[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 33 (Thursday, February 19, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8443-8444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4154]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting
AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; 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 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.
DATES: March 5-7, 1998.
TIME: March 5, Achievement Levels Committee, 2:00-4:00 p.m. (open);
Subject Area Committee #1, 2:00-3:00 p.m. (open), 3:00-4:00 p.m.
(closed); Executive Committee, 5:00-6:00 p.m. (open), 6:00-7:00 p.m.
(closed). March 6, Full Board, 8:30-10:00 a.m. (open); Design and
Methodology Committee 9:30-11:30 a.m. (open); Reporting and
Dissemination Committee, 9:30-11:30 a.m. (open); Joint Meeting Subject
Area Committee #1 and #2, 9:30-11:30 a.m. (open); Full Board 11:30-4:45
p.m. (open). March 7, Nominations Committee, 7:30-9:00 a.m. (open);
Full Board 9:00 a.m.-adjournment, approximately 12:00 noon, (open).
LOCATION: Four Seasons Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle,
Washington.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Ann Wilmer, Operations Officer,
National Assessment Governing Board,
[[Page 8444]]
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. Under Public Law 105-78, the
National Assessment Governing Board is also granted exclusive authority
over developing Voluntary National Tests pursuant to contract number
RJ97153001 and is required to review and modify the contract to the
extent the Board determines necessary, if the contract cannot be
modified to the extent the Board determines necessary, the contract
shall be terminated and a new contract negotiated.
On March 5, there will be an open meeting of the Achievement Levels
Committee from 2:00-4:00 p.m. The Committee will be reviewing the
proposed final achievement level descriptions for the 1998 civics and
writing assessments. On the Voluntary National Tests, the Committee
will examine some of the policy issues related to achievement levels in
math and reading.
Also on March 5, there will be two partially closed meetings:
Subject Area Committee #1, and the Executive Committee. The Subject
Area Committee will meet in open session, 2:00-3:00 p.m., to finalize
plans for the report to the Full Board on the Voluntary National Tests
specifications in 4th grade reading. In closed session, 3:00-4:00 p.m.,
the Committee will review the RFP for a NAEP Foreign Language
Assessment. This portion of the meeting must be conducted in closed
session because premature disclosure of the information presented for
review might significantly frustrate a proposed agency action. Such
matters are protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b(c) of Title 5
U.S.C.
During the open portion of the Executive Committee, 5:00-6:00 p.m.,
there will be presentations on the following activities: Voluntary
National Tests; Reauthorization; Secondary Analysis Grants; and NAEP
Redesign. The Committee will then meet in closed session from 6:00-7:00
p.m., to continue discussion 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 effect on the NAEP program. The discussion of this
information would 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.
In addition, during the closed portion the Committee will be taking
action on personnel appointments for the positions for Assistant
Director of Test Development, and Assistant Director for Reporting and
Dissemination. The Committee will discuss the qualifications of the
individuals recommended for appointment. These discussions will relate
solely to the internal personnel 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.
On March 6, the full Board will convene in open session at 8:30
a.m. The agenda for this session of the meeting includes remarks from
the Washington State Superintendent of Schools, and an update on NAEP
activities.
The Design and Methodology Committee, and the Reporting and
Dissemination Committee will each meet in open session from 9:30-11:30
a.m. The Design and Methodology Committee will be reviewing the grant
applications for the NAEP cycles 2000-2003, and a proposal for a NAEP
12th grade longitudinal study. On the Voluntary National Tests, the
Committee will be focusing on the contractors linking proposal, and the
pilot and field test design. The Reporting and Dissemination Committee
will review plans for the schedule and release of upcoming NAEP
reports, and the contractors proposed plan for reporting and utilizing
the results of the Voluntary National Tests.
Subject Area Committees #1 and #2 will meet jointly from 9:30-11:30
a.m. The Committees will hear an update of the plans for the next NAEP
assessments, as well as, schedule information on the current NAEP
assessments in 1998.
The full Board will reconvene beginning at 11:30 a.m.-12:00 noon to
hear a briefing on the features of the redesign that have been detailed
in the NCES grant applications for the next two cooperative agreements
for conducting NAEP. These cooperative agreements will cover two
operational aspects of NAEP: (1) Data collection, 2000-2003; and (2)
development, scoring, analysis, and reporting. The Board will also
consider matters related to the Voluntary National Tests which include
hearing an overview of activities under the AIR contract through
September, and a report, recommendations, and discussions on the math
and reading specifications.
On March 7, the Nominations Committee will meet in open session
from 7:30-9:00 a.m. The Committee will discuss modification of the
calendar for the 1998 nominations process; prepare for the review of
resumes; and set a date for finalizing committee recommendations.
Also on March 7, the full Board will meet from 9:00 a.m.-12:00
noon. The Board will hear comments regarding the Voluntary National
Tests from the Executive Director of the Council of Great City Schools,
and the Superintendent of the Seattle School District. Also, the Board
will receive the reports of its committees.
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.
Dated: February 13, 1998.
Roy Truby,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 98-4154 Filed 2-18-98; 8:45 am]
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