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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

Tia Reynolds
Fall 2016
Dr. Chapman
Kennesaw State University

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

Introduction
Parents and teachers play a critical role in the growth and development process for all
students. Students rely on their parents and teachers to nurture and guide them on a daily basis. If
careful consideration is taken, parents and teachers have the ability to create a strong unit for
every child. This unit can provide consistent and valuable support that can aid in student
achievement. In order to do this, parents and teachers must first value the importance of
consistent communication with one another in order to establish a better support system for the
child. In many schools, specifically Title 1, maintaining parent communication and parent
involvement can be challenging for various reasons. However, educators are finding ways to
bridge the communication gap amongst families regardless of hindering circumstances. Parents

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

and teachers do not usually have obvious opportunities for interaction. Rather, one party must
intentionally reach out to the other for communication to take place. Thankfully, the use of
technologies such as email, texting, websites, electronic portfolios and online grade books have
made communication between parents and teachers more timely, efficient, productive and
satisfying (cf., Merkley, Schmidt, Dirksen & Fuhler, 2006).
Many parents seek to communicate with teachers to learn better ways to assist their
children at home. So much has changed in education over the past few decades and will continue
to change in years to come. These frequent changes can pose issues for parents that are
struggling to keep up with the curriculum and various reforms. So many parents are looking for
better ways to help their children but are not sure if they even understand how to help them.
Teachers at Peyton Forest Elementary frequently encounter this issue. Although parent
involvement has rapidly declined over the last five years, there are still dozens of parents that
seek the teachers help in understanding new math concepts and strategies, helping their children
to become better readers, and preparing them to take state exams. In addition, parents can also
become very overwhelmed with trying to stay informed of school events and important dates.
Several teachers at Peyton Forest have expressed interest in improving the schools website to
better assist with communication amongst parents and teachers. Unfortunately, it has been very
difficult to maintain consistency with a school-wide website.
This capstone project seeks to create a grade-level website that can help facilitate
communication amongst the parents, teachers, and students of fourth grade students at Peyton
Forest Elementary school. The website will be used to communicate valuable instructional
information, school-wide events and dates, and resources in every content area to assist with
homework and test preparation. A grade level website allows parents and students access to

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

information at any given time and from any given place. Creating this website required constant
communication with the school counselor and parent liaison to keep track of upcoming important
dates and helpful information for parents. The fourth grade teachers researched various online
content that could be used to provide support for the students across content areas. All of the
websites content can be used as a resource for completing homework, classwork, and extra
reinforcement.
Process
An initial meeting was held with the fourth grade teachers to gauge their interest in grade
level websites. During the meeting, a presentation regarding the importance and benefits of
school websites was shared with the teachers. During the presentation, teachers were able to
view several fourth grade websites from teachers in various districts and states. Teachers were
then given a pre survey to communicate the current reality of how they are using or not using
websites in their classroom. After a few days, a follow-up email was sent to teachers to gauge
their thought process after the initial meeting. All teachers were on board with starting a grade
level website to improve parent communication. The teachers agreed to send home a paper
survey to all of their parents to evaluate parent thoughts regarding a grade level website. Students
were offered an incentive to bring the surveys back in hopes to increase the number of surveys
that were returned. Students were also given surveys to measure their interest in having a website
available to them that could potentially assist them with homework and studying. After surveys
were submitted, they were carefully analyzed to assist with the elements that would be included
on the website. The capstones author spent about a week creating the website which is housed
on Weebly. Over the course of the capstone project, teachers continued to submit resource ideas
to the capstones author to add for various content areas. Feedback regarding the website was

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

consistently sought from parents via telephone and in person contact. Students were able to
utilize the website in class and at home to complete activities and assignments.
Deviation and Results
The initial proposal for this project intended for this grade level website to be a one-stop
shop for parents. A place where they could receive all school-wide and grade level specific
information whether it was pertinent or non-pertinent. This became problematic because it
required the author of the project to rely heavily on the counselor and parent liaison for
information on important dates and information that many times continued to change at the last
minute. To avoid any inconsistencies and potential frustration from parents regarding
misinformation, the author as well as the grade level teachers decided to focus primarily on
providing resources to assist with content.
Another deviation was the amount of resources provided for each content area.
Originally, the author intended to provide several resources to assist with understanding across
content area. However parents primarily sought out information and helpful tips for Math,
Reading, and ELA. The completion of the website occurred right before test time and parents
really wanted their children to be able to study concepts at home. The author shifted gears to put
more focus on those three subjects to accommodate parent request.
In addition to the above deviations, the project originally planned for the teachers,
parents, and students to take the exact same pre and post survey. For the most part, the questions
were exactly the same. However, a few questions were added to specifically evaluate their
experience with the website after using it for a few months.

