The survey allowed for the anonymity of the participants. The writer gave the participants a choice of whether to leave their name or not. The writer insured privacy by using a script offered by an online server that does not allow the sender's email address or their name to be used in the return of the survey. The writer was unsure if this was the case and performed three tests by sending the survey information to the writer's email address. This assured the writer that the identity of the sender would remain private. The email sent was completely anonymous. The writer shared the survey instrument with the principal at the school. The principal's review was favorable and permission was granted for the deployment of the survey. The principal made one comment of which the writer was already aware. This comment regarded the length of the web address in that it could pose problems for novices on the Internet. The writer only had access to one site that provided an anonymous return of the survey. Other options for a shorter web address will be investigated before the actual launch date of the survey in August of 2000.
Literature:
The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education, (NCPIE), offers some extremely helpful information for developing successful Parental Involvement programs. Their suggestions are that, "each school should find ways to involve parents in the decision making of events held at the schools". (http://www.ncpie.org/ncpieguidelines.htm... The survey created by the writer, for the Jane Long Parental Involvement Committee, will provide a tool for developing parental decision making for events held at the school for the school year, 2000 - 2001. One area the NCPIE reports as being very important is for schools to offer an outreach program for illiterate parents. For parents to care about the education their children receive, they must care about education for themselves. Finding a way to reach the parents that need educational assistance is another important issue that Jane Long needs to address. The survey, written by the writer, has several events that are oriented in parental educational, however, there was no inclusion of classes that would teach parents to read or write. The Parental Involvement Committee should address this area before the official launching of the survey to be used for the opening of the 2000 - 2001 school year.
