[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 210 (Friday, October 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58374-58375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29086]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; Education.

ACTION: Notice of Teleconference and Partially Closed Meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice set forth the schedule and a 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 the general public 
of their opportunity to attend.

DATES: November 16, 1998; November 19-21, 1998.

TIME: November 16--Executive Committee 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (closed), 
12:00-1:00 p.m. (open); November 19, Design and Methodology Committee 
9:00-11:00 a.m., (open); Subject Area Committee #2, 9:00-11:00 a.m., 
(open). November 20--Full Board, 8:30-10:30 a.m., (open); Subject Area 
Committee #1, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., (open); Reporting and 
Dissemination Committee, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., (open); Achievement 
Levels Committee, 10:30-11:15 a.m., (open), 11:15-11:45 a.m. (closed), 
11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., (open). Full Board, 12:30-4:00 p.m., (open). 
November 21--Full Board 9:00 a.m. until adjournment, approximately 
12:00 Noon, (open).

LOCATION: Hotel Washington, Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mary Ann Wilmer, Operations Officer, National Assessment Governing 
Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capital Street, NW, 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 (Title IV of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994) (Pub. 
L. 103-382).
    The Board is established to formulate policy guidelines for the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress. The Board is responsible 
for selecting subject areas to be assessed, developing assessment 
objectives, identifying appropriate achievement goals for each grade 
and subject tested, and establishing standards and procedures for 
interstate and national comparisons. Under P.L. 105-78, the National 
Assessment Governing Board is also granted exclusive authority over 
developing the Voluntary National Tests pursuant to contract number 
RJ97153001.
    On Monday, November 16, the Executive Committee will hold a 
partially closed teleconference meeting. From 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 
the Committe will meet in closed session to discuss the development of 
cost estimates for current contract initiatives for NAEP and future 
contract initiatives. This portion of the meeting must be conducted in 
closed session because public disclosure of this information would 
likely have an adverse financial effect on the NAEP program. The 
discussion of this information would be likely to significantly 
frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action if conducted in an 
open session. Such matters are protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C. Between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m. the meeting will 
be open to the public when the Committee will discuss the NAEP 
assessment schedule for the year 2000 and hear updates on the Voluntary 
National Tests program and NAEP reauthorization.
    On Thursday, November 19, there will be meetings of two committees 
of the Governing board. The Design and methodology Committee will meet 
in open sessions from 9:00-11:00 a.m. The Committee will be considering 
information related to accommodations for testing students with 
language and/or physical disabilities. Also, the Committee will receive 
a report on technical information related to the 1999 NAEP field test. 
Subject Area Committee #2 will meet in open session from 9:00-11:00 
a.m. The Committee will discuss development issues for the proposed 
year 2000 NAEP science and math assessments. In addition, the Committee 
will be briefed on voluntary National Tests matters such as

[[Page 58375]]

calculator use, item development, and test development timelines.
    On Friday, November 20, the Full board will convene in open session 
at 8:30 a.m. The agenda for this session of the full board meeting 
includes approval of the agenda, the swearing-in of new Board members 
and remarks by the Secretary of Education, and a report from the 
Executive Director. This session will conclude with an update on NAEP 
and a presentation on NAEP Cooperative Agreements with the Educational 
Testing Service and Westat.
    Between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., there will be open meetings of 
the Subject Area Committee #1, and the Reporting and Dissemination 
Committee, and a partially closed meeting of the Achievement Levels 
Committee.
    Subject Areas Committee #1 will discuss development issues for the 
proposed year 2000 NAEP grad 4 reading assessment. In addition, the 
Committee will be briefed on voluntary National Tests matters such as 
readability findings, item development, and test development timelines. 
The Reporting and Dissemination Committee will consider the release 
plan for the 1998 NAEP mathematics report and the schedule for the 
release of future NAEP reports. Other agenda items include an update on 
the consideration of reporting data for groups of private schools; 
review of NAGB policy on reporting and dissemination; and Voluntary 
National Tests reporting and test utilization guidelines.
    The Achievement Levels Committee will meet in closed session from 
11:15-11:45 a.m., to discuss results of the civics and writing pilot 
testing. This portion of the meeting must be closed because references 
will be made to specific items from the assessment and premature 
disclosure of the information presented for review would be likely to 
significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action. 
Such matters are protected by exemption (9)(B) of Section 552b(c) of 
Title 5 U.S.C.
    During the open portion of the Achievement Levels Committee 
meeting, from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., there will be discussions of the 
National Academy of Sciences Evaluation of Achievement Levels, and a 
discussion on the results of the civics and writing pilot testing. From 
11:45 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., the Committee will consider issues related 
to linking NAEP and the Voluntary National Tests.
    The full board will reconvene at 12:30 p.m. The agenda items during 
this period include reflections on the 10 Year Anniversary Conference, 
and reports from the national Academy of Sciences: Evaluation of the 
Voluntary National Tests; High Stakes Testing for Tracking, Promotion, 
and Graduation, and the National Academy of Sciences, NAEP Evaluation. 
Also, there will be a report on AllStates 2000. The Board will recess 
at 4:00 p.m.
    On Saturday, November 21, the full Board will meet in open session 
from 9:00 a.m. until adjournment, approximately 12:00 noon. During this 
session the Board will hear updates on the Voluntary National Tests 
project and the Allstate 2000 Project. The final agenda item is the 
presentation of reports from the various Board committee meetings.
    A summary of the activities of the closed and partially closed 
sessions and other related matters which are informative to the public 
and consistent with the policy of the section 5 U.S.C. 552b(c), will be 
available to the public within 14 days after 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 
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Roy Truby,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 98-29086 Filed 10-29-98; 8:45 am]
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