[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70984-70986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29567]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Education, National Assessment Governing 
Board.

ACTION: Notice of Open and Closed Meeting Sessions.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of the 
upcoming meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board (Board) and 
also describes the specific functions of the Board. Notice of this 
meeting is required under Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act. This notice is issued to provide members of the general 
public with an opportunity to attend and/or provide comments. 
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 21, 2011. 
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: December 1-3, 2011.
    Times:
    December 1: Schedule for Ad Hoc, Assessment Development, and 
Executive Committee.

Meetings

    Ad Hoc Committee: Open Session: 8:30 a.m.-11:15 a.m.
    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 
p.m.; Open Session: 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session: 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.; Closed 
Session: 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m.

December 2: Schedule for Full Board and Committee Meetings

    Full Board: Open Session: 8:15 a.m.-10 a.m.; Closed Session: 12:30 
p.m.-2 p.m.; Open Session: 2:15 p.m.-4:45 p.m.

Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee (ADC): Open Session: 10:15 a.m.-
11:30 a.m.; Closed Session: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology (COSDAM): Open 
Session: 10:15 a.m.-12 p.m.; Closed Session: 12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee (R&D): Open Session: 10:15 
a.m.-12:30 p.m.

December 3: Schedule for Nominations Committee and Board Meeting

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session: 7:15 a.m.-8:15 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session: 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

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    Location: St. Regis Hotel, 923 16th and K Streets NW., Washington, 
DC 20002.

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 
(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 December 1, 2011, a series of committee meetings will occur. 
From 8:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., the Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Parent 
Engagement will meet in open session. From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. the 
Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session to review 
the secure test task outlines for the 2014 NAEP Technology and 
Engineering Literacy (TEL) assessment scheduled for 2014 for grade 8. 
During the closed session, ADC members will be provided specific test 
materials for review which are not yet releasable to the general 
public. Premature disclosure of these secure test items and materials 
would compromise the integrity and substantially impede implementation 
of the NAEP assessments, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) 
of section 552b(c) of Title 5 of the United States Code. This same 
committee will meet in an open session from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
    On December 1, 2011 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the Executive 
Committee will meet in open session and thereafter in closed session 
from 5:30 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 
assessment years beyond 2012 and address budget implications for the 
NAEP assessment schedule. The discussion of contract options and costs 
will address the congressionally mandated goals and Board policies on 
NAEP assessments. This portion of the meeting will 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 reduce future contract 
competition and significantly impede implementation of the NAEP 
contracts, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 of the United States Code.
    On December 2, 2011 the full Board will meet in open session from 
8:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. The Board will review and approve the meeting 
agenda and meeting minutes from the August 2011 Board meeting, followed 
by the Chairman's remarks. The Oath of Office will then be administered 
to newly appointed Board members by the U.S. Secretary of Education. 
This session will be followed by a Panel Discussion on using NAEP to 
make a difference.
    After the panel discussion concludes, the Executive Director of the 
Governing Board will provide a report to the Board, followed by updates 
from the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics 
(NCES) and the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). 
Following these sessions, the Board will recess for Committee meetings 
from 10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    The Governing Board's standing committee, the Reporting and 
Dissemination Committee will meet on in open session on December 2 from 
10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    The Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology will meet in 
open session from 10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. and in closed session from 12 
p.m. to 12:30 p.m. During the closed session, COSDAM members will 
receive a briefing on secure data collected from the NAEP writing 
achievement levels-setting field trial and pilot study. The Board will 
be provided with specific assessment data and achievement levels 
results that have not been approved for release by the NCES 
Commissioner and therefore cannot be disclosed to the public at this 
time. Premature disclosure of these secure test results would 
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP assessments and 
reporting, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The Assessment Development Committee (ADC) will meet in open 
session from 10:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and thereafter in closed session 
from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. During the closed session, the ADC will 
receive a briefing on embargoed data from cognitive lab studies of 4th 
grade students in preparation for the 2012 computer-based Writing Pilot 
assessment. The Board will be provided with specific test materials for 
review that cannot be discussed/disclosed in an open meeting. Premature 
disclosure of these secure test items and materials would significantly 
compromise the integrity and significantly impede implementation of the 
NAEP assessments, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of 
section 552b(c) of Title 5 United States Code.
    On December 2, 2011 from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. the full Board will 
meet in closed session to receive a briefing from NCES on the 2011 
Reading and Mathematics Report Cards for the Trial Urban District 
Assessment (TUDA). The Board will be provided with embargoed data and 
results that cannot be discussed in an open meeting prior to their 
official release by the National Center for Education Statistics on a 
date to be determined. Premature disclosure of these results would 
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP assessment program, and 
is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 
United States Code.
    From 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., the Board will receive a briefing on 
education policy perspectives from Senate and House staff from Capitol 
Hill. Following this session, from 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Board will 
receive an update from the Governing Board/Council of Chief State 
School Officers (CCSSO) Task Force. From 4:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Board 
members will receive the annual ethics briefing from the U.S. 
Department of Education's Office of General Council staff. The December 
2, 2011 session of the Board meeting is scheduled to conclude at 4:45 
p.m.
    On December 3, 2011, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed 
session from 7:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to review nominations for Board 
terms beginning on October 1, 2012. 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 of the 
United States Code.
    On December 3, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 
a.m. to 12 p.m. From 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., the Board will receive a 
briefing on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and 
at 10:15 a.m. the Board will receive a briefing from the standing 
committees' discussions on

[[Page 70986]]

Making a Difference. The Board will receive Committee reports and take 
action on Committee recommendations from 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. upon 
which the December 3, 2011 meeting will conclude.
    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 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: www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: November 10, 2011.
Cornelia S. Orr,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U. S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2011-29567 Filed 11-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P