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

The success of this project was determined by parent, teacher, and student attitude toward
the website and usage of the website. Both determinants were measured by the pre and post
surveys. The teacher pre-survey results determined that most teachers were reluctant to start a
website because they were not confident they would be able to maintain it, however they
understood the importance of having one. The teacher post-survey results revealed a 100%
increase in the belief that they could maintain their own website and intended to do so in the
future. The parent pre-survey results revealed that they had little to no experience with school or
classroom websites because Peyton Forest had not maintained one in several years. The survey
also revealed that they wanted more content links and homework help to be included on a
website. The parent post-survey revealed that parents intended to continue vising the website and
found it to be a helpful tool to reinforce concepts at home with their child.
Teacher Pre-Survey Results
Do you currently
have a
classroom or
grade level
website to share
with your
students and
families?
Yes or No

On a scale of 1-5
(1 being very
little, 5 being
very high
influence) What
influence do you
think technology
has on parent
involvement and
communication?

How
comfortable are
you with
creating and
maintaining
classroom
websites? (1
being not very
comfortable, 5
being very
comfortable)

Do you think
there is a need
for professional
developments on
creating and
maintaining
teacher
websites?
Yes or No

100% No
0% Yes

60% High
Influence
20% Moderate
Influence
20% No
Influence

20% Very
Comfortable
20% Moderately
Comfortable
60% Not
Comfortable

60%Yes
40% No

How interested
would you be in
sharing a grade
level website
with your
students
parents, if the
website was
done for you?
(1 being not
interested, 5
being very
interested)
100% Very
Interested

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

Teacher Post Survey Results

Do you currently
have a
classroom or
grade level
website to share
with your
students and
families?
Yes or No

On a scale of 1-5
(1 being very
little, 5 being
very high
influence) What
influence do you
think technology
has on parent
involvement and
communication?

How
comfortable are
you with
creating and
maintaining
classroom
websites? (1
being not very
comfortable, 5
being very
comfortable)

Do you think
there is a need
for professional
developments on
creating and
maintaining
teacher
websites?
Yes or No

How likely are

you to continue
to maintain your
grade levels
current website?
(1 being not
likely, 5 being
very likely)

0% No
100% Yes

80% High
Influence
20% Moderate
Influence
0% No Influence

80% Very
Comfortable
20% Moderately
Comfortable
0% Not
Comfortable

100% Yes
0% No

100% Very
Likely

What would you

like to see the
MOST on a
classroom or
grade level
website?
Choose 1
(Content
Resources,
Homework help,
Important Dates,
Curriculum
Updates, Test
Prep, Other)

Do you currently
have frequent
access to the
internet?
Yes or No

Are you aware

of the parent
center at Peyton
Forest which
allows parents to
utilize
computers
anytime during
the school day?

Parent Pre Survey Results

How do you
MAINLY stay
up to date on
information
from PFES,
choose 1
(Flyers/Letters,
Phone
Calls/Text,
Emails, Word of
Mouth, Face to
Face Contact
with School
Staff, School or
Grade Level

How likely are

you to visit a
classroom or
grade level
website for up to
date information
and resources?
(1 being very
unlikely, 5 being
very likely?)

Yes or No

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

Website, Other)
36%
Flyers/Letters
32 %Phone
Calls/Texts
Word of Mouth
21% Face to
Face
11% Word of
Mouth
0% Website

77% Very Likely

11% Moderately
Likely
13% Unlikely

38% Content
Resources
34% Homework
Help
15% Important
Dates
13% Test Prep

76% Yes
23% No

11% Yes
89% No

Do you currently
have frequent
access to the
internet?
Yes or No

Are you aware

of the parent
center at Peyton
Forest which
allows parents to
utilize
computers
anytime during
the school day?

