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Ferndale Public Schools
Ferndale, Michigan
URL: http://www.ferndaleschools.org
Comments: : “We are a small district, and sites for our buildings are linked for the convenience of community members,” writes curriculum coordinator Pat Pillot. “There is an abundance of information on our site, with quick links to news articles, and plenty of photographs.”
Review: Rather than focus primarily on this site’s design—which is perfectly functional, if not beautiful—let’s zero in on the content, which is indeed abundant. There are some nice small touches in that regard, especially links to sites of affiliated organizations such as the local PTA and fine-arts booster club. But the district really does something worth emulating when it presents “The truth about the Ferndale Schools,” a spirited defense and explanation of student performance on state and federal benchmarks.
At one school, where students made adequate yearly progress overall, two small at-risk subgroups did not. That led a local newspaper to claim Ferndale’s schools are “failing.” But as the site notes, “When a school doesn’t make AYP, it doesn’t mean the school is failing. This designation tells us what we already know: we need to target the lowest-achieving students and help them bring their scores up.” The open letter details specific achievements and plans, and then invites questions. As increasing numbers of schools find student sub-groups making inadequate yearly progress under No Child Left Behind requirements, they should strongly consider posting such candid accounts of the situation and plans for moving forward on their own Web sites.
Would you like CR to review your school’s Web site? E-mail the URL, plus a bit of info about what makes your site special, to frank@paper-clip.com.
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