[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 85 (Thursday, May 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25723-25724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10411]



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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of open and closed meeting sessions.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda for 
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 May 6, 2013. 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 16-May 18, 2013.

Times

May 16: Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session: 8:00 a.m.-1:45 
p.m.
    Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Background Information: 2:00 p.m.-4:00 
p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session: 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.; Closed 
Session: 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

May 17: Full Board and Committee Meetings

    Full Board: Open Session: 8:30 a.m.-9:45 a.m.; Closed Session: 
12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m.; Open Session: 2:00 p.m.-5:15 p.m.

Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee (ADC): Closed Session: 10:00 a.m.-
11:00 a.m.; Open Session: 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee (R&D): Open Session: 10:00 
a.m.-12:30 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology (COSDAM): Open 
Session: 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

May 18: Full Board and Committee Meetings

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session: 7:30 a.m.-8:15 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session: 8:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
    Location: The Omni Los Angeles Hotel, 251 South Olive Street, Los 
Angeles, CA 90012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Munira Mwalimu, Executive 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 May 16, 2013, the Assessment Development Committee will meet in 
closed session from 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. to review secure NAEP test 
materials for Science Interactive Computer Tasks (ICTs) at grades 4, 8, 
and 12 for the 2014 pilot test, in preparation for the 2015 NAEP 
Science assessment. The review of secure ICTs for grades 4, 8, and 12 
must be conducted in closed session because the ADC members will be 
provided with secure items and materials which are not yet available 
for release to the general public. Premature disclosure of the secure 
test items and materials would compromise the integrity and 
substantially impede implementation of the secure NAEP assessments and 
is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 
of the United States Code.
    On May 16, 2013, the Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Background 
Information will meet in open session from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 
Thereafter, the Executive Committee will convene in open session from 
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and in closed session from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 
p.m. During the closed session, the Executive Committee will receive 
and discuss costs for specific activities under individual current 
contracts, and independent government cost estimates from the National 
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) staff on various options for 
proposed item development, data collection, scoring and analysis, and 
reporting of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results 
for 2013-2017, and their implications on future NAEP activities. The 
costs of specific activities budgeted under current contracts would 
disclose financial information that is proprietary, protected under 
Section 552b(c)(4) of Title 5 U.S.C. The discussion of independent 
government cost estimates for the NAEP 2013-2017 contracts is necessary 
for ensuring that NAEP contracts meet congressionally mandated goals 
and adhere to Board policies on NAEP assessments available at 
www.nagb.org/policies.html. This part of the meeting must be conducted 
in closed session because public disclosure of this information would 
likely have an adverse financial effect on the NAEP program by 
providing contractors attending an unfair advantage in procurement and 
contract negotiations for NAEP. Discussion of this information would be 
likely to significantly impede implementation of a proposed agency 
action if conducted in open session. Such matters are protected by 
exemption 9(B) of section 552b of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On May 17, 2013, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 
a.m. to 9:45 a.m., followed by a closed session from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 
p.m., and an open session from 2:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
    On May 17, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m., the Board will review 
and approve the May 17-18, 2013 Board meeting agenda and meeting 
minutes from the March 2012 Quarterly Board meeting. Thereafter, the 
Chairman will open the meeting with welcome remarks from California 
Board member Shannon Garrison. The Superintendent of Los Angeles 
Unified School District will then address the Board. These sessions 
will be followed by a report from the Executive Director of the 
Governing Board, and updates from the Commissioner of the National 
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Thereafter, the Board will 
recess for Committee meetings 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 sessions from 10:00 a.m. to 
12:30 p.m. The Assessment Development Committee (ADC) will meet first 
in closed session from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for ADC members to 
receive and discuss embargoed data from the 2013

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Technological and Engineering Literacy (TEL) pilot test at 8th grade, 
in preparation from the 2014 operational TEL assessment. The review of 
data from the pilot test must be conducted in closed session because 
the ADC members will be provided with secure items and materials which 
are not yet available for release to the general public. Premature 
disclosure of the secure test items and materials would compromise the 
integrity and substantially impede implementation of the secure NAEP 
assessments and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 of the United States Code. Thereafter, the ADC 
Committee will meet in open session from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    Following the open session, the Board will meet in a closed session 
from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. to receive a briefing on the NAEP 2012 
Long-Term Trend Report. The Board will receive an embargoed briefing on 
preliminary results which will include secure test items, embargoed 
assessment data, and results that cannot be discussed in an open 
meeting prior to their official release. 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.
    After the closed session briefing, the Board will meet in open 
session from 2:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. From 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. the Board 
will receive a briefing on English Language Proficiency Testing. From 
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the Board will have policy discussions on the 
Draft Policy Statement on the Conduct and Reporting of NAEP and on 
Interpreting NAEP Proficient Using Preparedness Research Findings. From 
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., the Board will discuss proposals on Making a 
Difference. The May 17, 2013 Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 
5:15 p.m.
    On May 18, 2013, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed 
session from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to discuss the status of potential 
candidates for Board terms beginning October 1, 2013, followed by 
discussions on the 2014 nominations cycle. The Committee's discussions 
on Board nominations pertain solely to internal personnel rules and 
practices of an agency and 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 May 18, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. the full Board will 
have an open discussion on matters of interest to the Board. Following 
these discussions, from 9:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., the Board will receive 
reports from the standing Committees and take action on Committee 
recommendations. The May 18, 2013 meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 
11:00 a.m.
    A verbatim transcript 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: 
www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.

    Dated: April 29, 2013.
Mary Crovo,
Deputy Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), 
U.S. Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2013-10411 Filed 5-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P