U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the appointment of 16 members to the National Technical Advisory Council (NTAC), which Spellings announced as part of the proposed regulations to strengthen No Child Left Behind. The Council's purpose is to advise the Department on complex and technical issues regarding the design and implementation of state standards, assessments and accountability systems. The Council will offer expert advice on such things as the use and applicability of minimum subgroup sizes for proficiency calculations, confidence intervals and the principles necessary for ensuring that performance indexes are consistent with the Title I statute and regulations.

"The National Technical Advisory Council will play a vital role in ensuring that we address the technical needs of states and their accountability systems," Spellings said. "Their work will be invaluable as we move forward in strengthening and improving No Child Left Behind."

Tom Fisher, former Florida state director of testing, will chair the Council. Members will serve staggered terms, ranging from one to three years. All members are experts in assessment and accountability, and represent a range of backgrounds-from academicians and researchers to national, state and local policymakers. The Council will meet twice a year and additional meetings may be called at the request of the Secretary. Proceedings from meetings will be made available to the public. The first meeting will be held within the next few months.

NTAC meetings will be announced in the Federal Register and on the U.S. Department of Education's Website, www.ed.gov.

Members of the Council are as follows:

• Tom Fisher, CEO, Fisher Education Consulting LLC, McMinnville, TN
• David Abrams, Assistant Commissioner for Standards, Assessment and Reporting, New York State Department of Education, Albany, NY
• Anthony Alpert, Director of Assessment, Oregon Department of Education, Salem, OR
• Diane Browder, Snyder Distinguished Professor of Special Education and Coordinator of the Doctoral Program, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
• Wesley Bruce, Assistant Superintendent for the Center for Accreditation, Assessment and Licensing, Indiana Department of Education, Indianapolis, IN
• Wayne Camara, Vice President for Research and Development, The College Board, New York, NY
• Kevin Carey, Research and Policy Manager, Education Sector, Washington, DC
• Gregory Cizek, Professor of Educational Measurement and Evaluation, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
• Carl Cohn, former Superintendent of San Diego Unified School District and Distinguished Leader in Residence, College of Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
• Denise Collier, Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction/Chief Academic Officer, Dallas Independent School District, Dallas, TX
• Robert Costrell, Professor of Education Reform and Economics and holds the Endowed Chair in Education Accountability, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
• Harold Doran, Principal Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC
• Margo Gottlieb, Lead Developer, World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium, Wisconsin Center for Educational Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WS
• Suzanne Lane, Professor, Research Methodology Program, Department of Psychology in Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
• Scott Marion, Vice President of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment Inc., Dover, NH
• John Poggio, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Research, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

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