[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]
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