Colorado Department of Education Website Search and Critique - Research Paper Example

Summary The "CDE Home" contains information about the Colorado Department of Education such as the board of education, calendar of activities,offices, etc. This page also contains education-related news, announcements about the education system, and ongoing programs and initiatives conducted by the department. The "SchoolVIEW" page, meanwhile, contains reports that assess, measure, and predict school and student performance. It provides data on all schools and districts which include accountability results, school and student demographics, and academic growth.

The frameworks, templates, performance indicators, and other resources used in the accountability and support system of the state are also found in this page. The pages "For Educators" and "For Administrators", on the other hand, contain almost the same information such as educator licensing services, information on early childhood, K-12, and adult education programs, and links to outside resources. Finally, the "For Parents & Students" page offers information on district schools, state & federal grants, and home schooling, among many others.

   Helpful Information Overall, I think the website offers a holistic picture of the current state of educational system in Colorado. Through data and statistical reports, one can get a glimpse of how schools and students perform well or poorly. This constant monitoring of performance serves as a reminder for school administrators to maintain or improve their performance. Parents and students, meanwhile, can readily access a wide variety of information that can guide them in making education-related decisions.

The website offers information on district schools, their performance, and programs that enhance student learning. Finally, the public is kept updated on latest developments through the news and announcement pages. Missing Information I'd like to find information about the department's future plans and directions. Colorado's current educational system is well-documented in the website (through numerical data, news, etc.). Adding a page that tackles the department's future plans and the means to achieve them will make the website more comprehensive.

Ease of Navigation and Information Search Navigating the website and browsing for information, for most of the time, is easy and fast. The organized, simple, and clean layout of the pages lends a user-friendly atmosphere to the website. The tabs in the upper part of the pages are easily noticeable. Website visitors, therefore, won't have a hard time looking for information that is suited to their needs. The left side of the pages also contains links that serve as a guide for visitors. The loading time for each page, meanwhile, takes less than a second in a high-speed internet connection.

Finally, the site contains a search box in every page from which visitors can input key words to yield information search results. New Learning and Discoveries The most interesting discovery in this website is the "SchoolVIEW" page. The page provides a measure of school and student performance through hard data. I previously thought that an education department's primary role is to administer and enact policies. The Colorado Education Department, meanwhile, extends its role to monitor, assess, and improve school performance by using mathematical tools.

 A search box is available where website visitors can input, for instance, the district to generate a list of schools within that district. The page also offers tools which allow website visitors to create their own performance reports. This feature enables school administrators to have a general sense of their performance. Suggestions for Improvement A few changes in the use of web applications can result to a faster and a more accessible website. Some of the features especially in the "SchoolVIEW" page can only be accessed if the right website applications are installed in your browser.

 Using simpler and readily available applications is suggested to give visitors more access on the videos, tutorials, data, and other features offered by the website. I also observed that the website doesn't run smoothly on Internet Explorer. A change in browser compatibility settings is, therefore, suggested.