II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1835

To provide for the collection and dissemination of statistics designed to

show the condition and progress of education in the United States,

to promote and improve the cause of education throughout the Nation,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 8 (legislative day JANUARY 25), 1994

Mr. PELL (for himself and Mr. JEFFORDS) (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor

and Human Resources

A BILL

To provide for the collection and dissemination of statistics

designed to show the condition and progress of education

in the United States, to promote and improve the cause

of education throughout the Nation, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Education

5 Statistics Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) a Department Office of Education was es2 tablished in 1867 ‘‘for the purpose of collecting such

3 statistics and facts as shall show the condition and

4 progress of education in the several States and Ter5 ritories, and of diffusing such information respecting

6 the organization and management of schools and

7 school systems and methods of teaching as shall aid

8 the people of the United States in the establishment

9 and maintenance of efficient school systems, and

10 otherwise promote the cause of education throughout

11 the country’’;

12 (2) today, while the role of the current Depart13 ment of Education is much broader, the National

14 Center for Education Statistics within the Depart15 ment’s Office of Educational Research and Improve16 ment continues to perform those crucial original

17 purposes; and

18 (3) looking to the 21st Century, the National

19 Center for Education Statistics must be able to de20 sign and undertake, effectively and efficiently, statis21 tical activities that will aid in the reform of our

22 Nation’s educational systems.

23 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to ensure

24 the continuation of an effective mechanism for collecting

25 and reporting statistics and information showing the con-
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1 dition and progress of education in the United States and

2 other nations in order to promote and accelerate the im3 provement of American education.

4 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this Act, the

5 term—

6 (1) ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the Assistant

7 Secretary for Educational Research and Improve8 ment, provided for under section 202(b)(1)(E) of the

9 Department of Education Organization Act;

10 (2) ‘‘Department’’ means the Department of

11 Education;

12 (3) ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the

13 same meaning given that term in section 1201 of the

14 Higher Education Act of 1965;

15 (4) ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the same

16 meaning given that term in section 1471 of the Ele17 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

18 (5) ‘‘Secretary’’, unless otherwise specified,

19 means the Secretary of Education;

20 (6) ‘‘State’’ and ‘‘United States’’—

21 (A) other than for the purpose of section

22 11, mean each of the 50 States, the District of

23 Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto

24 Rico; and
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1 (B) for the purpose of section 11, include

2 Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the

3 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is4 lands, and the Republic of Palau (until the ef5 fective date of the Compact of Free Association

6 with the Government of Palau); and

7 (7) ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the same

8 meaning given that term in section 1471 of the Ele9 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

10 SEC. 3. NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS.

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, within

12 the Office of Educational Research and Improvement es13 tablished under section 209 of the Department of Edu14 cation Organization Act, a National Center for Education

15 Statistics (hereafter in this Act referred to as the

16 ‘‘Center’’).

17 (b) COMMISSIONER AND ASSOCIATE COMMIS18 SIONERS.—

19 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The Center shall be head20 ed by a Commissioner of Education Statistics (here21 after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commissioner’’)

22 who shall be appointed by the President, by and

23 with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who

24 shall—
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1 (A) have substantial knowledge of pro2 grams encompassed by under the authority of

3 the Center;

4 (B) be paid in accordance with section

5 5315 of title 5, United States Code; and

6 (C) serve for a term of 4 years, with the

7 terms to expire every fourth June 21, beginning

8 in 1995.

9 (2) ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONERS.—The Commis10 sioner may appoint such Associate Commissioners as

11 the Commissioner determines are necessary and ap12 propriate.

13 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE CENTER.

14 (a) DUTIES.—The Center shall collect, analyze, and

15 disseminate statistics and other information related to

16 education in the United States and in other nations, in17 cluding—

18 (1) acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on

19 a State-by-State basis), and disseminating full and

20 complete statistics on the condition and progress of

21 education in the United States, including data on—

22 (A) State and local education reform;

23 (B) student achievement and other edu24 cational outcomes (including data on special
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1 student populations and data on high school

2 completions, dropouts, and adult literacy);

3 (C) educational access and opportunity, in4 cluding data on financial aid to postsecondary

5 students;

6 (D) teaching, including data on curricu7 lum, instruction, the conditions of the education

8 workplace, and the supply of, and demand for,

9 teachers;

10 (E) the learning environment, including

11 data on libraries and the incidence of crime, vi12 olence, and substance abuse;

13 (F) the financing and management of edu14 cation, including data on revenues and expendi15 tures; and

