Porter Reappointed to National Assessment Governing Board

Penn GSE Dean Andy Porter has been appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board for his second four-year term, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced recently.

In joining the Governing Board for another four-year term, Porter will help lead its work to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as The Nation's Report Card^TM. 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.

"We are delighted to have Andy return," said Governing Board Chairman Darvin M. Winick. "His experience and insight will be a major asset in efforts to oversee The Nation's Report Card - the most valuable benchmark we have for monitoring student progress."

In addition to his role as dean, Porter is a former president of the American Educational Research Association and was elected to the National Academy of Education, where he has been vice president since 2005. He is also a Lifetime National Associate of the National Academies. Porter will continue to serve the Governing Board under the category of "testing and measurement expert."

In overseeing The Nation's Report Card, the Governing Board determines subjects to be tested and the content and achievement levels for each test, and works to inform the public about the results.

Porter joins a group of governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators and researchers, business representatives, and members of the general public who make up the 26-member Governing Board. In addition to Porter, others announced include current members Mary Frances Taymans (non-public school administrator, Washington, D.C.) and David Alukonis (local school board member, Hudson, N.H.), as well as new appointees Carol D'Amico (business representative, Indianapolis); Anitere Flores (Republican state legislator, Miami); and Eileen Weiser (general public, Ann Arbor, MI.).

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^TM can be found at http://nationsreportcard.gov/.

Media contact: Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu