[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 29 (Monday, February 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6001-6003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02810]


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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 March 1-3, 2018 
Quarterly Board 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 related to the work of the 
Governing Board. 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:
     March 1, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
     March 2, 2018 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
     March 3, 2018 from 7:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

ADDRESSES: Watergate Hotel, 2650 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20037.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Statutory Authority and Function: The Governing Board is 
established under the National Assessment of Educational Progress 
Authorization Act, Title III of Public Law 107-279. Written comments 
may be submitted electronically or in hard copy to the attention of the 
Executive Officer/Designated Federal Official (see contact information 
noted above). Information on the Governing Board and its work can be 
found at www.nagb.gov.
    The Governing Board is established to formulate policy for the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The Governing 
Board's

[[Page 6002]]

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.

March 1-3, 2018 Committee Meetings

    The Governing 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 
Governing Board's committee meeting minutes available at https://www.nagb.gov/governing-board/quarterly-board-meetings.html.

Detailed Meeting Agenda: March 1-3, 2018

March 1: Committee Meetings

    Ad Hoc Committee on Measures of Postsecondary Preparedness: Open 
Session: 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
    Assessment Development Committee (ADC): Open Session: 1:45 p.m. to 
3:00 p.m., Closed Session: 3:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session: 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

March 2: Full Governing Board and Committee Meetings

    Full Governing Board: Open Session: 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; Closed 
Session: 12:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Committee Meetings

    ADC: Open Session: 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination (R&D): Open Session 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 
p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology (COSDAM): Open 
Session: 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

March 3: Full Governing Board and Committee Meetings

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session: 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
    Full Governing Board: Closed Session: 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.; Open 
Session: 8:50 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
    On Thursday, March 1, 2018, the Ad Hoc Committee on Measures of 
Postsecondary Preparedness will meet in open session from 11:00 a.m. to 
1:30 p.m. Thereafter, the ADC will meet in open session from 1:45 p.m. 
to 3:00 p.m. and in closed session from 3:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. to 
review secure cognitive items for the NAEP Reading Assessment at grades 
4 and 8. This meeting must be conducted in closed session because the 
test items and data 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 of the United States Code.
    On Thursday, March 1, 2018, the Executive Committee will convene in 
open session from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
    On Friday, March 2, 2018, the Governing Board will meet in open 
session from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. From 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., the 
Governing Board will review and approve the March 2-3, 2018 Governing 
Board meeting agenda and meeting minutes from the November 2017 
Quarterly Board Meeting. Thereafter, from 8:45 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. the 
Governing Board will receive briefings from the Council of Chief State 
School Officers (CCSSO) and the CCSSO Governing Board State Policy Task 
Force.
    At 9:45 a.m., the Governing Board will recess for a 15 minute break 
and reconvene for standing committee meetings in open session which 
will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Following the committee 
meetings, from 12:30 p.m. to 12:45 p.m., the Governing Board will take 
a 15 minute break and meet in closed session from 12:45 p.m. to 5:15 
p.m.
    From 12:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., the Board will receive a briefing and 
discuss the 2017 NAEP Grades 4 and 8 Reading and Mathematics Report 
Cards. The closed session briefing will take place from 12:45 p.m. to 
2:15 p.m., following which the Board will meet in breakout sessions to 
discuss the results from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Governing Board 
will reconvene in plenary session from 3:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. to report 
out on the discussions. These sessions of the Governing Board meeting 
must be conducted in closed session because data for the 2017 NAEP 
Grades 4 and 8 in Reading and Mathematics have not been released to the 
public. Public disclosure of secure data 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 of 
Title 5 U.S.C.
    From 4:15 p.m.-5:15 p.m., the Governing Board will remain in closed 
session to receive a briefing on the Grade 4 NAEP Writing Assessment 
and Achievement Levels. This session of the meeting must be conducted 
in closed session because items and data for the Grade 4 writing 
assessment have not been released to the public. Public disclosure of 
secure data 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 of Title 5 U.S.C. The March 
2, 2018 session will adjourn at 5:15 p.m.
    On March 3, 2018, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed 
session from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. The Committee will discuss nominees 
for Governing Board vacancies for terms beginning October 1, 2018. 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 a clearly 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.
    On Saturday, March 3, 2018, the Governing Board will meet in closed 
session from 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. to receive a briefing from the 
Nominations Committee on the recommended slate of candidates for Board 
terms beginning October 1, 2018. 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 a clearly 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.
    From 8:50 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. the Governing Board will convene in 
open session to take action on finalists for Board member vacancies for 
terms that begin on October 1, 2018 and approve recommended candidates 
for submission to the Secretary of Education.
    From 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. the Governing Board will discuss 
assessment efficiencies in NAEP. Following this session and a 15 minute 
break, the Board will take action on NAEP Assessment Schedule 
Priorities. This discussion relates to Strategic Vision #9, which is to 
develop policy approaches to revise the NAEP assessment subjects and 
schedule.
    The Governing Board will receive reports from its standing 
committees from 10:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and thereafter take action on 
the NAEP Framework Development Policy from 11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. 
This action is pursuant to the Governing Board's Strategic Vision #5, 
which is to develop new approaches to update NAEP subject area 
frameworks.
    The March 3, 2018 meeting will adjourn at 11:45 a.m.

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    Access to Records of the Meeting: Pursuant to FACA requirements, 
the public may also inspect the meeting materials at www.nagb.gov 
beginning on Thursday, March 1, 2018 by 10:00 a.m. EST. 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 no later than 21 days 
prior to the meeting.
    Electronic Access to this Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. 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, 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
Adobe website. 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: February 6, 2018.
William J. Bushaw,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2018-02810 Filed 2-9-18; 8:45 am]
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