Location
Teleconference

Participants:
National Board for Education Sciences (NBES) Members Present
Bridget Terry Long, Ph.D., Chair (via telephone)
Anthony S. Bryk, Ed.D. (via telephone)
Robert Granger, Ed.D. (via telephone)
Margaret "Peggy" R. McLeod, Ed.D. (via telephone)
Robert A. Underwood, Ed.D. (via telephone)

NBES Members Absent
Kris D. Gutierrez, Ph.D., Vice Chair
Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Ph.D.

NBES Staff
Monica Herk, Ph.D., Executive Director & Designated Federal Official (DFO)

Meeting Summary

Call to Order, Approval of Agenda, Chair's Remarks
Bridget Terry Long, Ph.D., NBES Chair

Dr. Long called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m., and Dr. Herk, NBES DFO, called the roll. NBES members unanimously approved the meeting agenda.

Dr. Long described the process by which the current version of the 2012 NBES Annual Report had been created. Between the October 2011 and February 2012 Board meetings, Dr. Herk wrote a rough draft of the Annual Report based on the meeting summaries from the June 29 and October 14, 2011 Board meetings. Dr. Long worked with Dr. Herk to shape and revise the draft. Regular Board members received the resulting draft two weeks before the February 2012 Board meeting and were asked to review it. In addition to reviewing the overall draft, each regular Board member was assigned specific sections of the draft to review more carefully and comment on at the February 2012 meeting.

Board members provided their feedback and discussed the draft at the February 24, 2012 Board meeting. Dr. Herk revised the draft based on the Board members' comments at the meeting, and the resulting draft was sent on April 9 to all Board members, including ex officio members, for additional comments. A final draft was created and sent to all Board members on April 23 in preparation for the April 25 meeting.

Dr. Long commented that the primary changes between the draft discussed at the February 24 meeting and the current draft was that 1) Dr. Herk had added material to the draft from the February 24 meeting, such as information from the Commissioners' updates, and 2) at the Board's suggestion, greater contextualization had been added. That is, the Board wanted the report to make clear the Board's belief that IES has been highly effective, and that the suggestions contained within the report were offered in the spirit of supporting continuous improvement at IES.

Dr. Long then went through the draft section by section, briefly summarizing the changes that had been made, and asked the Board members to make sure that the section correctly reflected their suggestions and input.

Dr. Bryk commented that the additions to the draft seemed very positive. Dr. Granger congratulated Dr. Long and Dr. Herk on the report.

There was a brief discussion of the draft's bullet points on teaching effectiveness and whether they accurately conveyed the Board's view. Dr. Granger commented that the bullet points correctly signaled the Board's core ideas on this topic, and given the report's intended audience, they provided the right level of detail. Drs. Bryk, McLeod, and Underwood concurred that they agreed with the bullet points in question.

The Board members then turned to the draft's section on Partnerships between Researchers and Practitioners. Dr. Granger expressed the opinion that this is an important area for IES and the Board to continue to work on. Drs. McLeod, Underwood, and Bryk agreed with this sentiment.

The Board then completed its review of the remaining draft sections. Dr. Granger noted that this was the first time that the Board had created such a substantive Annual Report and asked about the process for creating the report that could continue after the current Board Chair and Executive Director are no longer in their positions. Dr. Long commented that it was important that the process be institutionalized and passed on. Dr. Herk expressed her view that the process was simple enough that it could easily be followed by future chairs and directors.

A motion was proposed and seconded to approve the current draft of the 2012 Annual Report as written. The motion carried unanimously. Dr. Long adjourned the meeting at 4:20 p.m.

The National Board for Education Sciences is a Federal advisory committee chartered by Congress, operating under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA); 5 U.S.C., App. 2). The Board provides advice to the Director on the policies of the Institute of Education Sciences. The findings and recommendations of the Board do not represent the views of the Agency, and this document does not represent information approved or disseminated by the Department of Education.