g.: 
Interpreting services, assistive listening devices, materials in 
alternative format) should notify Munira Mwalimu at 202-357-6938 or at 
[email protected] no later than May 6, 2011. 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: May 12-14, 2011

Times

May 12

Committee Meetings
    Ad Hoc Committee: Open Session: 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m.
    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session: 11:30 a.m.-4:15 
p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session: 4:30 p.m.-5:15 p.m.; Closed 
Session: 5:15 p.m.-6 p.m.

May 13

Full Board
    Open Session: 8:30 a.m.-9:45 a.m.; Closed Session: 12:45 p.m.-1:30 
p.m.; Open Session: 1:45 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Committee Meetings
    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session: 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session: 10 
a.m.-12:30 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session: 10 a.m.-12:30 
p.m.

May 14

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session: 8 a.m.-8:45 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session: 9 a.m.-10 a.m.
    Location: The Benson Hotel, 309 Southwest Broadway, Portland, OR 
97205.


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 the following: Selecting subject areas to be 
assessed, developing assessment frameworks and specifications, 
developing appropriate student achievement levels for each grade and 
subject tested, developing standards and procedures for interstate and 
national comparisons, developing

[[Page 24870]]

guidelines for reporting and disseminating results, and releasing 
initial NAEP results to the public.
    On May 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., the Ad Hoc Committee on 
Parent Engagement will meet in open session. Thereafter, from 11:30 
a.m. to 4:15 p.m., the Assessment Development Committee will meet in 
closed session to review secure test items at the eighth grade for the 
Technological and Engineering Literacy (TEL) pilot assessment in 2013. 
The Board will be provided with specific test materials/questions for 
review that cannot be discussed/disclosed in an open meeting. Premature 
disclosure of these secure test materials would significantly impede 
implementation of the NAEP assessments, and is therefore protected by 
exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On May 12, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., the Executive Committee 
will meet in open session and thereafter in closed session from 5:15 
p.m. to 6 p.m. During the closed session on May 12, the Executive 
Committee will receive a briefing from the National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES) on options for NAEP contracts covering 
assessment years beyond 2011 and discuss budget implications for the 
NAEP assessment schedule and for international linking studies. The 
discussion of contract options and costs will address the 
congressionally mandated goals and 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 contracts, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On May 13, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 a.m. 
to 9:45 a.m. The Board will review and approve the meeting agenda and 
meeting minutes from the March 2011 Board meeting, followed by an oath 
of office for a newly appointed Board member, and the Chairman's 
remarks. Thereafter, Portland Board member W. James Popham and Oregon 
education leaders are scheduled to make welcome remarks and address the 
Board. The Executive Director of the Governing Board will then provide 
a report to the Board, followed by updates from the Commissioner of the 
National Center for Education Statistics and the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences. The Board will recess for Committee 
meetings on May 13 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p. m.
    The Governing Board's standing committees, the Assessment 
Development Committee, the Reporting and Dissemination Committee and 
the Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology will meet in open 
session on May 13 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    On May 13, from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. the full Board will meet in 
closed session to receive a briefing on the 2010 NAEP U.S. History 
Report Card. The Board will be provided with results of the assessments 
that cannot be discussed in an open meeting prior to their official 
release. Premature disclosure of test results would significantly 
impede implementation of the NAEP assessment, and is therefore 
protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    From 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Board will meet in open session to 
receive a briefing and discuss the NAEP Five Largest States Report for 
2009 (Mega States). Following this session, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 
p.m., the Board will discuss ways of improving student achievement and 
closing achievement gaps. From 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., the Board will 
receive a briefing on Oregon's Assessment System from Tony Alpert, the 
Director of Assessment and Accountability from the Oregon Department of 
Education.
    The May 13, 2010 session of the Board meeting is scheduled to 
conclude at 4:30 p.m.
    On May 14, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. to review specific names for Board vacancies, 
and the status of nominees for Board membership for terms beginning 
October 1, 2011. 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 May 14, the full Board will meet in open session to receive 
Committee reports and take action on Committee recommendations. The May 
14, 2010 session of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 10 
a.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 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 1-866-512-
1800; or in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-0000.

    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: April 28, 2011.
Cornelia S. Orr,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2011-10682 Filed 5-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P