[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 212 (Wednesday, November 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67709-67711]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27754]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting and Partially Closed Sessions.

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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 (e.g.: 
interpreting services, assistive listening devices, materials in 
alternative format) should notify Munira Mwalimu at 202-357-6938 or at 
[email protected] no later than November 5, 2010. 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: November 18-20, 2010.

Times

November 18: Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--12:00 p.m-1:00 
p.m..; Closed Session 1:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.; Closed 
Session--5:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

[[Page 67710]]

November 19

    Full Board: Open Session--8:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.; Closed Session--
12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.; Open Session--1:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--10:00 a.m. to 12:00 
p.m.; Closed Session--12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.;
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--10:00 
a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--10:00 a.m. to 
12:30 p.m.

November 20

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
    Location: Westin Arlington Gateway, 801 North Glebe Road, 
Arlington, VA 22203.

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 the following: Selecting subject areas to be 
assessed, developing assessment frameworks and specifications, 
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 November 18, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., the Assessment 
Development Committee will meet in closed session to review secure task 
outlines for test items for the new NAEP Technology and Engineering 
Literacy (TEL) Assessment. These task outlines are for the computer-
based 8th grade 2013 pilot test in preparation for the 2014 operational 
assessment. The Board will be provided with secure test materials for 
review that cannot be discussed in an open meeting. Premature 
disclosure of these secure materials would significantly impede 
implementation of the NAEP assessments, and is therefore protected by 
exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On November 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., the Executive 
Committee will meet in open session and thereafter in closed session 
from 5:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. During the closed session on November 18, 
the Executive Committee will receive a briefing from the National 
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on options for NAEP contracts 
covering assessment years beyond 2011 and discuss budget implications 
for the NAEP assessment schedule and for international linking studies. 
The discussion of contract options and costs will address the 
Congressionally mandated goals and 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.
    On November 19, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:15 
a.m. to 9:45 a.m. The Board will review and approve the meeting agenda 
and meeting minutes from the August 2010 Board meeting, followed by the 
Chairman's remarks. Secretary Arne Duncan is scheduled to administer 
the oath of office for new Board members at 8:30 a.m. followed by 
remarks from new Board members. The Executive Director of the Governing 
Board will then provide a report to the Board followed by an update 
from the Acting Commissioner of the National Center for Education 
Statistics. The Board will recess for Committee meetings on November 19 
from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    The Reporting and Dissemination Committee and the Committee on 
Standards, Design and methodology will meet in open session on November 
19 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The Assessment Development Committee 
will meet in open session from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and thereafter 
in closed session from 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. During the closed 
session, the Assessment Development Committee will receive an embargoed 
briefing on preliminary results from the writing computer-based 2010 
pilot test at grades 8 and 12 in preparation for the 2011 operational 
assessment. This secure data cannot be discussed in an open meeting 
prior to official release. Premature disclosure of data would 
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP assessment, and is 
therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 
U.S.C.
    On November 19, from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. the full Board will 
meet in closed session to receive a briefing on the 2009 National 
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Science Report Card. The 
Board will be provided with embargoed results that cannot be discussed 
in an open meeting prior to their official release. Premature 
disclosure of data would significantly impede implementation of the 
NAEP assessment, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of 
section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    From 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Board will meet in open session to 
receive a report from the Governing Board/Council of Chief State School 
Officers Policy Task Force. Following this session, from 2:30 p.m. to 
3:30 p.m., the Board will receive presentations by the two State 
assessment consortia working on the Common Core State Standards and 
Assessments. From 3:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., the Board will receive an 
update on 12th Grade Preparedness Research. At 4:15 p.m., Board members 
will receive their annual ethics briefing from the Office of General 
Counsel. The November 19, 2010 Board meeting is scheduled to conclude 
at 4:45 p.m.
    On November 20, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed 
session from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to review and discuss specific 
names for Board vacancies, and their qualifications for Board 
membership for Board terms beginning October 1, 2011. 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 closed session on November 20 from 8:30 
a.m. to 9:45 a.m. to receive a briefing on the 2011 NAEP Computer-Based 
Writing Assessment, which will contain secure test information. 
Premature disclosure of the assessment items and the pilot test results 
would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP assessment, 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 to discuss the 
Future of the Governing Board and NAEP. At 11:00 a.m. the Board will 
receive Committee reports and take action on Committee recommendations. 
The November 20,

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2010 session of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 12 noon.
    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 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern 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 1-866-512-
1800; or in the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-0000.

    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: October 29, 2010.
Mary Crovo,
Deputy Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2010-27754 Filed 11-2-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P