TOPIC OF
INTEREST IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. Since my academic field is political science,
I am wondering what some of the political and ideological opposition has
been to funding the various entitlement aspects of the IDEA (Individuals
with Disabilities Educational Act) and its various extensions and
amendments.
The proponents to fully funding this entitlement are much more
visible and obvious. It is somewhat "politically incorrect" to
be against funding this mandate, so I wanted to see who the opposition is, and
what their arguments are...
If my internet search was a barometer, my hunch was exactly
right. I am a fairly experienced and proficient student of researching
subjects on the web and it was fairly hard to find reasoned voices of
opposition. The following list of ten sites dealing with the subject,
including opinions pro and con, was the result of checking scores of sites, yet
it is still what I would consider a very threadbare and imperfect listing...1
Ten of scores of WWW sites reviewed on funding of the IDEA:
-
Capitalism Magazine, http://www.capitalismmagazine.com
(http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/2001/april/mm_idea.htm)
-
Dr. Michael Fenichel's Current Topics in Psychology, http://www.fenichel.com/
(http://www.fenichel.com/Schoolp.shtml)
-
HS People.com:The place where Human Services People Go,
http://hspeople.com/ (http://hspeople.com/archives/newsbriefs/080700.html)
-
Winthrop University Dept. of Health and Physical Ed, http://coe.winthrop.edu/hortonm/contentnonlinear/content3.html
-
Eagle Forum's Education Reporter: Newspaper of
Education Rights, http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/
(http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/1997/jan97/er_jan97.html)
-
Phi Delta Kappan, the professional print journal
of Phi Delta Kappa, the association of professional educators, http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kappan.htm
(http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbain.htm)
-
The National Education Association, http://www.nea.org/
(http://www.nea.org/publiced/idea/)
-
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, http://www.ocpathink.org/
(http://www.ocpathink.org/Education/finest.htm)
-
The Wave of Long Island, an online newspaper, http://www.rockawave.com/
(http://www.rockawave.com/News/2001/0224/Columnists/School_Scope0224.html)
-
NASW online: Website of the National
Association of Social Workers, http://www.naswdc.org/,
(http://www.naswdc.org/Govwk/idea.htm)
Sites 1 and 8 reviewed below...
INTERNET
WEBSITE EVALUATION SCALE
|
SITE COMPONENTS |
SITE ATTRIBUTES |
ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTIONS |
Review of Website #1
Capitalism Magazine, http://www.capitalismmagazine.com
(.../2001/april/mm_idea.htm) |
Review of Website #2
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs,
http://www.ocpathink.org/ (.../Education/finest.htm) |
|
|
Clarity |
Well written, concise, appropriate grammar, spelling. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Content |
High quality, accurate. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
1) INFORMATION |
Completeness |
Adequate coverage of topic, rationale for sites
presented. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Corroboration |
References supporting information are properly
formatted, of sufficient quality and are up-to-date. |
Yes, up to date. Story
dateline is April 12, 2001 |
Although the dateline of the
specific piece I needed was Sept. '97, many other articles are current. |
|
|
Currency |
Educational value: high potential for instructional use. |
Yes, especially if contrasted
with an equally passionate opinion on the other side of the question... |
ditto, cell left |
|
|
Credibility |
Author(s) identified, credentials provided,
organizational affiliation listed and described. |
The author, Michelle
Malkin, is clearly named, and her picture is on the site, but no
credentials are listed...she appears to be a reporter for the magazine. |
Education researcher Regna
Lee Wood, whom Boston University chancellor John Silber calls "a
major national resource because of her brilliant analyses of
illiteracy," is director of research for the National Right to Read
Foundation. Her work has appeared in National Review, and OCPA
Perspective. She lives in Spiro, Oklahoma |
|
2) CREATOR(S) |
Contact |
Access to authors/organization via e-mail and phone. An
addrerss is provided. |
There is plenty of contact
information and corporate address, but no email link is provided to the
author of the piece. |
Direct e-mail links to web
editors and the OCPA, including address, but no direct link to the author
of the opinion piece. |
|
|
Responsiveness |
Respond to queries. |
Not tested. |
Not tested. |
|
|
Design |
Complimentary colors, organization of material,
uncluttered and balanced layout. |
Yes, an efficient display of
a tremendous amount of material. Well done. A static banner is used as a
masthead |
Yes, nicely displayed, using
a static frame on the left margin. Colorful and catchy blue and
gold. |
|
3) AESTHETICS |
Attention Span |
Ability to sustain the interests of the learner for the
desired duration of the learning. |
I am surprised that this
evaluation aspect is under the heading "AESTHETICS" ...I would
think that CONTENT is what shoud gauge the site's ability to command
attention.
No, the aesthetics are not sufficient to sustain the desire to read an
opinion piece. |
ditto cell left. The
opinion pieces are simply black fonts on white background, not colors or
frills. |
|
|
Multimedia |
Incorporation of text, graphics, audio, and video is
appropriate for the subject matter and learners. |
I did not find audio or video
on the site, but text and graphics were simple, tasteful and appropriate. |
ditto, cell left. The
speeches on the site are all in text form, no real audio. |
|
|
Navigability (internal) |
Active bookmarks and hyperlinks are present for ease of
movement within the website. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
|
Navigability (external) |
Active bookmarks and hyperlinks are present for ease of
movement between websites. |
There are no external links
other than advertising...this is smart from a selfish, capitalist point of
view. |
There is a page of links
given. When you click to them, the OCPA site left frame panel continues,
so they are still jealous, not letting you fully go to the external sites
by leaving theirs... |
|
|
Home Page |
Provides a link back to Homepage from all internal
pages. |
Yes |
Most, yes, but the opinion
piece I used did not. |
|
4) Technology |
Interactivity |
Ability to submit and/or receive information unique to
the user. |
Yes, an e-mail form is
available. |
Yes, in that email links are
given and you could then write whatever you want in the email... |
|
|
Type of URL |
.gov = goverment .edu
.com = commercial site
.edu = educational institution
.mil = military site
.org= non-profit organization
.net = network provider
|
CapitalistMagazine
is definitely a .com! :-) |
OCPA is a non-profit
organization and thus appropriately uses ocpa.org |
|
|
Speed of Download |
The site enables efficient downloading of graphics,
audio, and video. |
No audio and video downloads
that I could find on this very extensive site...the graphics, which were
few, loaded fast. |
|
|
5) MAINTENANCE |
Updating |
Site is updated regularly with most recent date of
editing provided. |
Definitely |
Yes, though dates are not as
apparent and not consistent on the site. |
|
|
Copyright |
Site provides a copyright date. |
Yes, bottom of homepage |
No, but it does inform the
browser that all material on the site is copyrighted. |