Department of Education; National Assessment Governing Board; Notice of open meeting and partially closed meetings [NAGB]

FR Doc E9-2880[Federal Register: February 11, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 27)]
[Notices]
[Page 6860-6861]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11fe09-26]


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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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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 February 23, 2009. 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: March 5-7, 2009.

Times

March 5: Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--12 noon to 2 p.m.
    Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting on Students with
Disabilities and English
    Language Learners: Open Session--2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Closed
Session--5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

March 6

    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 12 noon; Closed Session--
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Open Session--1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--9:45 a.m. to 12:15
p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Closed Session--
9:45 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. Open Session--10:20 a.m. to 12:15 a.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:45 a.m. to
12:15 p.m.

March 7

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
    Full Board: Closed Session--9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; Open Session--
9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Location: Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC, 1330 Maryland Avenue,
SW., Washington, DC 20024

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 specifications and frameworks, developing
appropriate student achievement levels for each grade and subject
tested, developing standards and procedures for interstate and national
comparisons, developing guidelines for reporting and disseminating
results, and releasing initial NAEP results to the public.
    On March 5, the Assessment Development Committee will meet in open
session from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. and the Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP
Testing and Reporting on Students with Disabilities and English
Language Learners will meet in open session from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Thereafter, the Executive Committee will meet in open session from 4:30
p.m. to 5 p.m. and in closed session from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
    During the closed session the Executive Committee will receive a

[[Page 6861]]

briefing from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on
options for NAEP contracts covering the 2008-2012 assessment years,
based on funding for Fiscal Year 2009-2010. The discussion of contract
options and costs 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 independent
government cost estimates and contracting options, adversely impacting
the confidentiality of the contracting process. Public disclosure of
information discussed would significantly impede implementation of the
NAEP contracts, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The second portion of the closed session of the Executive Committee
is for discussion of personnel matters. 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.
    On March 6, 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 the November 2008
Board minutes. Following these actions, the oath of office will be
administered to a new Board member. Thereafter, the Governing Board
will receive a report from the Interim Executive Director of the
Governing Board, and hear an update on the work of the National Center
for Education Statistics (NCES).
    On March 6, two of the Board's standing committees--the Assessment
Development Committee and the Reporting and Dissemination Committee
will meet in open session from 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    On March 6, the Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology will
meet in closed session from 9:45 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. and in open session
from 10:20 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. During the closed session, the Committee
will review proposed 12th Grade Preparedness Research Studies,
independent government costs estimates for the studies, and projected
timelines for contract awards. The information discussed in closed
session will be essential to the Committee's recommendations regarding
preparedness research studies to be implemented and the order of
implementation. Public disclosure of information discussed would
significantly impede implementation of the Governing Board's contracts
and provide an undue advantage to potential bidders, and is therefore
protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On March 6 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. the full Board will meet in
closed session to receive a briefing on the NAEP 2008 Long Term Trends
Report in Reading and Mathematics from the Associate Commissioner of
NCES. 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.
    From 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Board will participate in a panel
discussion with former Board Chairs. From 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., the
Board will receive an update on the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on
NAEP Testing and Reporting on Students with Disabilities and English
Language Learners. This session will be followed by an update from
WestEd on the NAEP 2010 Technological Literacy Framework Project which
is scheduled to take place from 3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The March 6
session of the Board meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 4:30 p.m.
    On March 7, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session
from 7:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. to review and discuss confidential
information regarding nominees received for Board vacancies for terms
beginning on October 1, 2009. The Committee will recommend a final
slate of candidates for Board discussion and action. Following the
Committee meeting, the full Board will meet in closed session from 9
a.m. to 9:30 a.m. to receive and discuss the final list of nominees to
be submitted to the Secretary of Education for Board appointments.
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 March 7 from 9:30 a.m.
to 10 a.m. to discuss the future direction of NAEP and the Governing
Board. From 10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. the Board will receive and take
action on Committee reports. The March 7, 2009 session of the Board
meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 12 p.m.
    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 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: February 5, 2009.
Mary Crovo,
Interim Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U. S.
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. E9-2880 Filed 2-10-09; 8:45 am]

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