[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5137-5138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2096]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; Education.

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 
[email protected] no later than February 27, 2004. 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: March 4-March 6, 2004.
Times:

March 4

Committee Meetings:

    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--12:30 p.m. to 4 
p.m.;
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Closed 
Session--5:00 p.m. to 6 p.m.

March 5

    Full Board: Open Session--8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Committee Meetings:


[[Page 5138]]


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

March 6

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session--9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Location: Westin Philadelphia, 99 S. 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 
19103.

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 objectives, developing appropriate student 
achievement levels for each grade and subject tested, developing 
guidelines for reporting and disseminating results, and developing 
standards and procedures for interstate and national comparisons.
    On March 4, the Assessment Development Committee will meet in 
closed session from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. to review secure test items 
for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 12th Grade 
2005 Economics Pilot Test. The meeting must be conducted in closed 
session as disclosure of proposed test items from the NAEP 2005 
Economics Pilot Test 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 Executive Committee will meet in open session on March 4 from 
4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The committee will then meet in closed session 
from 5:00 p.m. to 6 p.m. to discuss independent cost estimates for 
contracts related to the National Assessment of Educational Progress 
(NAEP). This part 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 impede implementation of a 
proposed 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.
    On March 5, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:00 a.m. 
to 10:30 a.m. The Board will approve the agenda, hear the Executive 
Director's report; receive an update on the work of the National Center 
for Education Statistics (NCES) from the Commissioner of NCES, Robert 
Lerner; and receive a final report of the NAEP 12th Grade Commission.
    From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 5, the Board's standing 
committees--the Assessment Development Committee; the Committee on 
Standards, Design, and Methodology; and the Reporting and Dissemination 
Committee--will meet in open session.
    The full Board will meet in closed session on March 5, 2004, from 
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. to receive reports on the 1990-2000 High School 
Transcript Study and a Special Study on Charter Schools. This part of 
the meeting must be conducted in closed session because the results of 
these two studies are under development and have not been released to 
the public. Premature disclosure of the information would significantly 
frustrate implementation of a proposed 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.
    The full Board will meet in open session on March 5 from 1:30 p.m.-
4:30 p.m. At 1:30 p.m., the Board will provide input and discuss the 
report of the NAEP 12th Grade Commission. This will be followed by a 
report to the Board from the External Review Panel on the 2009 NAEP 
Reading Framework Project from 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., after which the 
March 5 session of the Board meeting will adjourn.
    On March 6, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. to review nominations for Board membership. 
This discussion pertains 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.
    Thereafter, the full Board will meet in open session from 9 a.m. to 
12 p.m. The Board will discuss the Draft Reading Framework from 9 a.m. 
to 10:30 a.m. Board actions on policies and Committee reports are 
scheduled to take place between 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m., when the March 
6, 2004 session of the Board meeting will adjourn.
    A final agenda of the March 4-6, 2004 Board meeting can be accessed 
after February 23, 2004 at http://www.nagb.org. 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.

    Dated: January 29, 2004.
Charles E. Smith,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 04-2096 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am]
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