82 FR 12085 - National Assessment Governing Board Quarterly Board Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 38 (February 28, 2017)

This notice sets forth the agenda for the March 2-4, 2017 Quarterly Board Meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board (hereafter referred to as Governing Board). This notice provides information to members of the public who may be interested in attending the meeting or providing written comments on the meeting. Due to unavoidable delays during the Administration transition, this notice is being posted less than 15 days prior to the Board meeting date.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12085-12086]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03832]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Assessment Governing Board Quarterly Board Meeting

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Announcement of open and closed meetings.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the agenda for the March 2-4, 2017 
Quarterly Board Meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board 
(hereafter referred to as Governing Board). This notice provides 
information to members of the public who may be interested in attending 
the meeting or providing written comments on the meeting. Due to 
unavoidable delays during the Administration transition, this notice is 
being posted less than 15 days prior to the Board meeting date.

DATES: The Quarterly Board Meeting will be held on the following dates:
     March 2, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
     March 3, 2017 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
     March 4, 2017 from 7:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

ADDRESSES: Hilton Alexandria Old Town, 1767 King Street, Alexandria, 
Virginia 22314.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Munira Mwalimu, Executive Officer/
Designated Federal Official of the Governing Board, 800 North Capitol 
Street NW., Suite 825, Washington, DC 20002, telephone: (202) 357-6938, 
fax: (202) 357-6945.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Statutory Authority and Function: The Governing Board is 
established under the National Assessment of Educational Progress 
Authorization Act, Title III of Public Law 107-279. Information on the 
Governing Board and its work can be found at www.nagb.gov.
    The Governing Board is established to formulate policy for the 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The Governing 
Board's responsibilities include the following: Selecting subject areas 
to be assessed, developing assessment frameworks and specifications, 
developing appropriate student achievement levels for each grade and 
subject tested, developing standards and procedures for interstate and 
national comparisons, improving the form and use of NAEP, developing 
guidelines for reporting and disseminating results, and releasing 
initial NAEP results to the public.

March 2-4, 2017 Committee Meetings

    The Governing Board's standing committees will meet to conduct 
regularly scheduled work based on agenda items planned for this 
Quarterly Board Meeting and follow-up items as reported in the 
Governing Board's committee meeting minutes available at http://nagb.gov/what-we-do/board-committee-reports-and-agendas.html.

Detailed Meeting Agenda: March 2-4, 2017

    March 2: Symposium and Committee Meetings: NAEP Long-Term Trend 
Symposium: Open Session: 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
    Assessment Development Committee (ADC): Closed Session: 1:00 p.m. 
to 4:00 p.m.
    Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology (COSDAM): Open 
Session: 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
    Reporting and Dissemination Committee (R&D): Open Session: 1:30 
p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
    Executive Committee: Open Session: 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.; Closed 
Session: 5:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

March 3: Full Governing Board and Committee Meetings

    Full Governing Board: Open Session: 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.; 12:15 
p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    Committee Meetings:
    ADC and COSDAM: Joint Open Session: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
    ADC: Open Session: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
    COSDAM: Open Session: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
    R&D: Open Session 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

March 4: Full Governing Board and Committee Meetings

    Nominations Committee: Closed Session: 7:30 a.m. to 8:10 a.m.; Open 
Session: 8:10 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
    Full Governing Board: Closed Session: 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.; Open 
Session: 8:50 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.; Closed Session: 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 
a.m.
    On Thursday, March 2, 2017, the Governing Board will convene a 
symposium in open session on NAEP Long-Term Trend from 9:00 a.m. to 
11:45 a.m. Thereafter, the standing committees will meet. ADC will meet 
in closed session from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to review secure digital-
based tasks for the grade 12 NAEP Science assessment and secure task 
sketches for the NAEP Mathematics assessment at grades 4 and 8, as well 
as secure Long-Term Trend Reading and Mathematics items. This meeting 
must be conducted in closed session because the test items are secure 
and have not been released to the public. Public disclosure of the 
secure test items would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP 
assessment program if conducted in open session. Such matters are 
protected by exemption 9(B) of Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 of the United 
States Code.
    COSDAM will meet in open session from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. R&D 
will meet in open session from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Executive 
Committee will meet in open session on March 2, 2017 from 4:30 p.m. to 
5:15 p.m. and in closed session from 5:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. During the 
closed session, the Executive Committee will receive and discuss cost 
estimates and implications for implementing the Long-Term Trend 
assessment. This meeting must be conducted in closed session because 
public disclosure of this information would likely have an adverse 
financial effect on the NAEP program by providing confidential cost 
details and proprietary contract costs of current NAEP contractors to 
the public. Discussion of this information would be likely to 
significantly impede

