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[Federal Register: February 19, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 33)]
[Notices]               
[Page 7463-7464]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19fe10-54]                         

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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 sessions.

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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 (e.g., 
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 19, 2010. 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 4-6, 2010.

Times

March 4: Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Closed Session--8:30 a.m. to 1:30 
p.m.
    Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting on Students with 
Disabilities and English Language Learners: Open Session--2:00 p.m. to 
4:00 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session--4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Closed 
Session--5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

March 5

    Full Board: Open Session--8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; Closed Session--
12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; Open Session--1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Committee Meetings

    Assessment Development Committee: Open Session--9:30 a.m. to 11:15 
a.m.; Closed Session--11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology: Open Session--9:30 
a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; Closed Session 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee: Open Session--9:30 a.m. to 
12:15 p.m.

March 6

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session--7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
    Full Board: Closed Session--8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.; Open Session--
9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
    Location: Park Hyatt Washington, DC, 24th and M Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20037.

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 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Assessment Development 
Committee will meet in closed session to review test items in reading 
operational blocks for grades 4 and 8. The Board will be provided with 
embargoed test items that cannot be discussed in an open meeting. 
Premature disclosure of data would significantly impede implementation 
of the NAEP assessments in the subjects, and is therefore protected by 
exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On March 4, the Ad Hoc Committee on NAEP Testing and Reporting on

[[Page 7464]]

Students with Disabilities (SD) and English Language Learners (ELL) 
will meet in open session from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Thereafter, the 
Executive Committee will meet in open session from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 
p.m. and in closed session from 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. During the 
closed session on March 4, the Executive Committee will receive a 
briefing from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on 
options for NAEP contracts covering the 2010-2012 assessment years, 
based on funding for Fiscal Year 2010-2011. 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.
    On March 5, the full Board will meet in open session from 8:30 a.m. 
to 9:15 a.m. The Board will review and approve the meeting agenda and 
meeting minutes from the November 2009 Board meeting. This session will 
be followed by a report from the Governing Board's Executive Director 
and an update from the Deputy Commissioner of Education Statistics on 
the work of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 
Thereafter the Board will recess for Committee meetings from 9:30 a.m. 
to 12:15 p.m.
    From 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. on March 5, the Assessment Development 
Committee will meet in open session, followed by a closed session from 
11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. During the closed session, the Committee will 
receive briefings on NAEP assessment development topics related to 
science interactive computer tasks at grades 4, 8, and 12, reading 
vocabulary items at grades 4, 8, and 12, and the writing computer-based 
assessment at grades 8 and 12. The Board will be provided with 
embargoed test items data that cannot be discussed in an open meeting 
prior to their official release. Premature disclosure of data would 
significantly impede implementation of the NAEP assessments in the 
subjects, and is therefore protected by exemption 9(B) of section 
552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    On March 5, the Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology will 
meet in closed session from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. to receive and 
discuss results of the science achievement levels setting process 
implemented on January 28-31, 2010. The Board will be provided with 
embargoed achievement level data that have not yet been released to the 
public and therefore cannot be discussed in an open meeting. Premature 
disclosure of data would significantly impede implementation of the 
NAEP assessment 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 
on March 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Thereafter, the full Board will 
meet in closed session from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. to receive a 
briefing on the 2009 NAEP Reading Report Card for Grades 4 and 8. The 
Board will be provided with embargoed results that cannot be discussed 
in an open meeting prior to their official release. Premature 
disclosure of data would significantly impede implementation of the 
NAEP assessments in the subjects, and is therefore protected by 
exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C.
    Following this closed session, the full Board will meet in open 
session from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. to receive a briefing on the NAEP 
evaluation on achievement levels and reporting NAEP results. From 2:45 
p.m. to 5:00 p.m. the Board will discuss recommended Board actions on 
the following items:
    (1) Modification of NAEP Reading Achievement Level Descriptions.
    (2) Governing Board Policy on Testing and Reporting on Students 
with Disabilities and English Language Learners.
    (3) NAEP Technological Literacy Framework.
    The March 5, 2010 Board meeting is scheduled to conclude at 5:00 
p.m.
    On March 6, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to discuss final candidates being proposed 
to the Board for appointment terms beginning October 1, 2010. From 8:30 
a.m. to 9:00 a.m. the full Board will meet in closed session to take 
action on the final slate of candidates proposed by the Nominations 
Committee for submission to Secretary Arne Duncan. 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 6 from 9:00 a.m. 
to 10:00 a.m. to receive a briefing on NAEP quality assurance. From 
10:00 a.m. to noon, the Board will receive Committee reports and take 
action on Committee recommendations.
    The March 6, 2010 session of the Board meeting is scheduled to 
adjourn at 12:00 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 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 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: www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: February 16, 2010.
Cornelia S. Orr,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2010-3244 Filed 2-18-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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