16 (G) the social and economic status of chil17 dren;

18 (2) conducting and publishing reports and anal19 yses of the meaning and significance of such statis20 tics;

21 (3) conducting longitudinal studies, as well as

22 regular and special surveys and data collections, nec23 essary to report on the condition and progress of

24 education;
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1 (4) assisting public and private educational

2 agencies, organizations, and institutions in improv3 ing and automating their statistical and data collec4 tion activities; and

5 (5) acquiring and disseminating data on edu6 cational activities and student achievement in the

7 United States compared with those in foreign na8 tions.

9 (b) TRAINING PROGRAM.—The Commissioner may

10 establish a program to train employees of public and pri11 vate educational agencies, organizations, and institutions

12 in the use of the Center’s standard statistical procedures

13 and concepts and may establish a fellows program to tem14 porarily appoint such employees as temporary fellows at

15 the Center in order to assist the Center in carrying out

16 its duties.

17 SEC. 5. PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Commis19 sioner’s duties under this Act, the Commissioner may

20 enter into grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.

21 (b) GATHERING INFORMATION.—

22 (1) SAMPLING.—The Commissioner may use

23 the statistical method known as sampling to carry

24 out the purpose of this Act.
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1 (2) SOURCE OF INFORMATION.—The Commis2 sioner may, as the Commissioner considers appro3 priate, use information collected—

4 (A) from States, local educational agencies,

5 schools, institutions of higher education, librar6 ies, administrators, teachers, students, the gen7 eral public, and such other individuals, organi8 zations, agencies, and institutions as the Com9 missioner may consider appropriate; and

10 (B) by other offices within the Department

11 and by other Federal departments, agencies,

12 and instrumentalities.

13 (3) COLLECTION.—The Commissioner may—

14 (A) enter into interagency agreements for

15 the collection of statistics;

16 (B) arrange with any agency, organization,

17 or institution for the collection of statistics; and

18 (C) assign employees of the Center to any

19 such agency, organization, or institution to as20 sist in such collection.

21 (4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND COORDINA22 TION.—In order to maximize the effectiveness of

23 Federal efforts to serve the educational needs of

24 children and youth, the Commissioner shall—
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1 (A) provide technical assistance to Depart2 ment offices that gather data for statistical pur3 poses; and

4 (B) coordinate closely with other Depart5 ment offices in the collection of data.

6 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

7 (a) REPORT ON THE CONDITION AND PROGRESS OF

8 EDUCATION.—The Commissioner shall, not later than

9 June 1 of each year beginning, submit to the President

10 and the Congress a statistical report on the condition and

11 progress of education in the United States.

12 (b) STATISTICAL REPORTS.—The Commissioner

13 shall issue regular statistical reports to the President and

14 Congress on such education topics as the Commissioner

15 determines to be appropriate.

16 (c) SPECIAL REPORTS.—The Commissioner may,

17 whenever the Commissioner considers it appropriate, issue

18 special reports on particular education topics.

19 SEC. 7. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON EDUCATION STATISTICS.

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, within

21 the Center, an Advisory Council on Education Statistics

22 (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Council’’).

23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

24 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be com25 posed of—
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1 (A) 15 voting members who are users of

2 education data and who are appointed by the

3 Secretary on the basis of their experience and

4 eminence within the field of education statistics,

5 of whom at least—

6 (i) three shall be educators;

7 (ii) three shall be education policy8 makers;

9 (iii) three shall be professional stat10 isticians; and

11 (iv) three shall be education research12 ers;

13 (B) the Director of the Bureau of the Cen14 sus and the Commissioner of the Bureau of

15 Labor Statistics, as voting, ex officio members;

16 and

17 (C) the Assistant Secretary and the Com18 missioner, as nonvoting, ex officio members.

19 (2) PRESIDING OFFICER.—The Secretary shall

20 appoint the presiding officer of the Council from

21 among the voting members of the Council.

22 (3) TERMS.—Members of the Council appointed

23 under paragraph (1)(A) shall be appointed for 3-

24 year terms except that, in the case of initial appoint25 ments, the Secretary shall make appointments for
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1 shorter terms to the extent necessary to avoid the

2 expiration of the terms of more than 5 members in

3 the same calendar year.

4 (4) MEETINGS.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall meet

6 at the call of the presiding officer, except that

7 the Council shall meet—

8 (i) at least 2 times during each cal9 endar year; and

10 (ii) in addition, whenever 8 voting

11 members request in writing that the pre12 siding officer call a meeting.