[[Page 12086]]

implementation of a proposed agency action if conducted in open 
session. Such matters are protected by exemption 9(B) of section 552b 
of Title 5 of the United States Code.
    On Friday, March 3, the full Governing Board will meet in open 
session from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. The Governing Board will review and 
approve the March 2-4, 2017 Board meeting agenda and meeting minutes 
from the November 2016 Quarterly Board Meeting. Thereafter, the 
Chairman, Terry Mazany will administer the oath of office to a new 
Board member, following which he will introduce the Governing Board's 
new Deputy Executive Director and provide remarks.
    This session will be followed by a report from the Executive 
Director of the Governing Board, William Bushaw, followed by an update 
on National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) work by Peggy Carr, 
Acting Commissioner of NCES.
    The Governing Board will recess for committee meetings at 9:45 a.m. 
The committee meetings are scheduled to take place from 10:00 a.m. to 
12:00 p.m. to conduct regularly scheduled work. ADC will meet in a 
joint open session with COSDAM from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Thereafter 
the two committees will meet separately in open session from 11:00 a.m. 
to 12:00 p.m. R&D will meet in open session from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 
p.m.
    Following the committee meetings on Friday, March 3, the Governing 
Board will meet in open session from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. for a 
panel discussion on the topic of High School Graduates on the Path to 
Middle Skills Jobs. Following a short break scheduled from 1:45 p.m. to 
2:00 p.m., the Governing Board will meet in open session from 2:00 p.m. 
to 5:00 p.m.
    From 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., the Governing Board will engage in 
follow up discussions on the Long-Term Trend Symposium. From 2:45 p.m. 
to 3:30 p.m., the Board will have a discussion on the Response to the 
Achievement Levels Evaluation.
    Thereafter, the Governing Board will take a fifteen-minute break 
and reconvene in open session from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. to receive a 
briefing from Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School 
Officers (CCSSO) Chris Minnich, and from the CCSSO/Governing Board 
Policy Task Force Chair Shelly Loving-Ryder.
    The March 3, 2017 meeting will adjourn at 5:00 p.m.
    On March 4, the Nominations Committee will meet in closed session 
from 7:30 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. The committee will discuss the final slate 
of nominations for Governing Board vacancies for terms beginning on 
October 1, 2017. The Nominations Committee's discussions pertain solely 
to internal personnel rules and practices of an agency and information 
of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly 
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As such, the discussions are 
protected by exemptions 2 and 6 of Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 of the 
United States Code.
    The Nominations Committee will meet in open session on March 4 from 
8:10 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. to take action on the final candidates 
recommended for open positions to be submitted to the Secretary of 
Education. On March 4, the Governing Board will meet in closed session 
from 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. to receive a briefing from the Nominations 
Committee on the recommended final slate of candidates for Board 
vacancies for terms beginning October 1, 2017. For the reasons noted 
above, these discussions are also protected by exemptions 2 and 6 of 
Sec.  552b(c) of Title 5 of the United States Code. Thereafter, from 
8:50 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., the Board will meet in open session to take 
action on the final slate of candidates for submission to the Secretary 
of Education.
    The Governing Board will meet in open session from 9:00 a.m. to 
9:30 a.m. to discuss the Governing Board's Strategic Vision, and the 
Chairman's charge to the committees.
    The Governing Board will then take a fifteen minute break and 
reconvene in open session from 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. to receive an 
update on committee reports and take action on the R&D recommended 
Guidelines for Releasing, Reporting and Disseminating Results.
    The Governing Board will take another 15 minute break from 10:15 
a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and then reconvene in closed session to receive a 
briefing on the 2016 NAEP Arts Assessment Report. This meeting is being 
conducted in closed session because the NAEP Arts Assessment data has 
not been released to the public. Public disclosure of the secure data 
would significantly impede implementation of the NAEP assessment 
program if conducted in open session. Such matters are protected by 
exemption 9(B) of Sec.  552b of Title 5 of the United States Code.
    The March 4, 2017 meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 11:45 a.m.
    Access to Records of the Meeting: Pursuant to FACA requirements, 
the public may also inspect the meeting materials at www.nagb.gov 
beginning on Thursday, March 2, 2017 by 10:00 a.m. ET. The official 
verbatim transcripts of the public meeting sessions will be available 
for public inspection no later than 30 calendar days following the 
meeting.
    Reasonable Accommodations: The meeting site is accessible to 
individuals with disabilities. If you will need an auxiliary aid or 
service to participate in the meeting (e.g., interpreting service, 
assistive listening device, or materials in an alternate format), 
notify the contact person listed in this notice at least two weeks 
before the scheduled meeting date. Although we will attempt to meet a 
request received after that date, we may not be able to make available 
the requested auxiliary aid or service because of insufficient time to 
arrange it.
    Electronic Access to this Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.thefederalregister.org/fdsys. At this site you can 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). To use PDF, 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
Adobe Web site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Authority:  Pub. L. 107-279, Title III--National Assessment of 
Educational Progress Sec.  301.

    Dated: February 22, 2017.
Munira Mwalimu,
Designated Federal Official, National Assessment Governing Board 
(NAGB), U. S. Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2017-03832 Filed 2-27-17; 8:45 am]
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