Parent Post-Survey
How helpful was
the grade level
website for you
as a parent? (1
being not very
helpful, 5 being
very helpful)

89% Very
Helpful
11% Not very
helpful

How likely are

you to visit a
classroom or
grade level
website for
resources to
assist your child
with mastering
content (1 being
very unlikely, 5
being very
likely?)

What would you

like to see the
MOST on a
classroom or
grade level
website?
Choose 1
(Content
Resources,
Homework help,
Curriculum
Updates, Test
Prep, Other)
89% Very Likely 34% Content
0% Moderately
Resources
Likely
30% Homework
11% Unlikely
Help
36% Test Prep

Yes or No
80% Yes
20% No

100% Yes
0% No

The results of the pre and post survey for parents and teachers revealed that the website
was very useful for the majority of those who used it. Although this capstone project had one

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

main author, the other fourth grade teachers were heavily involved with resource suggestions for
the content areas they planned and thus were much invested. They were also committed to
sharing the website with their students and families. Throughout the process, the author took
time to teach them how to utilize Weebly so that they felt confident to continue to use the tool to
maintain a website. In looking at the results, there was an increase in comfortability amongst
teachers who felt they could continue to utilize and maintain the site on their own. There was
also a huge increase in those teachers who felt an actual professional development is needed for
all teachers to learn how to create and maintain their own sites. This lead the author to believe
that the biggest reason why websites were not being created was due to lack of comfortability in
creating one. In looking at the parent survey, there was an increase in parents that wanted to see
more information specifically related to test preparation. This could be in large part to the fact
that the website was created and shared with parents during our standardized test season. It
seems that parents truly value content resources, homework help, and test preparation on a grade
level website. Fortunately, all of those concepts tie into one another in some capacity. There was
also an increase in the amount of parents that knew about the parent center that is available to
them at the school.
Follow Up
This website will continue to be used and maintained by all of the fourth grade teachers,
not just the author. More content and resources will be added for all subjects, including Science
and Social Studies. There will also be more information regarding the Georgia Milestones to
address some of the parent concerns regarding the test. The information will be on the website at
the start of the next school year so that parents are able to review the material throughout the
year and not just right before testing. Although this website turned into more of a resource page

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

to assist parents with helping their child at home, the author still intends to make it more of a
one-stop-shop for all school-wide and grade level information. The author plans to meet with the
counselor and parent liaison to discuss how to be more consistent with relaying information to
parents.

Discussion/Reflection
In completing this capstone project, I learned the importance of developing and fostering
communication with my students parents to develop a partnership in my students learning. I
also used the partnership approach with my colleagues throughout the process so that I could
create the best website for all of our students. Utilizing the partnership approach really helped to
counteract some of the push-back I received from my colleagues who were not comfortable
creating and implementing a classroom website into their classrooms. By me including them in
every step of the way to solicit their ideas for the website but still taking the lead on the creation
and management of the site truly helped them to get on board. This capstone would not have
been possible without the feedback that I received from students parents as well as my fellow
teachers. This feedback was given to me initially in informal interviews, followed up by surveys.
I learned about the importance of asking questions to develop a deeper understanding to assist
me with implementing this website. . ICs communicate better with their teachers if they
first ask a few questions. An IC might start working with a teacher by asking these
questions in an actual learning conversation, or an IC might consider these
questions on her own as she prepares for a future conversation with teachers
(Knight, page 66).

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication
I utilized information that I gained from developing my schools SWOT and
shared vision plan for technology to help me diagnose a current technology need. I
utilized skills gained from my coaching project to assist me with communication and
collaboration in coaching my colleagues on building the most effective website for
our current grade level needs. This tool provided our students and parents an at
home resource to assist our students with mastering the standards. Throughout the
process, I was able to teach my colleagues how to manage the site on their own so
that the website can be continuous so that parents can still believe in the site as a
resource to help their child.
The dispositions required of the capstone include establishing a partnership
with stakeholders, understanding of classroom and grade level websites, and
remaining flexible and open. I received a lot of push back from my colleagues in the
beginning of this capstone because of several other demands were experiencing at
that time. They did not feel comfortable designing a website nor did they see the
immediate need to implement one. I had to remain open enough to hear their
concerns regarding the website but also persistent enough in developing a plan to
help them realize the importance of using a website to help foster communication
amongst our parents by providing them an at home resource to help their children. I
also had to research several websites and implement only what was applicable for
our current students at that time. With this in mind, I had to be flexible enough
throughout the process to change direction with the website. In the beginning we
planned to make the site incredibly interactive and include much of the
correspondence that went home on paper, on our website. Over time we realized
that parents mostly wanted to view helpful resources and information to assist their
children with content at home.

