[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40858-40859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16223]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: Department of Education, National Assessment Governing Board.

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 July 21, 2008. 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: July 31-August 2, 2008.
    Times:
    July 31:
    Committee Meetings:
    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--8:30 a.m. to 1:45 
p.m.
    Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting: Open Session--2:15 
p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Closed 
Session--5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
    August 1:
    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.; 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
    Committee Meetings:
    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--9:15 a.m. to 
12:15 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--9:15 
a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Closed Session--10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:15 a.m. to 
12:15 p.m.
    August 2:
    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: Mandarin Oriental Washington DC, 1330 Maryland Avenue, 
SW., Washington DC 20024.

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 specifications and frameworks, developing 
appropriate student achievement levels for each grade and subject 
tested, developing standards and procedures for interstate and national 
comparisons, developing guidelines for reporting and disseminating 
results, and releasing initial NAEP results to the public.
    On July 31 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. the Assessment Development 
Committee will meet in closed session to review secure test items for 
grades 4, 8, and 12 for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational 
Progress (NAEP) science assessments and for the 2010 NAEP pilot 
assessments in civics and geography at grades 4, 8, and 12. The meeting 
must be conducted in closed session as disclosure of proposed test 
items for the assessments 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.
    On July 31, the Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting on 
Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners will meet in 
open session from 2:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. The Executive Committee will 
meet in open session from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on July 31 and in closed 
session from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. During the closed session the Executive 
Committee will receive a briefing from the National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES) on options for NAEP contracts covering the 
2008-2012 assessment years, based on funding for Fiscal Year 2010. The 
discussion of contract options and costs will address the implications 
for congressionally mandated goals and adherence to Board policies on 
NAEP assessments. This part of the meeting must be conducted in closed 
session because public discussion of this information would disclose 
independent government cost estimates and contracting options, 
adversely impacting the confidentiality of the contracting process. 
Public disclosure of information discussed would significantly impede 
implementation of the NAEP contract awards, and is therefore protected 
by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The second item of discussion during the Executive Committee's 
closed session is a discussion of personnel matters and the nomination 
of the Board Vice Chair for the one-year term beginning October 1, 
2008. 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.
    On August 1, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 
a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The Board will approve the agenda and the May 2008 
Board minutes. Thereafter, the Governing Board will receive a report 
from the Executive Director of the Governing Board, and hear an update 
on the work of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
    On August 1, the Board's standing committees--the Assessment 
Development Committee; the Committee on Standards, Design and 
Methodology; and the Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet 
from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    The Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session 
from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. on August 1 to review secure hands-on 
tasks and computer based tasks for the 2009 NAEP science assessment in 
grades 4, 8, and 12. The meeting must be conducted in closed session as 
disclosure of proposed test items for the science 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.
    On Friday, August 1, the Committee on Standards, Design and 
Methodology will meet in open session from 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 
in closed session from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. During the closed 
session, the Committee will first receive results of a study conducted 
by

[[Page 40859]]

NCES on test items for the NAEP 2009 reading and math assessments to 
demonstrate the effectiveness of new item development strategies. The 
second portion of the closed session briefing from NCES is to receive 
preliminary results of NAEP studies to maintain trend lines for the 
2009 NAEP reading and mathematics assessments. The meeting must 
therefore be conducted in closed session in order to allow the 
Committee to receive and discuss confidential test items and results of 
NAEP studies that have not been publicly released. This 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 August 1 from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    On August 1, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. the full Board will meet 
in open session to hear a presentation from the Virginia Superintendent 
of Public Instruction and the Chair of the Governing Board's Policy 
Task Force that works with the Council of Chief State School Officers. 
From 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Board will receive a briefing from the 
Chair of the Board's 12th Grade Technical Panel on Preparedness 
Research. From 2:45 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Board will hear a presentation 
from the Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools on 
how Trial Urban Districts make use of NAEP data. The August 1 session 
of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 4 p.m.
    On August 2, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. to receive an update on the status of the 
2008 Board nominations and to review and discuss confidential 
information regarding nominees for Board vacancies for terms beginning 
on October 1, 2009. 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 August 2 from 8:15 a.m. 
to 12 p.m. to hear a presentation on ``Inside NAEP: Background 
Variables.'' From 10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. the Board will receive and take 
action on Committee reports and elect the Board Vice Chair. The August 
2, 2008 session of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 12 p.m.
    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: July 11, 2008.
Mary Crovo Clark,
Deputy Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. E8-16223 Filed 7-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P