[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 2, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12181-12182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04288]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

National Assessment Governing Board


Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of open and closed virtual meetings.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the agenda for National Assessment 
Governing Board (hereafter referred to as Governing Board) meetings 
scheduled on multiple dates starting on March 1, 2021 and ending on 
March 5, 2021. This notice provides information to members of the 
public who may be interested in accessing the virtual meeting and/or 
providing written comments related to the work of the Governing Board. 
Notice of the full Board meeting is required under the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (FACA). This notice is being published less than 15 days 
prior to the meeting due to delays in finalizing the meeting agenda, 
which was dependent on deliberations of the Governing Board's standing 
committees. This notice is being published less than 15 days prior to 
the meeting due to delays in finalizing the meeting agenda, which was 
dependent on deliberations of the Governing Board's standing 
committees. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were significant delays 
in scheduling the standing committee meetings.

Standing Committee Meetings

    The Governing Board's standing committees will meet to conduct 
regularly scheduled work on various dates from March 1-3, 2021 based on 
ongoing committee agenda topics and follow-up activities as reported in 
the Governing Board's committee meeting minutes available at https://www.nagb.gov/governing-board/quarterly-board-meetings.html.
    Four standing committee meetings will convene prior to the March 4-
5, 2021 plenary sessions of the Governing Board meeting. Meeting 
agendas will be posted at www.nagb.gov no later than February 26, 2021. 
All meetings are convened in Eastern Time.
Monday, March 1, 2021, Reporting & Dissemination Committee, 10:00 a.m.-
12:15 p.m.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021, Committee on Standards, Design & Methodology, 
2:00 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021, Executive Committee, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021, Assessment Development Committee: 5:15 p.m.-
7:45 p.m.

    The plenary sessions of the March 4-5, 2021 quarterly meeting of 
the Governing Board will be held on the following dates and times:

Thursday, March 4, 2021: Open Meeting: 12:15-5:30 p.m. (EST)
Friday, March 5, 2021: Closed Meetings: 12:00-1:50 p.m. (EST); Open 
Meeting: 1:55-5:30 p.m.
March 4, 2021: Open Meeting:

    On Thursday, March 4, 2021, the Governing Board will meet in open 
session from 12:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
    From 12:15 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. Chair Haley Barbour will welcome 
members; review and approve the March 4-5, 2021 quarterly Governing 
Board meeting agenda and approve minutes from the November 19-20, 2020 
quarterly Governing Board meeting. The Governing Board will then take 
action on a release plan for the 2019 National Assessment of 
Educational Progress (NAEP) Science Report Card.
    From 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. two updates on ongoing work will be 
provided. Mark Schneider, Director of the Institute of Education 
Sciences, will provide an update and Lesley Muldoon, Executive Director 
of the Governing Board, will update the Governing Board ongoing work.
    From 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. the Governing Board will discuss if and 
how NAEP can play a role in national conversations and actions to 
create more equitable outcomes for students. This discussion will be 
led by a panel of experts who will reflect on recommendations developed 
by a Committee convened by the National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, and Medicine on Developing Indicators of Educational 
Equity.
    After a 15-minute break, from 3:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. the Governing 
Board will convene a symposium on Reading Comprehension in Large-Scale 
Assessment. The symposium will be moderated by Patrick Kelly, Governing 
Board member, and include the participation of several reading experts. 
The March 4, 2021 session of the Governing Board meeting will adjourn 
at 5:30 p.m.
March 5, 2021: Closed Meetings:

    On Friday, March 5, 2021, the Governing Board meeting will convene 
in two closed sessions from 12:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. Eastern Time.
    During the first closed session convened from 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 
p.m. the Governing Board will receive a briefing from the Nominations 
Committee on its recommendations for candidates to fill board 
vacancies. The Governing Board will review the recommendations for the 
final slate of candidates for submission to the Secretary of Education 
for appointments that begin October 1, 2021. These 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 Governing Board will take a 
short break to transition to the next closed session.
    On Friday, March 5, 2021, the second closed session will take place 
from 12:35 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. Peggy Carr, Associate Commissioner, 
National Center for Education Statistics, will provide a briefing on 
the NAEP Budget and Assessment Schedule. The briefing and Governing 
Board discussions may impact current and future NAEP contracts and 
budgets and must be kept confidential to maintain the integrity of the 
federal acquisition process. 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 Governing Board will meet in open session thereafter, from 1:55 
p.m. to 5:30 p.m. From 1:55 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Governing Board will 
discuss and take action on two agenda items--an updated NAEP Assessment 
Schedule and on finalists for Governing Board vacancies for terms that 
will begin on October 1, 2021 for submission to the Secretary of 
Education for consideration and appointment.
    From 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., the Governing Board will receive 
updates from two standing Task Forces established by the Governing 
Board--

[[Page 12182]]

the Council of Chief State School Officers State Policy Task Force and 
the Council of Great City Schools Trial Urban District Assessment 
(TUDA) Policy Task Force. Following a 15-minute break, the Governing 
Board will meet from 3:30 p.m. to 5:25 p.m. to receive a briefing on 
the NAEP Reading Framework and engage in policy discussions.
    From 5:25 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. the Governing Board Chair Haley Barbour 
and Lesley Muldoon, Governing Board Executive Director, will discuss 
next steps and provide concluding remarks. The March 5, 2021 session of 
the Governing Board meeting will adjourn at 5:30 p.m. The Quarterly 
Board meeting and committee meeting agendas, together with meeting 
materials shall be posted on the Governing Board's website at 
www.nagb.gov no later than Friday, February 26, 2021. Participation in 
all open sessions will be available via online registration only at 
www.nagb.gov 5 working days prior to each meeting.

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 Pub. L. 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).
    Public Participation: The public may access and 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 each 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. 2021-04288 Filed 3-1-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P