[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24802-24803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09870]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board Quarterly Board Meeting

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

ACTION: Announcement of open and closed meetings.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the agenda for the May 12-14, 2016 
Quarterly Meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board (hereafter 
referred to as Governing Board). This notice provides information to 
members of the public who may be interested in attending the meeting or 
providing written comments on the meeting. The notice of this meeting 
is required under Sec.  10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(FACA).

DATES: The Quarterly Board meeting will be held on the following dates:
     May 12, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
     May 13, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
     May 14, 2016 from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Marriott Tysons Corner, 8028 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 
22182.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Munira Mwalimu, Executive Officer/
Designated Federal Official, 800 North Capitol Street NW., Suite 825, 
Washington, DC 20002, telephone: (202) 357-6938, fax: (202) 357-6945.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Statutory Authority and Function: The National Assessment Governing 
Board is established under Title III--National Assessment of 
Educational Progress Authorization Act, Public Law 107-279. Information 
on the Board and its work can be found at www.nagb.gov.
    The Board is established to formulate policy 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, improving the form and use of NAEP, developing guidelines 
for reporting and disseminating results, and releasing initial NAEP 
results to the public.

May 12-15, 2016 Committee Meetings

    The Board's standing committees will meet to conduct regularly 
scheduled work, based on agenda items planned for this quarterly Board 
meeting, and follow-up items as reported in the Board's committee 
meeting minutes available at http://nagb.gov/what-we-do/board-committee-reports-and-agendas.html.

Detailed Meeting Agenda: May 12-15, 2016

May 12: Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session: 8:30 a.m.-
4:00 p.m.
May 12: Executive Committee: Open Session: 4:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
May 13: Full Board Meeting:
Full Board: Open Session: 8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.; Closed Session: 12:30 
p.m.-2:00 p.m.; Open Session 2:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

May 13: Committee Meetings

Assessment Development Committee (ADC): Open Session: 10:00 a.m.-10:40 
a.m.; Closed Session: 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Reporting and Dissemination Committee (R&D): Open Session 10:00 a.m.-
12:15 p.m.
Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology (COSDAM): Open Session: 
10:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

May 14: 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.-12:00 p.m.
    On May 12, 2016, the Assessment Development Committee will meet in 
closed session from 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. to review secure test items for 
U.S. history, civics, geography at grade 8 for the 2018 operational 
assessment; reading at grades 4, 8, 12 for the 2019 pilot assessment; 
and mathematics at grades 4 and 8 for the 2019 pilot assessment. This 
meeting must be conducted in closed session because the test items are 
secure and have not been released to the public. Public disclosure of 
the secure test items would significantly impede implementation of the 
NAEP assessment program if conducted in open session. Such matters are 
protected by exemption 9(B) of Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    Thereafter, on May 12, the Executive Committee will convene in open 
session from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. to conduct regularly scheduled 
work.
    On May 13, the Full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 a.m. 
to 10:00 a.m. The Board will review and approve the May 12-15, 2016 
Board meeting agenda and meeting minutes from the March 2016 Quarterly 
Board meeting. This session will be followed by a report from the 
Executive Director of the Governing Board, William Bushaw, followed by 
an update on the work of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) 
provided by Ruth Neild, Deputy Director for Policy and Research, IES. 
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) update will be 
provided by the Acting Commissioner of NCES, Peggy Carr. The Board will 
recess for committee meetings at 9:45 a.m. which are scheduled to take 
place from 10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    The Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology and the 
Reporting and Dissemination (R&D) Committee will meet in open session 
from 10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    The Assessment Development Committee (ADC) will meet in open 
session from 10:00 a.m. to 10:40 a.m., and thereafter in closed session 
from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. During the closed session the ADC will 
continue its review of secure NAEP reading test questions in grades 4, 
8, and 12 for the 2019 pilot assessment and mathematics test questions 
at grades 4 and 8 for the 2019 pilot assessment. These test questions 
have not been released to the public. Disclosure of the secure NAEP 
items would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP assessment 
program if conducted in open session. Such matters are protected by 
exemption 9(B) of Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology (COSDAM) will 
meet in open session from 10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    Following the committee meetings, on May 13, the full Board will 
meet in closed session from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. to receive a 
briefing and discuss the 2015 NAEP Science Report Card. Results from 
the science assessment--national results at grades 4, 8, and 12 and 
state results at grades 4 and 8 have not been released to the public. 
Following the science presentation, the Board will receive a briefing 
on the 2015 mathematics results for Puerto Rico at grades 4 and 8, 
which have not been released to the public. Premature disclosure of the 
results would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP 
assessment program if conducted in open session. Such matters are 
protected by exemption 9(B) of Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.

[[Page 24803]]

    On May 13, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Board will meet in open 
session to discuss the Department of Education's STEM initiative.
    This session will then be followed by an update on the Board's 
Strategic Plan, followed by breakout sessions convened to discuss the 
Strategic Plan in small groups of Board members. Members of the public 
are welcome to observe the breakout sessions. The May 13 session of the 
Board meeting will adjourn at 5:00 p.m.
    On May 14, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. The Nominations Committee will receive an 
update on the status of the nominations for terms beginning in October 
2016. The committee will then discuss planning for the Board's annual 
call for nominations for Board terms beginning in October 2017. The 
2017 call for nominations is scheduled to start in September 2016. The 
Nominations Committee's discussions 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 Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 of the United States 
Code.
    The full Board will meet in open session on May 14, from 8:30 a.m. 
to 9:45 a.m. to discuss the Governing Board's preparedness research 
program. Thereafter, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. the Board will 
receive an update on committee reports and take action on the release 
plan for the 2016 NAEP Science Report Card. From 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 
p.m., the Board will receive briefings from each breakout session 
(convened on Friday to discuss the Board's Strategic Plan) and discuss 
next steps. The May 14, 2016 meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 12:00 
p.m.
    Access to Records of the Meeting: Pursuant to FACA requirements, 
the public may also inspect the meeting materials at www.nagb.gov on 
Thursday, May 13, 2016 by 10:00 a.m. ET. The official verbatim 
transcripts of the public meeting sessions will be available for public 
inspection no later than 30 calendar days following the meeting.
    Reasonable Accommodations: The meeting site is accessible to 
individuals with disabilities. If you will need an auxiliary aid or 
service to participate in the meeting (e.g., interpreting service, 
assistive listening device, or materials in an alternate format), 
notify the contact person listed in this notice at least two weeks 
before the scheduled meeting date. Although we will attempt to meet a 
request received after that date, we may not be able to make available 
the requested auxiliary aid or service because of insufficient time to 
arrange it.
    Electronic Access to this Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can 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). To use PDF, 
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    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Authority:  Pub. L. 107-279, Title III--National Assessment of 
Educational Progress Sec.  301.

    Dated: April 22, 2016.
William J. Bushaw,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), U. S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2016-09870 Filed 4-26-16; 8:45 am]
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