[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 130 (Friday, July 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38630-38631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6036]


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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 living devices, materials in 
alternative format) should notify Munira Mwalimu at 202-357-6938 or at 
[email protected] no later than July 24, 2006. 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: August 3-5, 2006.

Times

August 3

Committee Meetings
    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--9 p.m. to 1 p.m.
    Ad Hoc Committee on Planning for NAEP 12th Grade Assessments in 
2009: Open Session--1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--3 p.m. to 4:30 
p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.; Closed 
Session 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.

August 4

    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; Closed Session--
12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Open Session--1:30 p.m.-4:15 p.m.
Committee Meetings
    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--9:45 a.m. to 12:15 
p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--9:45 
a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:45 a.m. to 
12:15 p.m.

August 5

    Nominations Committee: Open Session--8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session--9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Location: The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, 1700 Tysons Boulevard, 
McLean, VA 22102.

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.
    The Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session on 
August 3 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (four hours) to review secure reading 
passages and items for grade 8 (approximately 200 reading items) for 
the 2007 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Reading pilot 
test. The meeting must be conducted in closed session as disclosure of 
proposed test items for the Reading 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 Ad Hoc Committee on Planning for NAEP 12th Grade Assessments in 
2009 will meet in open session on August 3 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 
Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet in open session on 
August 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thereafter, the Executive Committee will 
meet in open session from 4:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
    The Executive Committee will meet in closed session on August 3, 
2006 from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. For the first agenda item during this 
closed session, the Executive Committee will receive independent 
government cost estimates from the Associate Commissioner, National 
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for proposed contracts for item 
development, data collection, scoring and analysis, and reporting of 
National Assessment of Educational Progress

[[Page 38631]]

(NAEP) results for 2007-2012, and their implications on future NAEP 
activities. The discussion of independent government cost estimates 
prior to the development of the Request for Proposals for the NAEP 
2007-2012 contracts is necessary for ensuring that NAEP contracts meet 
congressionally mandated goals and adhere to Board policies on NAEP 
assessments. 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 and would provide an 
advantage to potential bidders attending the meeting. 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.
    The second agenda item for the closed session of the Executive 
Committee on August 3 is the discussion and nomination of the Board 
Vice-Chair. 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.
    On August 4, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:15 p.m. From 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. the Board will approve the 
agenda, followed by an Oath of Office ceremony for a new Board member. 
The Board will then receive the Executive Director's report and hear an 
update on the work of the National Center for Education Statistics 
(NCES).
    From 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on August 4, 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.
    On August 4, the full Board will meet in closed session from 12:15 
p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Board will receive a briefing provided by the 
Associate Commissioner, NCES, on policy issues relating to upcoming 
Report Cards and secure student achievement data related to three 
upcoming NAEP reports. The Board will discuss its proposed Policy 
Statement and Guidelines on Reporting, Release, and Dissemination of 
NAEP Results in relation to embargoed data from: (1) The 2005 Trial 
Urban District Assessment in Science; (2) the 2005 12th Grade Reading 
and Mathematics Report Card: and (3) the Puerto Rico NAEP Mathematics 
Assessment. These data constitute a major basis for the national 
release of the NAEP results, and cannot be released in an open meeting 
prior to the official release of the reports. The meeting must 
therefore be conducted in closed session as disclosure of data would 
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP release activities, and 
is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 
U.S.C.
    On August 4 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Board will receive a 
report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Planning for NAEP 12th Grade 
Assessments in 2009. This session will be followed by Board action on 
the NAEP 12th Grade Mathematics Objectives and Specifications from 2:45 
p.m. to 3:30 p.m. From 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., the Board will take 
action on the NAGB Policy Statement and Guidelines on Reporting, 
Release, and Dissemination of NAEP Results, upon which the August 4 
session of the Board meeting will conclude.
    On August 5, 2006 from 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., the Nominations 
Committee will meet in open session. From 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. the full 
Board will meet in open session to receive a briefing on NAEP 
Assessment and Booklet Design, followed by Board action from 9:30 a.m. 
to 10 a.m. on NAEP/NAGB Public Identity Marks. From 10 a.m. to 10:30 
a.m., the Board will receive an update on the NAEP 2011 Writing 
Framework project.
    Board actions on policies and Committee reports are scheduled to 
take place between 10:45 a.m. and 12 p.m., upon which the August 5, 
2006 session of the Board meeting will adjourn.
    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: July 3, 2006.
Munira Mwalimu,
Operations Officer, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 06-6036 Filed 7-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M