[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 141 (Friday, July 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36682-36684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-17728]


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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. This notice is appearing 
in the Federal Register less than 15 days before the date of the 
meeting of the Board because of late additions to the closed meeting 
schedule. 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 31, 
2009. 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 6-8, 2009.

Times

August 6: Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--8:30 a.m. to 2 
p.m.
    Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting on Students with 
Disabilities and English Language Learners: Open Session--2 p.m. to 4 
p.m.

[[Page 36683]]

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

August 7

    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.; Closed Session--
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Open Session--1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Committee Meetings
    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--10 a.m. to 11 a.m.; 
Closed Session--11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--10 
a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--10 a.m. to 
12:15 p.m.

August 8

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
    Full Board: Closed Session--8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.; Open Session--10 
a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Location: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 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 August 6, 2009, the Assessment Development Committee will meet 
in closed session from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Ad Hoc Committee on 
NAEP Testing and Reporting on Students with Disabilities and English 
Language Learners will meet in open session from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. 
Thereafter, the Executive Committee will meet in open session from 4:30 
p.m. to 5 p.m. and in closed session from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
    During the closed session on August 6, 2009 the Assessment 
Development Committee will review secure NAEP test questions in grades 
4, 8, and 12 for the 2010 operational assessments in U.S. History and 
secure writing prompts in the computer-based platform at grades 8 and 
12 for the 2010 pilot test. The meeting must be conducted in closed 
session as disclosure of test items 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 August 6, 2009, 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 2009-2010. 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 contracts, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The second portion of the closed session of the Executive Committee 
is for discussion of nominees for the office of Vice-Chair of the Board 
for the one-year term from October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010. 
Under the current NAGB by-laws, the Board selects a Vice-Chair from 
among its members. The Executive Committee will review the names of the 
candidates for Vice Chair, and will forward a recommendation to the 
whole Board for a final vote. 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 7, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 
a.m. to 9:45 a.m. The Board will review and approve the agenda and the 
May 2009 Board meeting minutes. Following these actions, the Chairman 
will introduce the Governing Board's new Executive Director, Cornelia 
Orr, who will then address the Board. Following her remarks, John 
Easton, Director, Institute of Education Sciences, will provide some 
remarks and engage in open discussion with the Board. This will be 
followed by an update from the Acting Commissioner of Education, Stuart 
Kerachsky, on the work of the National Center for Education Statistics.
    From 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., two of the Board's standing 
committees--the Reporting and Dissemination Committee, and the 
Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology will meet in open 
sessions. The Assessment Development Committee will meet in open 
session from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. From 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. the 
Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session to review 
secure writing prompts in the computer-based platform for the 2010 
pilot test in grades 8 and 12 and reading passages at grade 4 for the 
2010 special study on accessible booklets. This portion of the 
Assessment Development Committee is closed since disclosure of test 
items and data 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 full Board will meet in closed session from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 
p.m. to receive a briefing on the 2007 NCES Study on Mapping State 
Proficiency Standards onto the NAEP Scale from Peggy Carr, the 
Associate Commissioner of NCES. The Governing Board will be provided 
with embargoed data on the Mapping Study that cannot be discussed in an 
open meeting prior to their official release. Premature disclosure of 
data would significantly impede implementation of the NCES statistics 
program, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    From 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., the full Board will receive a briefing 
on the Expert Panel reports to the Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and 
Reporting of Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners. 
This will be followed by an update on the Common Core Standards Project 
from 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Thereafter, the Board will receive an update 
on the NAEP 2012 Technological Literacy Framework Project. The August 7 
session of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 4:30 p.m.
    On August 8, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to review and discuss confidential 
information regarding nominees received 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

[[Page 36684]]

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 closed session on August 8 from 8:30 
a.m. to 10 a.m. to receive a demonstration on NAEP Science Interactive 
Computer Tasks. The interactive computer tasks are secure items and 
cannot be discussed in an open meeting. Premature disclosure of the 
test items 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.
    Thereafter, the Board will meet in open session from 10:15 a.m. to 
12 p.m. to review and take action on Committee reports. The August 8, 
2009 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-
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    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 21, 2009.
Cornelia Orr,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. E9-17728 Filed 7-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P