Abstract
Young adolescents attend
middle school subsequent to elementary school and prior to entering
high school. As a result of both the specific age group on which they
focus (generally 10-15 years old) and the lack of subject specialization,
recent research suggests that middle schools should offer an interdisciplinary
curriculum, in which students learn subjects in conjunction with one
another, rather than as entities in and of themselves (Lewis, 1992;
Beane, 1991, 1993). One method to help middle schools accomplish this
goal is by the creation and maintenance of a school website that reflects
middle schools’ interdisciplinary approach. The purpose of this
study was to evaluate the extent to which middle school websites reflect
these goals and meet criteria for an effective school website as deemed
by Gaskill (1998) and Schrock (2003) as well as to develop a pre-determined
checklist based on the fusion of literature for effective middle schools,
the purposes of school websites, and effective website design.
Introduction
Recently there has been
a renewed focus by educators to involve both parents and the community
in the teaching and learning environment. With the increase in Internet
connectivity of both schools and other stakeholders in the educational
process (Chen, 2002; National Center for Education Statistics, 2003;
Schofield & Davidson, 2002; U.S. Department of Commerce, 2001),
one method that has grown in popularity of late is the development of
a school website. A school website can be easily developed and maintained
at a school, and can potentially serve a number of purposes, such as
providing information about the school, communication with parents and
the local community, and the display of student work (Ivers & Barron,
1999; McKenzie, 1997; T H E Journal, 2000). In addition, because the
Internet is truly a worldwide phenomenon, a website can allow a school
to enter the global community. Images and hyperlinks have the potential
to give outsiders the ability to listen in to [the] conversation that
members of the school community are conducting. The creation and utilization
of a website can help middle schools achieve their goals, as it fosters
collaboration among teachers, students, and administrators, while at
the same time encouraging an interdisciplinary curriculum.
A Brief History of Middle Schools
At the beginning of the twentieth century, schoolchildren in the United States attended two types of schools: a K-8 institution as well as a high school, which served grades 9-12. By the 1930s, educators began to advocate the notion of junior high schools for grades 7-8 as a method of not only preparing students for high school, but meeting the distinctive cognitive needs of young adolescents (Beane, 1993; Wiles & Bondi, 2001). Due to a concern that these schools did not cater to the specific needs of the population that they served, the idea of a middle school started to come about in the 1960's as a way to focus learning programs on young adolescents (Cruz, 2003; Beane, 1990; Alexander & McEwin, 1984; Clark & Clark, 1993). The term “middle” was used as a descriptor not only for the schools themselves, but for the students that they served, as these institutions were designed to meet the needs of young people who were between being a child and an adolescent (Alexander, Williams, Compton, Hines, Prescott, & Kealy, 1969).
Middle school students are unique in that not only does their physical appearance undergo development, but they are in a state of change socially and emotionally as well (Knowles & Brown, 2000). Middle school students also experience intellectual growth as they become better able to think abstractly (Knowles & Brown, 2000). However, each individual student changes physically and cognitively at different rates (Knowles & Brown, 2000). In order to achieve the distinct goal of teaching preadolescents in a manner developmentally-appropriate while simultaneously preparing them for high school, middle schools utilize several unique features such as teams, an interdisciplinary curriculum, and advisories (Wiles & Bondi, 2001; Beane, 1993, National Middle School Association, 1996). The overarching goal of these innovations in instruction is to foster an individualized, student-centered learning environment in which students are able to explore new concepts (Wiles & Bondi, 2001). The notions of teams and an interdisciplinary curriculum can be integrated, as teams may consist of teachers from different academic subject areas who share a particular group of students. Teams can plan for activities that not only integrate subject areas, but also can design instruction that meets the particular needs of their shared learners, since the same students are shared by each of the teachers (Wiles & Bondi, 2001; Wormeli, 2001). An advisory, which consists of a small group of students and a teacher, was designed to function as a “caring environment” for students, in which one of the goals is to “mediate between academic and social concerns” of students (National Middle School Association, 1996, ¶ 10). Each of these three features helps to create the unique environment that is present in many middle schools.
Middle School Websites
School websites are becoming much more prevalent for two primary reasons: the increase in the number of schools connected to the Internet and an increase in home Internet access for students and parents (Chen, 2002; National Center for Education Statistics, 2003; U.S. Department of Commerce, 2001). As the popularity of school websites increase, the goals of these sites need to parallel the goals of middle schools. There are two overarching goals of school websites. First, they act as information systems for site visitors, providing a wide variety of data and information. Second, they serve as interfaces between the school, parents, and the community (McKenzie, 1997). Related to these two goals are a number of sub-goals of school websites. These sub-goals include: 1) introducing educational stakeholders to the school; 2) providing various opportunities for student work to be published in both the local and global communities; 3) acting as an intermediary to a larger body of information; and 4) providing a rich, locally relevant data source related to various instructional topics (McKenzie, 1997).
Introduction to
the School
One important purpose of middle school websites is to serve as an effective introduction to the offerings, character, look, mission, and environment of the school. Introductions via school websites could include a variety of information, such as a picture of the school, demographic information of the student body, school accountability information, faculty/staff information, course offerings, resource information, and more. Specific middle school information, such as advisories and teams can also be displayed. This information is beneficial for both current and potential students and parents, as well as other stakeholders in the educational process.