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication
In the future, I would definitely suggest outlining a grade level website before
the start of the school year, if possible. It is much easier to get parents to buy into
something that has been consistently implemented from the start of the school
year. I would also recommend communicating with other school personnel if various
information for the website will be needed from them. Most of our school events are
planned by the parent liaison and school counselor. Since they were not aware that
our grade level would need up to date information weekly, that component of our
website had to be taken down. In the future, I hope to implement a school website
at the start of a new school year or new semester. I would definitely spend a
considerable amount of time surveying and previewing my students and their
parents about the website and its purpose. I would still want the website to serve
the grade level as a whole, however I think it would be best for each teacher to
have their own page or section on the website. This would allow each teacher to
share information that may unique to his or her own classroom.

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

Appendix A
Teacher Pre-Survey
1) Do you currently have a classroom or grade level website to share with your students and
families?
Yes or No
2) On a scale of 1-5 (1 being very little, 5 being very high influence) What influence do you
think technology has on parent involvement and communication
3) How comfortable are you with creating and maintaining classroom websites? (1 being not
very comfortable, 5 being very comfortable)
4) Do you think there is a need for professional developments on creating and maintaining
teacher websites?
Yes or No
5) How interested would you be in sharing a grade level website with your students parents,
if the website was done for you?

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

(1 being not interested, 5 being very interested)

Teacher Post Survey
1) Do you currently have a classroom or grade level website to share with your students and
families?
Yes or No
2) On a scale of 1-5 (1 being very little, 5 being very high influence) What influence do you
think technology has on parent involvement and communication?

3) How comfortable are you with creating and maintaining classroom websites? (1 being not
very comfortable, 5 being very comfortable)
4) Do you think there is a need for professional developments on creating and maintaining
teacher websites?
Yes or No
5) How likely are you to continue to maintain your grade levels current website?
(1 being not likely, 5 being very likely)
Appendix B
Parent Pre-Survey
1) How do you MAINLY stay up to date on information from PFES, choose 1
(Flyers/Letters, Phone Calls/Text, Emails, Word of Mouth, Face to Face Contact with
School Staff, School or Grade Level Website, Other)
2) How likely are you to visit a classroom or grade level website for up to date information
and resources? (1 being very unlikely, 5 being very likely?)
3) What would you like to see the MOST on a classroom or grade level website? Choose 1
(Content Resources, Homework help, Important Dates, Curriculum Updates, Test Prep,
Other)
4) Do you currently have frequent access to the internet?
Yes or No
5) Are you aware of the parent center at Peyton Forest which allows parents to utilize
computers anytime during the school day?
Yes or No

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Teacher Websites to Improve Parent Communication

Parent Post- Survey

1) How helpful was the grade level website for you as a parent? (1 being not very helpful, 5
being very helpful)
2) How likely are you to visit a classroom or grade level website for resources to assist your
child with mastering content (1 being very unlikely, 5 being very likely?)
3) What would you like to see the MOST on a classroom or grade level website? Choose 1
(Content Resources, Homework help, Curriculum Updates, Test Prep, Other)
4) Do you currently have frequent access to the internet?
Yes or No
5) Are you aware of the parent center at Peyton Forest which allows parents to utilize
computers anytime during the school day?
Yes or No

Resources
Merkley, D., Schmidt, D., Dirksen, C., & Fulher, C. (2006). Enhancing parentteacher
communication using technology: A reading improvement clinic example. Contemporary Issues
in Technology and Teacher Education, 6(1),11-42.
Knight, J. (2007). Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach for Improving
Instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press