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Board Appointments

Six Leaders – Including Three Incumbents – Appointed to National Assessment Governing Board

 

WASHINGTON, DC (October 30, 2008) — Six leaders from around the country representing fields that include education, business, and policymaking have been appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board to serve a four-year term, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today. Three of the six appointees are incumbents, and terms for all begin October 2008.

The six appointees will help set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as The Nation’s Report Card™. The assessment makes objective information on student performance available to policy-makers and the public at the national, state, and local levels, and has served an important role in evaluating the condition and progress of American education since 1969.

In overseeing The Nation’s Report Card, the 26-member Governing Board – a group of governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators and researchers, business representatives, and members of the general public – determines subjects to be tested and the content and achievement levels for each test, and works to inform the public about the results.

"We are delighted to have such an array of talent and expertise on the Governing Board," said Governing Board Chairman Darvin M. Winick. "Their insights and experience will be a major asset in efforts to oversee The Nation’s Report Card—the most valuable benchmark we have for monitoring student progress."

The members and the categories they will serve under include:

  • David Alukonis (local school board member, Hudson, N.H.); a current Board member who, since 2001, has been Hudson School Board chairman, where he is responsible for the operations of the Hudson School District—New Hampshire’s ninth largest with 4,100 students.
  • Carol D’Amico (business representative, Indianapolis); President and CEO of Conexus Indiana, a private organization focused on the state’s advanced manufacturing and logistics sectors.
  • Anitere Flores (Republican state legislator, Miami); a Florida House of Representatives member who served as education advisor to Gov. Jeb Bush.
  • Andrew Porter (testing and measurement expert, Philadelphia); a current member and Dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.
  • Mary Frances Taymans (nonpublic school administrator, Washington, DC); a current member and executive director of the Secondary Schools Department of the National Catholic Educational Association.
  • Eileen Weiser (general public, Ann Arbor, Mich.); a civic leader and parent who previously served on the Governing Board (from 2003-2007) and as a Michigan Board of Education member.

More information about the Governing Board and its work can be found at http://www.nagb.org. More information about The Nation’s Report Card™ can be found at http://nationsreportcard.gov

The official announcement from the U.S. Education Department can be found at http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/10/10302008.html.

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Stephaan Harris

The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the only nationally representative, continuing evaluation of the condition of education in the United States. It has served as a national yardstick of student achievement since 1969. Through the Nation's Report Card, NAEP informs the public about what American students know and can do in various subject areas and compares achievement between states, large urban districts, and various student demographic groups.
The National Assessment Governing Board is an independent, bipartisan board whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to oversee and set policy for NAEP.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a congressionally authorized project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The National Center for Education Statistics, within the Institute of Education Sciences, administers NAEP. The Commissioner of Education Statistics is responsible by law for carrying out the NAEP project.