13 (B) QUORUM.—Nine voting members of

14 the Council shall constitute a quorum.

15 (5) SPECIAL RULE.—The Council shall review

16 general policies for the operation of the Center and

17 shall advise the Commissioner on standards to en18 sure that statistics and other information dissemi19 nated by the Center are of high quality and are not

20 subject to partisan political influence.

21 SEC. 8. CONFIDENTIALITY.

22 (a) CONFIDENTIALITY STANDARDS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall develop

24 and enforce standards designed to protect the con25 fidentiality of persons in the collection, reporting,
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1 and publication of data under this section. This sec2 tion shall not be construed to protect the confiden3 tiality of information about institutions, organiza4 tions, and agencies that receive grants from, or have

5 contracts or cooperative agreements with, the Fed6 eral Government.

7 (2) PROHIBITION.—No person may—

8 (A) use any individually identifiable infor9 mation furnished under this Act for any pur10 pose other than a statistical purpose;

11 (B) make any publication whereby the data

12 furnished by any particular person under this

13 Act can be identified; or

14 (C) permit anyone other than the individ15 uals authorized by the Commissioner to exam16 ine the individual reports.

17 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—No department, bureau,

19 agency, officer, or employee of the Federal Govern20 ment, except the Commissioner in carrying out the

21 purposes of this Act, shall require, for any reason,

22 copies of reports that have been filed under this Act

23 with the Center or retained by any individual re24 spondent. Copies of such reports that have been so

25 filed or retained with the Center or any of its em-
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1 ployees, contractors, or agents shall be immune from

2 legal process, and shall not, without the consent of

3 the individual concerned, be admitted as evidence or

4 used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other ju5 dicial or administrative proceeding. This paragraph

6 shall apply only to individually identifiable informa7 tion (as defined in paragraph (4)(A)).

8 (2) EMPLOYEE OR STAFF VIOLATIONS.—Who9 ever, being or having been an employee or staff

10 member of the Department, having taken or sub11 scribed the oath of office, or having sworn to observe

12 the limitations imposed by subsection (a)(2), know13 ingly publishes or communicates any individually

14 identifiable information (as defined in paragraph

15 (4)(A)), the disclosure of which is prohibited by sub16 section (a)(2), and that comes into such employee or

17 staff’s possession by reason of employment (or oth18 erwise providing services) under this Act, shall be

19 found guilty of a class E felony and imprisoned for

20 not more than 5 years, or fined as specified in sec21 tion 3571 of title 18, United States Code, or both.

22 (3) TEMPORARY STAFF.—The Commissioner

23 may utilize temporary staff, including employees of

24 Federal, State, or local agencies or instrumentalities

25 (including local educational agencies), and employees
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1 of private organizations to assist the Center in per2 forming its responsibilities, but only if such tem3 porary staff are sworn to observe the limitations im4 posed by this section.

5 (4) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this

6 section—

7 (A) the term ‘‘individually identifiable in8 formation’’ means any record, response form,

9 completed survey, or aggregation thereof from

10 which information about particular individuals

11 may be revealed; and

12 (B) the term ‘‘report’’ means a response

13 provided by or about an individual to an inquiry

14 from the Center and does not include a statis15 tical aggregation from which individually identi16 fiable information cannot be revealed.

17 (5) VIOLATIONS.—Any person who uses any

18 data provided by the Center, in conjunction with any

19 other information or technique, to identify any indi20 vidual student, teacher, administrator, or other indi21 vidual and who knowingly discloses, publishes, or

22 uses such data for a purpose other than a statistical

23 purpose, or who otherwise violates subparagraph (A)

24 or (B) of subsection (a)(2), shall be found guilty of

25 a class E felony and imprisoned for not more than
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1 5 years, or fined as specified in section 3571 of title

2 18, United States Code, or both.

3 (6) ACCESS TO REPORTS OR RECORDS.—Noth4 ing in this section shall restrict the right of the Sec5 retary, the Comptroller General of the United

6 States, the Director of the Congressional Budget Of7 fice, and the Librarian of Congress to gain access to

8 any reports or other records, including information

9 identifying individuals, in the Center’s possession,

10 except that the same restrictions on disclosure that

11 apply under paragraphs (1) and (5) of subsection

12 (b) shall apply to such individuals.

13 SEC. 9. DISSEMINATION.

14 (a) GENERAL REQUESTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Center may furnish

16 transcripts or copies of tables and other statistical

17 records and make special statistical compilations and

18 surveys for State and local officials, public and pri19 vate organizations, and individuals.

