[Federal Register: October 13, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 197)]
[Notices]               
[Page 55464-55465]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13oc99-40]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 
National Center on Education Statistics (NCES)

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of partially closed meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a 
forthcoming meeting of the Advisory Council on Education Statistics 
(ACES). Notice of this meeting is required under Section 10(a)(2) of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This document is intended to notify 
the general public of their opportunity to attend.

DATES: October 28-29, 1999.

TIMES: October 28, 1999--Full Council, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (closed 
10:30 a.m.-1;00 p.m.); Statistics Committee and Policy Committee, 1:00 
p.m.-5:00 p.m. (closed 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.); Management Committee, 
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (closed 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.). October 29, 1999--
Statistics Committee, Policy Committee, and Management Committee, 8:30 
a.m.-12:00 noon (closed 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon); Full Council, 12:00 
noon-2:30 p.m. (closed 12:00 noon-2:00 p.m.).

LOCATION: The Hotel Washington, 515 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Audrey Pendleton, National Center for 
Education Statistics, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Room 400e, Washington, 
DC 20208-5530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Advisory Council on Education Statistics 
(ACES) is established under Section 406(c)(1) of the Education 
Amendments of 1974, Public Law 93-380. The Council is established to 
review general policies for the operation of the National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES) in the Office of Educational Research and 
Improvement (OERI) and is responsible for advising on standards to 
ensure that statistics and analyses disseminated by NCES are of high 
quality and are not subject to political influence. In addition, ACES 
is required to advise the Commissioner of NCES and the National 
Assessment Governing Board on technical and statistical matters related 
to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The meeting 
of the Council is open to the public.
    The proposed agenda includes the following:
    <bullet> A status report from the NCES Commissioner on major Center 
initiatives, including draft language for the reauthorization of NCES 
and ACES;
    <bullet> New member swearing-in;
    <bullet> A discussion of NCES activities mandated by the Higher 
Education Act;
    <bullet> The presentation of Committee reports, including 
implications of draft language for the reauthorization of NCES.

[[Page 55465]]

    Individual meetings of the three ACES Committees will focus on 
specific topics:
    <bullet> The agenda for the Statistics Committee includes a 
discussion of draft language for the reauthorization of NCES and ACES, 
the revision of NCES statistical standards, inclusion of disabled and 
limited-English proficient students in NAEP, linking of NAEP with other 
NCES assessments and surveys, and changes in Office of Management and 
Budget required race/ethnicity questions.
    <bullet> The agenda for the Policy Committee includes a discussion 
of draft language for the reauthorization of NCES and ACES, development 
of measures of instruction practices, issues in teacher licensure 
definitions, progress on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, and 
findings on the collection and validation of teacher SAT/ACT scores.
    <bullet> The agendas for the Management Committee includes a 
discussion of draft language for the reauthorization of NCES and ACES, 
the Commissioner's management report, the Office of the Inspector 
General's report on NCES' Y2K readiness, the status of the Customer 
Service Survey, NCES training plans, operations and performance 
measures of other federal statistical agencies.
    A large part of the agenda involves presentation of draft language 
for reauthorization of NCES and ACES and discussion of its implications 
for NCES and ACES. Since the proposed legislative changes have not yet 
been sent to Congress, NCES and ACES are precluded from discussion of 
this information in a public meeting. Bills proposed by the Department 
of Education cannot be disclosed to the public until after they are 
officially transmitted to Congress. Such matters are protected by 
exemption (9)(B) of Section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C., which states 
that the premature disclosure of such information is likely to 
significantly frustrate implementation of proposed agency's action. 
ACES are therefore planning to close the portions of the plenary 
sessions and Committee meetings that pertain to the reauthorization of 
NCES and ACES. Records are kept of all Council proceedings and are 
available for public inspection at the Office of the Executive 
Director, Advisory Council on Education Statistics, 555 New Jersey 
Avenue NW, Room 400e, Washington, DC 20208.
C. Kent McGuire,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 99-26697 Filed 10-12-99; 8:45 am]
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