[Federal Register: November 5, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 213)]
[Notices]
[Page 62456-62458]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05no07-36]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting
AGENCY: Department of Education, National Assessment Governing Board.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting and partially closed meetings.
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[[Page 62457]]
SUMMARY: The notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a
forthcoming meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board. This
notice also describes the functions of the Board. Notice of this
meeting is required under Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act. This document is intended to notify members of the
general public of their opportunity to attend. Individuals who will
need special accommodations in order to attend the meeting (i.e.;
interpreting services, assistive listening devices, materials in
alternative format) should notify Munira Mwalimu at 202-357-6938 or at
Munira.Mwalimu@ed.gov no later than November 5, 2007. We will attempt
to meet requests after this date, but cannot guarantee availability of
the requested accommodation. The meeting site is accessible to
individuals with disabilities.
DATES: November 15-17, 2007.
Times
November 15
Committee Meeting
Executive Committee: Open Session--4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Closed
Session--4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
November 16
Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m..; Closed Session--
12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.; Open Session--2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Closed
Session--3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Committee Meetings
Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--9:30 a.m. to
11:30 a.m.; Open Session--11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.;
Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--9:30
a.m. to 12:30 p.m.;
Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m.;
November 17
Nominations Committee: Closed Session--7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Full Board: Open Session--9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: The Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner, 1700 Tysons Boulevard,
McLean, VA 22102.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Munira Mwalimu, Operations Officer,
National Assessment Governing Board, 800 North Capitol Street, NW.,
Suite 825, Washington, DC, 20002-4233, Telephone: (202) 357-6938.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Assessment Governing Board is
established under section 412 of the National Education Statistics Act
of 1994, as amended.
The Board is established to formulate policy guidelines for the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The Board's
responsibilities include selecting subject areas to be assessed,
developing assessment objectives, developing appropriate student
achievement levels for each grade and subject tested, developing
guidelines for reporting and disseminating results, and developing
standards and procedures for interstate and national comparisons.
On November 15, the Executive Committee will meet in closed session
from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. to receive a briefing from the National Center
for Education Statistics on contractor costs and contract options under
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) contracts awarded in
Fiscal Year 2007, covering the 2008-2012 assessment years. The
discussion of contractor costs and contract options will address the
implications for congressionally mandated goals and adherence to Board
policies on NAEP assessments. This part of the meeting must be
conducted in closed session because public discussion of this
information would disclose proprietary information submitted by the
successful contractors and have an adverse effect on the
confidentiality of the contracting process. The meeting must therefore
be conducted in closed session as disclosure of technical and cost data
would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP contract awards,
and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of
Title 5 U.S.C.
On November 16, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30
a.m. to 9:15 a.m. The Board will approve the agenda and new Board
members will be administered the Oath of Office. The Governing Board
will receive a report from the Executive Director and hear an update on
the work of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
The Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session on
November 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to review secure science pilot
items for grades 4, 8, and 12 for the 2009 National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP). The meeting must be conducted in closed
session as disclosure of proposed test items for the science pilot
would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP program, and is
therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5
U.S.C. From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the Committee will meet in open
session.
On November 16, the Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology,
and the Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet in open session
from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
On November 16, the full Board will meet in closed session from
12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to receive a briefing on results of the 2007
NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) Reading and Mathematics
Report Card. The Governing Board will be provided with embargoed data
on the report that cannot be discussed in an open meeting prior to
their official release. The meeting must therefore be conducted in
closed session as premature disclosure of data would significantly
impede implementation of the NAEP program, and is therefore protected
by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
On November 16 from 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. the Board will receive
an update from the Chair of the Technical Panel on 12th Grade
Preparedness Research. Thereafter, Board members will receive a closed
session briefing on Ethics from the Office of General Counsel from 3:30
p.m. to 4 p.m.
On November 17, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed
session from 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. to review and discuss confidential
information regarding nominees received for Board vacancies for terms
beginning on October 1, 2008. These discussions pertain solely to
internal personnel rules and practices of an agency and will disclose
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 section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
The full Board will meet in open session on November 17 from 9 a.m.
to 12 p.m. From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., the Board will receive a briefing on
developing NAEP Frameworks and Test Questions. Board actions on
policies and Committee reports are scheduled to take place between
10:15 a.m. and 12 p.m., upon which the November 17, 2007 session of the
Board meeting will adjourn.
Detailed minutes of the meeting, including summaries of the
activities of the closed sessions and related matters that are
informative to the public and consistent with the policy of section 5
U.S.C. 552b(c) will be available to the public within 14 days of the
meeting. Records are kept of all Board proceedings and are available
for public inspection at the U.S. Department of Education, National
Assessment
[[Page 62458]]
Governing Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol Street, NW.,
Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday
through Friday.
Electronic Access to This Document: You may 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) on the
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/index.html.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF,
call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free at 1-888-293-
6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: 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 on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html
.
Dated: October 30, 2007.
Charles E. Smith,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S.
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. E7-21678 Filed 11-2-07; 8:45 am]
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