[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 213 (Tuesday, November 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69606-69607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24335]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: Department of Education, National Assessment Governing Board.

ACTION: Notice of open and closed virtual meetings.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the agenda for a National Assessment 
Governing Board (hereafter referred to as Governing Board) meeting on 
November 19 and November 20, 2020. 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 the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (FACA).

DATES: The November 19-20, 2020 quarterly meeting of the Governing 
Board will be held on the following dates and times:
    November 19, 2020: Open Meeting: 12:30-2:15 p.m. (ET); Closed 
Meeting: 2:30-4:45 p.m. (ET); Open Meeting: 5:00-6:15 p.m. (ET).
    November 20, 2020: Open Meeting: 12:30-2:00 p.m. (ET); Closed 
Meeting: 2:15-5:30 p.m. (ET).

ADDRESSES: Virtual Meetings.

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. 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) administered by the 
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The Governing Board's 
responsibilities include the following: (1) Selecting subject areas to 
be assessed; (2) developing assessment frameworks and specifications; 
(3) developing appropriate student achievement levels for each grade 
and subject tested; (4) developing standards and procedures for 
interstate and national comparisons; (5) improving the form and use of 
NAEP; (6) developing guidelines for reporting and disseminating 
results; and (7) releasing initial NAEP results to the public.
    Written comments related to the work of the Governing Board may be 
submitted electronically or in hard copy to the attention of the 
Executive Officer/Designated Federal Official (see contact information 
noted above).

Standing Committee Meetings

    The Governing Board's standing committees will meet to conduct 
regularly scheduled work based on agenda items planned for this 
quarterly Governing Board meeting and follow-up items as reported in 
the Governing

[[Page 69607]]

Board's committee meeting minutes available at https://www.nagb.gov/governing-board/quarterly-board-meetings.html. The committee meetings 
will take place prior to and subsequent to the November 19-20, 2020 
quarterly Governing Board meeting. The Governing Board website 
www.nagb.gov will post final dates and times for these working 
committee meetings, which are open to the public via online 
registration 5 working days prior to each meeting.
    Assessment Development Committee: Open Meeting: November 13, 2020; 
4:45-6:45 p.m. (ET).
    Executive Committee: Closed meeting: November 16, 2020; 4:00-5:15 
p.m. (ET); Open Meeting: 5:20 p.m.-6:00: p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Meeting: 
December 7, 2020; 3:00-6:00 p.m. (ET).
    Reporting & Dissemination Committee (R&D): Open Meeting: November/
December 2020; exact date and time to be determined.

Governing Board Meeting: November 19, 2020

    Open Meeting: 12:30-2:15 p.m. (ET); Closed Meeting: 2:30-4:45 p.m. 
(ET); Open Meeting: 5:00-6:15 p.m. (ET).
    On Thursday, November 19, 2020, the Governing Board will meet in 
open session from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. From 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. 
Chair Haley Barbour will welcome members as well as review and approve 
the November 19-20, 2020 quarterly Governing Board meeting agenda and 
minutes from the July 30-31, 2020 quarterly Governing Board meeting and 
the September 29, 2020 Governing Board meeting. Standing committee 
chairs then will provide highlights of ongoing committee work.
    At 1:30 p.m. Secretary DeVos will administer the oath of office to 
new members--Suzanne Lane, Testing and Measurement Expert, Julia Rafal-
Baer, General Public Representative, Ron Reynolds, Non-Public School 
Administrator, and Mark White, State Legislator (Republican)--and 
reappointed Governing Board member, Alice Peisch, State Legislator 
(Democrat). The newly appointed and reappointed Governing Board members 
will introduce themselves and provide remarks.
    The Governing Board Executive Director, Lesley Muldoon, will 
provide an update from 2:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. following which the 
Governing Board will take a 15-minute break.
    On November 19, 2020, the Governing Board will convene two closed 
sessions from 2:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Peggy Carr, Associate 
Commissioner, National Center for Education Statistics, will provide a 
briefing on NAEP operations and the NAEP budget from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 
p.m. The discussions may impact current and future NAEP contracts and 
budgets and must be kept confidential to maintain the integrity of the 
federal acquisition process. Such matters are protected by exemption 
9(B) of Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 of the United States Code.
    The second closed session will convene from 4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. 
Governing Board members will receive an annual ethics briefing from 
Marcella Goodridge, Assistant General Counsel, Ethics Division, Office 
of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Education. The 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. The closed session will be followed 
by a 15-minute break, after which the Board will reconvene in open 
session.
    From 5:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., the Governing Board will meet in open 
session to receive a panel presentation on Trend in NAEP. The November 
19, 2020 session of the Governing Board meeting will adjourn at 6:15 
p.m. ET.
    The November 20, 2020 session of the Governing Board meeting will 
convene from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. The Governing Board will meet 
in open session from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. when the Chair and Vice 
Chair of the Assessment Development Committee will lead a policy 
discussion on the update of the NAEP Reading Framework. Following a 15-
minute break, the Governing Board will convene in two closed sessions, 
beginning at 2:15 p.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m. From 2:15 p.m. to 3:45 
p.m., NCES staff will provide a briefing on eNAEP's Design. From 3:45 
p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the Governing Board then will receive a briefing 
from Peggy Carr and Lesley Muldoon on the NAEP Assessment Schedule and 
Budget beyond 2021. The discussions during these two closed sessions 
may impact current and future NAEP contracts and budgets and must be 
kept confidential. Public disclosure of this confidential information 
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.
    The November 20, 2020 meeting will adjourn at 5:30 p.m.
    Public Participation: The public may participate in the open 
sessions of the meeting via advance registration. A link to the 
registration page will be posted on www.nagb.gov five working days 
prior to each meeting date.
    Access to Records of the Meeting: Pursuant to FACA requirements, 
the public may also inspect the meeting materials at www.nagb.gov five 
working days prior to each meeting. 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 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 ten working days 
prior to each 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.

Lesley Muldoon,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2020-24335 Filed 11-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P