[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8935-8936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4941]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; ED.

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 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 the general public 
of their opportunity to attend the open portions of the meeting.

DATE: March 6-8, 1997.

TIME: March 6--Achievement Levels Committee, 3:00 P.M.--5:00 P.M., 
(closed); Nominations Committee, 3:00 P.M.--5:00 P.M. (closed) and 7:00 
P.M.--9:00 P.M., (closed); Executive Committee, 5:00 P.M.--6:00 P.M. 
(open); 6:00 P.M.--7:00 P.M., (closed). March 7--full Board, 8:30 
A.M.--10:00 A.M., (open); Subject Area Committees #1 and #2 in joint 
session, 10:00 A.M.--12:30 P.M., (open); Design and Methodology 
Committee and Reporting and Dissemination Committee, 10:00 A.M.--11:00 
A.M., (open); Design and Methodology Committee and Reporting and 
Dissemination Committee in joint session, 11:00 A.M.--12:30 P.M. 
(open); Full Board 12:30 P.M.--2:45 P.M. (closed), 2:45 P.M.--4:00 P.M. 
(open). March 8--Full Board, 9:00 A.M.--11:45 A.M., (open), 11:45 
A.M.--12:00 Noon, (closed).

LOCATION: The Francis Marion Hotel; 387 King Street; Charleston, South 
Carolina.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
 Mary Ann Wilmer, Operations Officer, National Assessment Governing 
Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 
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 (Title IV of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994) (Pub. 
L. 103-382).
    The Board is established to formulate policy guidelines for the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress. The Board is responsible 
for selecting subject areas to be assessed, developing assessment 
objectives, identifying appropriate achievement goals for each grade 
and subject tested, and establishing standards and procedures for 
interstate and national comparisons.
    On March 6, from 3:00--5:00 P.M., there will be a closed meeting of 
the Achievement Levels Committee. The Committee will discuss results of 
the current 1996 science level-setting activities and review the 
current analysis of data and proposed exemplar items. This meeting must 
be conducted in closed session because references will be made to 
specific items from the assessment and premature disclosure of the 
information presented for review would be likely to significantly 
frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action. Such matters are 
protected by exemption (9)(B) of Section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C. The 
Nominations Committee will meet in closed session from 3:00 P.M.-5:00 
P.M. and 7:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. These sessions must be closed because the 
committee will be considering qualifications of nominees for 
appointment to Board membership. The review and subsequent discussion 
of this information will touch upon matters that relate solely to the 
internal rules and practices of an agency and would disclose 
information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a 
clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if conducted in open 
session. Such matters are protected by exemptions (2) and (6) of 
Section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    Also on March 6, the Executive Committee will meet in a partially 
closed session. During the open portion of the meeting, 5:00 P.M.--6:00 
P.M., the Committee will hear an update on the NAEP redesign policies 
and review the proposed schedule of assessments. The Committee will 
then meet in closed session from 6:00 P.M.--7:00 P.M. to discuss the 
development of cost estimates for NAEP and future contract initiatives. 
This portion of the meeting must be closed because public disclosure of 
this information would likely have an adverse financial affect on the 
NAEP program. The discussion of this information would be likely to 
significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action if 
conducted in open session. Such matters are protected by exemption 
(9)(B) of Section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On March 7, the full Board will convene in open session at 8:30 
A.M. The agenda for this session of the full Board meeting includes 
approval of the agenda, the Executive Director's Report, a presentation 
on assessment in South Carolina, and an update on NAEP. Between 10:00 
A.M. and 12:30 P.M. there will be a joint meeting (open) of Subject 
Area committees #1 and #2. In this joint meeting, the Committees will 
discuss the status of the 1997 assessments, upcoming item reviews for 
1998, and various assigned issues related to NAEP redesign.
    The Design and Methodology Committee and the Reporting and 
Dissemination Committee will each meet in open session from 10:00 A.M.-
11:00 A.M. The Design and Methodology Committee will formally approve 
technical design changes to be implemented in the 1998 assessment and 
discuss issues pertaining to the redesign of NAEP.
    The Reporting and Dissemination Committee will discuss the plan for 
the

[[Page 8936]]

release of the 1996 NAEP Science Report Card, review the release of the 
Mathematics Report Card, and have an update on the TIMSS-NAEP link.
    The Design and Methodology Committee and the Reporting and 
Dissemination Committee will then meet jointly in open session from 
11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M. to discuss sampling and reporting of students 
with disabilities and limited English proficiency, oversampling and 
reporting of private schools in 1998 state NAEP, and working 
definitions of market basket, standard, and comprehensive reports.
    The full Board will reconvene in closed session, beginning at 12:30 
P.M., to hear a briefing on the 1996 NAEP Science Report, and to have a 
presentation on and discussion of science achievement levels. This part 
of the meeting must be conducted in closed session because references 
will be made to specific items from the assessment and premature 
disclosure of the information presented for review would be likely to 
significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action. 
Such matters are protected by exemption (9)(B) of Section 552b(c) of 
Title 5 U.S.C. From 2:45 P.M. until 4:00 P.M., the meeting will be open 
to the public. During this portion of the meeting, the Board will take 
action on science achievement levels and hear the highlights of 
committee discussions on redesign issues.
    On March 8, the full Board will meet from 9:00 A.M. until 
adjournment at approximately 12:00 noon. From 9:00 A.M. until 11:45 
A.M., the Board will meet in open session to hear reports on redesign 
issues and committee reports. These committees are--Subject Areas #1 
and #2 (combined), Achievement Levels, Reporting and Dissemination and 
Design and Methodology (individually and combined), and Executive.
    From 11:45 A.M. until 12:00 noon, the Board will meet in closed 
session to hear the report of the Nominations Committee. This session 
must be closed because the Board will be considering qualifications of 
nominees for appointment to Board membership. The review and subsequent 
discussion of this information will touch upon matters that relate 
solely to the internal rules and practices of an agency and would 
disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if 
conducted in open session. Such matters are protected by exemptions (2) 
and (6) of Section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    The public is being given less than fifteen days notice of this 
meeting because of delays in the receipt of data necessary to the 
closed session deliberations of the Committees and the full Board.
    Summaries of the activities of the closed sessions and related 
matters, which 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, N.W., Washington, D.C., from 8:30 A.M. 
to 5:00 P.M.

    Date:
Roy Truby,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 97-4941 Filed 2-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M