[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24282-24283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8357]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of open meeting and partially closed meetings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 May 4, 2007. 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 17-19, 2007.
    Times:

May 17

Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--12 p.m. to 3 p.m.;
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Closed Session--3 p.m. to 
3:30 p.m.; Open Session--3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.;
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

May 18

    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m..; Closed Session--
12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.; Open Session--1:45 p.m.--3 p.m.; Closed 
Session--3 p.m. to 4 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 11:15 a.m.; Closed Session--11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.;
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:45 a.m. to 
12:15 p.m.;

May 19

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session--9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Location: The Langham Hotel, 250 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110.

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 May 17, the Assessment Development Committee will meet in open 
session from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Reporting and Dissemination 
Committee will meet in closed session on May 17 from 3 p.m. to 3:30 
p.m. to receive a briefing on secure data on participation, exclusion, 
and accommodation rates for grades 4, 8, and 12 for the 2007 NAEP 
assessments. The NAEP reports will be not be released until the fall of 
2007. The meeting must be conducted in closed session as disclosure of 
proposed test items for the reading assessment 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 Reporting 
and Dissemination Committee will meet in open session on May 17 from 3 
p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Executive Committee will meet in open session on 
May 17 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
    On May 18, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 a.m. 
to 12:15 p.m. From 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. the Board will approve the 
agenda, followed by welcome remarks. 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 May 18, the Assessment Development 
Committee and the Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet in 
open session. The Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology will 
meet in open session on May 18 from 9:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and will 
meet in closed session from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. to discuss the 
2006 NAEP Economics Achievement Levels for Grade 12. This briefing will 
involve discussion of achievement level findings which constitute a 
major basis for the national release of the NAEP Grade 12 Economics 
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 May 18, the full Board will meet in closed session from 12:15 
p.m. to 1:45 p.m. The Board will receive a briefing provided by the 
National Center for Education Statistics on the NAEP 2006 U.S. History 
and Civics Report Cards. The Governing Board will be provided with 
embargoed data that cannot be discussed in an open meeting prior to 
their official release. The meeting must therefore be conducted in 
closed session as disclosure of data would significantly impede 
implementation of The Nation's Report

[[Page 24283]]

Card initial release activities, as protected by exemption 9(B) of 
section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On May 18 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. the Board will receive a 
presentation on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. From 
3 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Board will meet in closed session to discuss the 
2006 NAEP Economics Achievement Levels for Grade 12. This briefing will 
involve discussion of achievement level findings which constitute a 
major basis for the national release of the NAEP Grade 12 Economics 
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 May 19, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. to review and discuss confidential 
information regarding nominees received for Board vacancies for terms 
beginning on October 1, 2007. 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.
    The full Board will meet in open session on May 19 from 9 a.m. to 
12 noon. From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. the Board will receive a briefing on 
NAEP Accommodations. Board actions on policies and Committee reports 
are scheduled to take place between 10:15 a.m. and 12 p.m., upon which 
the May 19, 2007 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, 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 1-888-293-
6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    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 27, 2007.
Charles E. Smith,
Executive Director, U.S. Department of Education, National Assessment 
Governing Board.
[FR Doc. E7-8357 Filed 5-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P