[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26494-26495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12528]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Center on Education Statistics (NCES); Meeting

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of partially closed meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a 
forthcoming meeting of the Advisory Council on Education Statistics 
(ACES). Notice of this meeting is required under Section 10(a)(2) of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This document is intended to notify 
the general public of their opportunity to attend.

DATES: May 15-16, 1997.

TIMES: May 15, 1997--Full Council, 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m., (open); 
Management Committee, 10:15 a.m.-5:00 p.m., (open); Statistics 
Committee, 10:15 a.m.-5:00 p.m., (closed from 1:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m.); 
Strategy/Policy Committee, 10:15 a.m.-5:00 p.m., (closed from 10:15 
a.m.-11:15 a.m.). May 16, 1997--Full Council, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
(open); Statistics Committee, Strategy/Policy Committee, and Management 
Committee, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (open).

LOCATION: The Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle, NW., Washington 
DC 20005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Marenus, National Center for 
Education Statistics, 555 New Jersey Ave., NW., Room 400j, Washington, 
DC 20208-5530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Advisory Council on Education Statistics 
(ACES) is established under Section 406(c)(1) of the Education 
Amendments of 1974, Pub. L. 93-380. The Council is established to 
review general policies for the operation of the National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES) in the Office of Educational Research and 
Improvement and is responsible for advising on standards to insure that 
statistics and analyses disseminated by NCES are of high quality and 
are not subject to political influence. In addition, ACES is required 
to advise the Commissioner of NCES and the National Assessment 
Governing Board on technical and statistical matters related to the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The meeting of the 
Council is open to the public.
    The proposed agenda includes the following:
     A status report from the NCES Commissioner on major Center 
initiatives;
     New member swearing-in;
     The presentation of Committee reports;
     A discussion on the development of an NCES periodical; and
     A discussion of a synthesis of ``customer'' evaluations on 
NCES activities.
    Individual meetings of the three ACES committees will focus on 
specific topics:
     The agenda for the Management Committee includes a 
discussion of the results from the 1996 Customer Service Survey, review 
of NCES' performance indicators, and plans for future targeted customer 
surveys.

[[Page 26495]]

     The agenda for the Statistics Committee includes a 
discussion of emerging statistical issues in the National Assessment of 
Educational Progress (NAEP) such as those reflected in the National 
Academy of Education's Capstone Report, and the upcoming NAEP 
procurement. Further, the Statistics Committee will discuss issues 
surrounding the use of background variables; a preliminary report which 
links NAEP and data from the Third International Mathematics and 
Science Study; the results of the 1996 NAEP Science Assessment; and 
alternative strategies for setting achievement levels. Because part of 
the agenda involves reporting on the embargoed 1996 NAEP science 
achievement levels, ACES is precluded from discussing this information 
in a public meeting. The premature release of this information would 
result in the disclosure of information that would be likely to 
significantly frustrate implementation of the agency's proposed action. 
Such matters are protected by exemption (9)(B) of Section 552b(c) of 
Title 5 U.S.C.
     The agenda for the Strategy/Policy Committee includes a 
discussion of: major NCES budget issues; a new NCES budgeting and 
planning tool; NCES's longitudinal surveys; and plans for a redesign of 
the Schools and Staffing Survey. Because the discussion on budget 
issues will include information on planned procurements and cost 
estimates, the public disclosure of this information would be likely to 
significantly frustrate the implementation of planned agency action if 
conducted in open session. Such matters are protected by exemption 
(9)(B) of Section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    Due to complexities in setting the agenda for this meeting, the 
public is being given less than 15 days notice. A summary of the 
activities and related matters, which are informative to the public and 
consistent with the policy of 5 U.S.C. 552b, will be available to the 
public within 14 days after the meetings. Records are kept of all 
Council proceedings and are available for public inspection at the 
Office of the Executive Director, Advisory Council on Education 
Statistics, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., Room 400J, Washington, DC 
20208-7575.

    Dated: May 7, 1997.
Ramon C. Cortines,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 97-12528 Filed 5-13-97; 8:45 am]
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