K-12 Parent Portal: The Middle School Parent Voice

August 3rd, 2008 · 1 Comment

What would you do in a K-12 Parent Portal? begins a series of posts that are attempting to describe the proposed content of an interactive web site through the eyes of each of the stakeholders. I want to use their stories to gain an understanding rather than the traditional description of functionality. There are several characters in the collective stories. This post is about a fictional middle-school parent George Wangari.

I am seeking your help to create rich stories. Does George remind you of a parent you work with, or are you George? Or another middle school parent? Please hel me describe how an online Parent Portal might help him.

I’m building this draft from blogs, comments, and the work of Williamson and Johnston (1998). This work will be compiled and posted on the Parent 2.0 wiki. Thanks for your help!

Here is George, and here is George’s voice so far.

It just seemed to me that the younger your child is the more the school wants you involved, and as they got older it got less and less. I wanted to stay involved. I wanted to keep lines of speaking open. I was willing to receive notes, letters, phone calls or emails from the teachers. It was very hard to get teachers to answer me when I had a question or concern. I think it would benefit the school, the student and the parent if the schools would be more open to parents in higher grades.

I’m finding that in the middle school the teachers are less accessible because they don’t see the same children all day and work with many different classes.

I want to connect online with other parents – from discussions and support, to coordinating travel and child care plans.

I want to help my children with their homework but I don’t know where to get books or lessons for extra help. I’m not familiar with what they are being taught in math or social studies.

Where can I find out what cultural activities are happening at the school?

I hope you will help to collect or contribute to the many parent voices describing what they would like to do to when connecting with their school online. Are you George? Or do you know a parent like George? Please add your thoughts and ideas by commenting to this post!

Williamson, R. D., & Johnston, J. H. (1998). Responding to Parent and Public Concerns About Middle Level Schools. NASSP Bulletin, 1998(September), 73-82.

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1 response so far ↓

1 What would you do in a K-12 Parent Portal? // Aug 3, 2008 at 7:51 pm

[...] Parent – George Wangari George has two children aged ten and twelve. The family has lived in Canada for two years. The children speak English now; George’s English is limited. (click here for a post about George) [...]

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