I stumbled upon Wake’s websites this morning and was very impressed, very inspired:
http://www.wakeedpartnership.org/ : A starting point that describes the partnerships between the community and the school system. Lots of information, lots of links to follow. Basic layout, but rich in content, IMO.
http://wakeschoolchoice.com/ : A website dedicated to describing an illuminating the implementation of “Controlled Choice” in Wake County, NC. Really well done! You can find out about Dr. Alves, or find out approximately what your “Proximity” school; moreover, you can find clear definitions of “Proximity” and other jargon. Also information about why the School system is using this program, their goals and how far they have come already. Awesome stuff.
http://www.wcpss.net/ : The School System’s website. It is quite apparent that the IT staff is in a completely different league than ours.
So here’s the rub – how much did all this cost? I hope to find out soon. My impression of how Unit 4 does websites is that they view the online segment of their clients as a small minority. Or in other words, it seems that they have not really embraced the next generation of cell-phone using, facebooking and tweeting parents out there. I do not say this to imply that Unit 4 IT staff is doing a poor job. Rather, their focus is on other things at the moment. Of course, one does wonder, how many parents would actually benefit from this? I cannot but help to think that a lot of new parents would have quite a different first impression.
What would it take to evolve or migrate the Unit 4 websites to the next era?
7 March 2011 11:45 am at 11:45 am
It would take a new leader in the IT area. The existing guy has been here a long time and still clings to the power of his position. While the majority of old computer guys have been able to transition to the customer service model, our guy still refuses to “allow” such newfangled devices as laptops. There is no available help for staff, even admin have to figure out how to sync district purchased smart phones with district purchased computers on their own.
You said a lot when you said, ” It is quite apparent that the IT staff is in a completely different league than ours.”
More than the website would improve if we could ever figure out how to handle technology in Unit 4.
It is even more galling sitting next to one of the top computer facilities in the WORLD. with all the talented computer people at the university. We look pretty foolish, don’t we?
7 March 2011 12:48 pm at 12:48 pm
How long is “a long time”? I was told on several occasions that the folks in IT were not around during various stages of the Consent Decree when I requested access to electronic documents pertaining to Controlled Choice (they mysteriously disappeared). More recently, I was told that the IT leadership has changed since 2008.
I have met the current IT staff, and so far my first impressions have held true. Mostly in agreement with your statements.
I had a unique and rare opportunity to sit in on a “training” for the new school templates that each school uses for their websites, and I can tell you that I was blown away. For bad reasons.
And while I agree that the idea of us sitting next to a fine institution like the University of Illinois redefines “flabbergasted”, keep in mind that this is a research facility – they kick butt at research, but some other things kinda fall by the wayside. And it is not the computational prowess that one should look to, but rather the social sciences.
8 March 2011 6:24 pm at 6:24 pm
But surely there is SOMEONE at U of I who needs to do some web design project for class credit?! Free. Labor. Use it wisely!!
8 March 2011 7:50 pm at 7:50 pm
Parkland has something they do called “Service Projects”, where a professor will find a need in the community and gear a class towards it. I heard about it through the CSIT (Computer Science/Information Technology) department from Jonas Dees. When I approached him last year about a similar project, his worry was that it be sustainable. Of course, the other problem was that Unit 4 was not interested, thus it kinda turned out to be a moot point.
Today I reminded some Unit 4 Admin staff about the deplorable state of the “Great Schools, Together” website which has not been updated or maintained in over 2 and half years! Yet, the website purports to keep the community engaged with “regular updates”. Whooops. As a response, I was told to contact the director of Unit 4 IT. Yeah…. this is going no where very quickly.
9 March 2011 9:56 am at 9:56 am
My favorite Unit 4 website story involves the link to gifted programs. When I clicked on it, I got some error message. I sent a note in to report the problem and got a fast response. They just deleted the link and told me to call and talk to the woman in charge of the gifted program.
To me, that speaks volumes about both the attitude towards the website (and those of us who use it as a primary means of gathering information) and the gifted program. Just double checked and indeed… the link to the gifted program is not on the Unit 4 site map.
11 March 2011 3:48 pm at 3:48 pm
[...] http://champaignunit4.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/wake-an-example-of-how-to-bring-community-and-schools… [...]
25 March 2011 10:13 am at 10:13 am
[...] is kind of what I had in mind when I blogged about the Wake County efforts. CUSF seems to be an organized effort to get the community involved and helping teachers (and [...]
7 April 2011 2:49 pm at 2:49 pm
My boss has this Dilbert comic strip on his office. It made me think of this thread.
http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-12-23/
2 January 2012 11:32 am at 11:32 am
[...] Earlier I mentioned Wake County’s website about “Controlled Choice”. I got a hold of the webmaster at Wake County and he informed me of a new website. Quite tasteful and informative, IMO. More important is the work they (the school district, the community, even the County) all did to help hash out issues and “heated debates” with school assignment. I am asking the webmaster for an extended discussion with the purpose of learning how they tackled their problems so as to learn how we might tackle ours. Wake County is considerably larger, though. GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_bg", "ffffff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_text", "494949"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_link", "0062A0"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_border", "0072b9"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_url", "0062A0"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "community"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "research"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "controlled-choice"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "schools-of-choice"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "wake-county"); GA_googleFillSlot("wpcom_sharethrough"); Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Posted in Community, research. Tags: controlled choice, schools of choice, wake county. Leave a Comment » [...]