20 (2) COMPILATIONS.—The Center shall provide

21 State and local educational agencies opportunities to

22 suggest the development of particular compilations

23 of statistics, surveys, and analyses that would assist

24 those educational agencies.
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1 (b) CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS.—The Center shall

2 furnish such special statistical compilations and surveys

3 as the Congress may request.

4 (c) JOINT STATISTICAL PROJECTS.—The Secretary

5 may engage in joint statistical projects related to the pur6 poses of this Act, or other statistical purposes authorized

7 by law, with nonprofit organizations or agencies, and the

8 cost of such projects shall be shared equitably as deter9 mined by the Secretary.

10 (d) FEES.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Statistical compilations and

12 surveys under this section, other than those carried

13 out pursuant to subsections (b) and (c), may be

14 made subject to the payment of the actual or esti15 mated cost of such work.

16 (2) FUNDS RECEIVED.—All funds received in

17 payment for work or services described in this sub18 section may be used to pay directly the costs of such

19 work or services, to repay appropriations that ini20 tially bore all or part of such costs, or to refund

21 excess sums when necessary.

22 (e) ACCESS.—

23 (1) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Center

24 shall, consistent with section 8, participate with

25 other Federal agencies having a need for educational
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1 data in providing access to educational data received

2 by the Center.

3 (2) INTERESTED PARTIES.—The Center shall,

4 in accordance with such terms and conditions as the

5 Secretary may prescribe, provide all interested par6 ties, including public and private agencies and indi7 viduals, direct access to data collected by the Center

8 for the purposes of research and acquiring statistical

9 information.

10 SEC. 10. COOPERATIVE EDUCATION STATISTICS SYSTEMS.

11 The Commissioner may establish one or more na12 tional cooperative education statistics systems for the pur13 pose of producing and maintaining, with the cooperation

14 of the States, comparable and uniform information and

15 data on elementary and secondary education, postsecond16 ary education, and libraries, that are useful for policy17 making at the Federal, State, and local levels. In carrying

18 out this section, the Commissioner may provide technical

19 assistance, and make grants and enter into contracts and

20 cooperative agreements.

21 SEC. 11. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

22 PROGRESS.

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commissioner shall, with

24 the advice of the National Assessment Governing Board

25 established by section 12, carry out, through grants, con-
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1 tracts, or cooperative agreements with one or more quali2 fied organizations, or consortia thereof, a National Assess3 ment of Educational Progress (hereafter in this Act re4 ferred to as the ‘‘National Assessment’’).

5 (b) PURPOSE; STATE ASSESSMENTS.—

6 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National

7 Assessment is to provide a fair and accurate presen8 tation of educational achievement in reading, writ9 ing, and the other subjects included in the third Na10 tional Education Goal, regarding student achieve11 ment and citizenship. The Commissioner, in carrying

12 out the National Assessment, shall use sampling

13 techniques that produce data that are representative

14 on a national and regional basis and on a State

15 basis pursuant to paragraph (2). In addition, the

16 Commissioner shall—

17 (A) collect and report data on a periodic

18 basis, but at least once every 2 years, on stu19 dents at ages 9, 13, and 17 and in grades 4,

20 8, and 12;

21 (B) report achievement data on a basis

22 that ensures valid and reliable trend reporting;

23 (C) include information on special groups;

24 and
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1 (D) ensure that achievement data are

2 made available on a timely basis following offi3 cial reporting, in a manner that facilitates fur4 ther analysis.

5 (2) STATE ASSESSMENTS.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner, in

7 carrying out the National Assessment, may con8 duct State assessments of student achievement

9 in grades 4, 8, and 12.

10 (B) STATE PARTICIPATION.—States wish11 ing to participate in State assessments shall

12 enter into an agreement with the Secretary pur13 suant to subsection (d)(2). Such agreement

14 shall contain information sufficient to give

15 States full information about the process for

16 consensus decisionmaking on objectives to be

17 tested, required in section 12(e)(5), and of the

18 standards for sampling, test administration,

19 test security, data collection, validation, and re20 porting.

21 (C) STATE REVIEW AND RELEASE OF RE22 SULTS.—A participating State shall review and

23 give permission for the release of results from

24 any test of its students administered as a part

25 of a State assessment prior to the release of
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1 such data. Refusal by a State to release its data

2 shall not restrict the release of data from other

3 States that have approved the release of such

4 data.

5 (3) PROHIBITED DATA.—In carrying out the

6 National Assessment, the Commissioner shall not

7 collect any data that are not directly related to the

8 appraisal of educational performance, achievement,

9 and traditional demographic reporting variables, or

10 to the fair and accurate presentation of such infor11 mation.

12 (4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out

13 the National Assessment, the Commissioner may

14 provide technical assistance to States, localities, and

15 other parties.

16 (c) ACCESS.—

17 (1) PUBLIC ACCESS.—Except as provided in

18 paragraph (2), the public shall have access to all

19 data, questions, and test instruments of the National

20 Assessment.

21 (2) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA22 TION.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner

24 shall ensure that all personally identifiable in25 formation about students, their educational per-
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1 formance, and their families, and that informa2 tion with respect to individual schools, remains

3 confidential, in accordance with section 552a of

4 title 5, United States Code.

5 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding any

6 other provision of law, the Secretary may de7 cline to make available to the public for a pe8 riod, not to exceed 10 years following their ini9 tial use, cognitive questions that the Secretary

10 intends to reuse in the future.

11 (C) TEST INSTRUMENTS.—The Secretary

12 may, upon the request of a State educational

13 agency or a local educational agency, make Na14 tional Assessment test instruments available for

15 assessing aggregate student achievement at the

16 school or school district level. Before receiving

17 such instruments, an agency shall provide as18 surances, satisfactory to the Secretary, that se19 curity requirements and testing protocols, pre20 scribed by the Commissioner, will be complied

21 with in the use of such instruments.

22 (d) PARTICIPATION.—

23 (1) NATIONAL AND REGIONAL.—Participation

24 in the national and regional assessments by State

25 and local educational agencies shall be voluntary.
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1 (2) STATE.—Participation in assessments made

2 on a State basis shall be voluntary. The Secretary

3 shall enter into an agreement with any State that

4 desires to carry out an assessment for the State

5 under this subsection. Each such agreement shall

6 contain provisions designed to ensure that the State

7 will—

8 (A) participate in the assessment; and

9 (B) pay from non-Federal sources the non10 Federal share of participation.

11 (3) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year,

13 the non-Federal share for the purpose of para14 graph (2)(B) shall be—

15 (i) the cost of conducting the assess16 ment at the school level for all public

17 schools in the State sample;

18 (ii) the cost of coordination within the

19 State; and

20 (iii) other reasonable costs specified

21 by the Secretary in the agreement de22 scribed in paragraph (2).

23 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—The non-Federal

24 share of payments under this paragraph may be

25 in cash or in kind, fairly valued.
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1 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The agree2 ment described in paragraph (2) shall describe

3 the manner in which the costs of administering

4 the assessment to private nonprofit schools in5 cluded in the State sample may be met.

6 (e) REVIEW OF NATIONAL AND STATE ASSESS7 MENTS.—The Secretary shall provide for continuing re8 views of both national and State assessments, including

9 evaluation studies by the Center and solicitation of public

10 comment on the conduct and usefulness of the National

11 Assessment. The Secretary shall report to the Congress,

12 the President, and the Nation on the findings and rec13 ommendations of such reviews. The Commissioner shall

14 consider the findings and recommendations in designing

15 the competition to select the organization, or organiza16 tions, through which the Office carries out the National

17 Assessment.

18 (f) COVERAGE AGREEMENTS.—

19 (1) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SCHOOLS.—The

20 Secretary and the Secretary of Defense may enter

21 into an agreement, including such terms as are mu22 tually satisfactory, to include in the National Assess23 ment elementary and secondary schools operated by

24 the Department of Defense.
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1 (2) BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS SCHOOLS.—

2 The Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior may

3 enter into an agreement, including such terms as are

4 mutually satisfactory, to include in the National As5 sessment schools for Indian children operated or

6 supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

7 SEC. 12. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Na9 tional Assessment Governing Board (hereafter in this Act

10 referred to as the ‘‘Board’’), which shall formulate policy

11 guidelines for the National Assessment.

12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

13 (1) APPOINTMENT AND COMPOSITION.—The

14 Board shall be appointed by the Secretary and be

15 composed of—

16 (A) two Governors, or former Governors,

17 who shall not be members of the same political

18 party;

19 (B) two State legislators, who shall not be

20 members of the same political party;

21 (C) two chief State school officers;

22 (D) one superintendent of a local edu23 cational agency;

24 (E) one member of a State board of edu25 cation;
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1 (F) one member of a local board of edu2 cation;

3 (G) three classroom teachers representing

4 the grade levels at which the National Assess5 ment is conducted;

6 (H) one representative of business or in7 dustry;

8 (I) two curriculum specialists;

9 (J) three testing and measurement experts,

10 who shall have training and experience in the

11 field of testing and measurement;

12 (K) one nonpublic school administrator or

13 policymaker;

14 (L) two school principals, of whom one

15 shall be an elementary school principal and one

16 shall be a secondary school principal; and

17 (M) four additional members who are rep18 resentatives of the general public, including par19 ents.

