[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:
    * A status report from the NCES Commissioner on major Center
initiatives, including draft language for the reauthorization of NCES
and ACES;
    * New member swearing-in;
    * A discussion of NCES activities mandated by the Higher
Education Act;
    * 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:
    * 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.
    * 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.
    * 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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