[Federal Register: May 6, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 88)]
[Notices]               
[Page 24959-24960]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06my08-63]                         

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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 May 5, 2008. 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: May 15-17, 2008

Times

May 15

Committee Meeting
    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session 1-2:30 p.m.
    Ad Hoc Committee: Open Session--2:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Closed 
Session--5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

May 16

    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m..; Closed Session--12 
p.m. to 1 p.m.; Open Session--1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Committee Meetings
    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--9 a.m. to 11:30 
a.m.; Open Session--11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Closed Session--9 
a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Open Session 10:30 a.m.--12 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9 a.m. to 12 
p.m.;

May 17

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
    Full Board: Open Session--9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Location: Roosevelt Hotel, 45 East 45th Street and Madison Avenue, 
NewYork, NY 10017.

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 Thursday May 15 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. the Assessment 
Development Committee will meet in open session. The Ad Hoc Committee 
on NAEP Testing and Reporting on Students with Disabilities and English 
Language Learners will meet in open session from 2:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. 
and the Executive Committee will meet in open session from 4:30 p.m. to 
5 p.m. From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. the Executive Committee will meet in 
closed session to receive a briefing from the National Center for 
Education Statistics on options for the National Assessment of 
Educational Progress (NAEP) contracts covering the 2008-2012 assessment 
years, based on funding for Fiscal Year 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 contract awards, and is therefore protected 
by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On May 16, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 a.m. 
to 9 a.m. The Board will approve the agenda and the March 2008 Board 
minutes.

[[Page 24960]]

Thereafter, the Governing Board will receive a report from the 
Executive Director of the Governing Board, and hear an update on the 
work of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
    On May 16, the Board's standing committees--the Assessment 
Development Committee, the Committee on Standards, Design and 
Methodology, and the Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet 
from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    The Assessment Development Committee will meet in closed session 
from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 16, and in open session from 
11:30 a.m. to noon. The closed session is required to allow the 
Committee to discuss procurements for developing new NAEP frameworks in 
world history and technological literacy; to receive a briefing on an 
NCES reading content alignment study; and to review secure NAEP science 
pilot items for the 2009 assessment. The meeting must be conducted in 
closed session to allow the Committee to discuss confidential 
procurement information involving statements of work for new NAEP 
frameworks; to review results of a reading content alignment study of 
secure NAEP items for the 2009 reading assessment, and to review secure 
science pilot items for grades 4, 8, and 12 for the 2009 NAEP 
assessment. Public disclosure of the framework procurement information, 
prior to release of the Request for Proposals, would provide unfair 
advantage to potential bidders present at the meeting. This 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. The reading content alignment discussion and review of science 
pilot items must be conducted in closed session as disclosure of 
proposed test items for the reading and science assessments would 
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP program, and is 
therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 522b(c) of Title 5 
U.S.C. From 11:30 to noon the Committee will meet in open session.
    The Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology will meet in 
closed session from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, May 16, and in open 
session from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The closed session is required to 
allow the Committee to discuss procurements for setting achievement 
levels on the 2009 NAEP subjects and trend implications for this work. 
The meeting must be conducted in closed session in order to allow the 
Committee to discuss confidential procurement options for structuring 
the work statements. Public disclosure of this information, prior to 
release of the Request for Proposals, would provide unfair advantage to 
potential bidders present at the meeting. This 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.
    The Reporting and Dissemination Committee will meet in open session 
from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
    The full Board will meet in closed session on May 16 from 12 p.m. 
to 1 p.m. to receive a briefing from the National Center of Education 
Statistics on results of the National Indian Education Study conducted 
by NAEP which has not been released to the public. The Governing Board 
will be provided with embargoed data on the results of the Indian 
Education Study 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 May 16, from 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. the full Board will meet in 
open session to hear a presentation from the Commissioner, New York 
State Education Department. The Board will also hear a panel discussion 
on New York State and New York City Schools to address issues related 
to standards and assessments. The May 16 session of the Board meeting 
is scheduled to adjourn at 3:45 p.m.
    On May 17, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. to review and discuss confidential 
information regarding nominees received/submitted 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 May 17 from 9 a.m. to 
12 p.m. to hear a presentation on ``Inside the NAEP Black Box: 
Unraveling NAEP's Psychometric Mysteries.'' From 10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. 
the Board will receive and take action on Committee reports. The May 
17, 2008, session of the Board meeting will 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: May 1, 2008.
Charles E. Smith,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. 
Department of Education.
 [FR Doc. E8-9946 Filed 5-5-08; 8:45 am]

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