20 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL

21 RESEARCH.—The Assistant Secretary for Edu22 cational Research and Improvement shall serve as

23 an ex officio, nonvoting member of the Board.

24 (3) SPECIAL RULE.—The Secretary and the

25 Board shall ensure at all times that the membership
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1 of the Board reflects regional, racial, gender, and

2 cultural balance and diversity and that the Board

3 exercises its independent judgment, free from inap4 propriate influences and special interests.

5 (c) TERMS.—Members of the Board shall serve for

6 terms not to exceed 4 years which shall be staggered, as

7 determined by the Secretary. Any appointed member of

8 the Board who changes status under subsection (b) during

9 the term of the appointment of the member may continue

10 to serve as a member until the expiration of such term.

11 (d) VACANCIES.—As vacancies occur, new members

12 of the Board shall be appointed by the Secretary from

13 among individuals who are nominated by the Board after

14 consultation with representatives of the groups listed in

15 subsection (b)(1). For each vacancy, the Board shall nomi16 nate at least 3 individuals who, by reason of experience

17 or training, are qualified in that particular Board vacancy.

18 (e) DUTIES.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out its functions

20 under this section the Board shall—

21 (A) select subject areas to be assessed

22 (consistent with section 11(b)(1));

23 (B) identify appropriate achievement goals

24 for each age and grade in each subject area to

25 be tested under the National Assessment;
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1 (C) develop assessment objectives;

2 (D) develop test specifications;

3 (E) design the methodology of the assess4 ment;

5 (F) develop guidelines for analysis plans

6 and for reporting and disseminating results;

7 (G) develop standards and procedures for

8 interstate, regional, and national comparisons;

9 and

10 (H) take appropriate actions needed to im11 prove the form and use of the National Assess12 ment.

13 (2) DELEGATION.—The Board may delegate

14 any of the Board’s procedural and administrative

15 functions to its staff.

16 (3) COGNITIVE ITEMS.—The Board shall have

17 final authority on the appropriateness of cognitive

18 items.

19 (4) BIAS.—The Board shall take steps to en20 sure that all items selected for use in the National

21 Assessment are free from racial, cultural, gender, or

22 regional bias.

23 (5) GOALS STATEMENTS.—Each learning area

24 assessment shall have goal statements devised

25 through a national consensus approach, providing
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1 for active participation of teachers, curriculum spe2 cialists, local school administrators, parents, and

3 concerned members of the general public.

4 (f) PERSONNEL.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the exercise of its respon6 sibilities, the Board shall be independent of the Sec7 retary and the other offices and officers of the

8 Department.

9 (2) STAFF.—The Secretary may appoint, at the

10 direction of the Board, such staff as the Board re11 quires. Such appointments may include, for terms

12 not to exceed 3 years, without regard to the provi13 sions of title 5, United States Code, governing ap14 pointments in the competitive service, not more than

15 6 technical employees to administer this subsection,

16 who may be paid without regard to the provisions of

17 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such

18 title relating to classification and General Schedule

19 pay rates.

20 (g) COMMISSIONER REPORTS.—The Commissioner

21 shall report to the Board at regular intervals on the De22 partment’s actions to implement the decisions of the

23 Board.

24 (h) ADMINISTRATION.—
29

•S 1835 IS

1 (1) LIMITATION.—Not to exceed 10 percent of

2 the funds available for the National Assessment for

3 any fiscal year may be used for administrative ex4 penses (including staff, consultants, and contracts)

5 and to carry out the Board’s duties described in sub6 section (e).

7 (2) APPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

8 COMMITTEE ACT.—For the purposes of its adminis9 trative functions, the Board shall have the authori10 ties authorized by the Federal Advisory Committee

11 Act and shall be subject to the open meeting provi12 sions of that law.

13 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

15 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995

16 through 1999 to carry out this Act.

17 SEC. 14. REPEAL.

18 Section 406 of the General Education Provisions Act

19 (20 U.S.C. 1221e–1) is repealed.

Æ

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