Website+Review

Title of Web site: Learning Point Associates URL: [|http://www.learningpt.org] Date evaluated: May 20, 2011 Learning Point Associates website is very user friendly and the links are very self explanatory. On the homepage there is a link "site map" which gives us an overview of the contents of the website- //About Us, Espertise, Resources, Pressroom, Careers, Contact Us.// Each of these links take you more depths of the required information. On the page, it asks to sign up for more information, and had link for //Upcoming Current Events.// Also, on the left corner of the homepage is a short description of what they do, they goals and how they meet their goals. This is great so even before someone starts looking for links, this description explains what Learning Point Associates is. ====**__Authority: __ **Gina Burkhardt, CEO of Learning Point Associates clearly explains in the link “Who We Are” the services they provide and their goals. It is clear on the website that Learning Point Associates has come a long way from its modest beginnings in 1984, when four employees worked in the basement of an elementary school in Elmhurst, Illinois. Today, the organization has approximately 170 employees and offices in [|Chicago], [|Naperville] (Illinois), [|New York] and [|Washington, D.C.] Learning point is a diversified, non- profit organization with clients across the country. They began as the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), a single-contract regional organization created by the U.S. Department of Education to provide states with research-based information, best practices and the technical assistance they need to bridge the gap between education research and education practice. In 2004, NCREL became Learning Point Associates, a change that ultimately transformed into a diversified, nonprofit consulting organization with clients of all sizes across the country, from state education agencies and single-school districts to private foundations and for-profit corporations. The website also reveals the names of expertise staff, their hard work and dedication. However, the site does not include the qualifications of each. Learning Point Associates clearly provided contact information including: e-mail address, phone number, and fax number for each of their centers. On the site there was no mention of it being supported by an organization or a commercial body. ====

====<span style="background: white; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">Purpose: __ **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The purpose of Learning Point Associates is clear by the information provided on their website. Learning Point Associates applies research and evaluation, direct professional services, and policy knowledge to create change at every level of the education system—classroom, school, district, state and national. They are known nationally for their leadership in these areas: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|Afterschool Services], <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|Literacy] , <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|District and School Improvement] and <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|Educator Effectiveness]. On Each of these domains are explained in detail, to help get an idea of the services being offered. The domain name “Learning Point” strongly indicate that this is the place they offer expert services in the areas mentioned above and where learning takes place for students and educators. The site explains that at Learning Point, they are working every day to combine insight with innovation to achieve the impact our clients deserve and to deliver on our mission of ensuring an education system that works for all learners. The site is very well organized. It has clearly labeled sections/ links–About Us, Resources, Expertise, Pressroom, Contact, and Careers and they are appropriate for the topic of the site. Under each of these sections, there are subsections and each subsection is explained clearly. the site is very organized and easy to browse through and find specific information. The information on the site focuses on their area of expertise- <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|evaluation], <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|policy] , <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|professional services] and <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[|research]. The important points are highlighted in a different color to grab attention. There was no link about any evaluations being done, however they have links for several press releases and news articles that have been published. ====

====<span style="background: white; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">Coverage: __ **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The site does not claim to be comprehensive. Each topic on the site is explored in depth, in a way that is easy to comprehend and follow. Several examples ate included to enhance understanding. This website is definitely more valuable as compared to others on the same topic because on other websites, topics are not broken down into specifics and they cover general blanketed information. Lot more information is covered about each topic as compared to other websites. Under the Resources link, there are several links to their different services. None of the links depend of outside links, each of the links are developed by them. ====

====<span style="background: white; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 1.2pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">Currency : __ **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">There was no information on the site or any links about when it was created, and last updated. The date the information was first written is not given on the website. The links on the website open up and seem reliable. In the “Upcoming Events” link, the event listed was for January and February. This means that the events are not updated since then, or maybe they didn’t have any since then. In the link about “In the news”, the last article listed is in October 2010. The site is fully developed No construction signs were noticed. \ ==== ====<span style="background: white; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.3in; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">Objectivity: __ **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Bias is present in the website content. The content on the Learning point website is written with an intention to receive more clients that may require their services. They want to offer this information so more state education systems can hire their services to improve district and school improvement, after school services and educator quality. ==== __**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Accuracy: **__ Learning point Associates is an affiliate of American Institutes for Research. The information on the website, the news articles, press releases, and publications are reliable. Their articles have published in //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Catalyst Chicago, Education Daily, Education week, Inside School Research blog. //Several studies have been conducted on several groups of students and educators, and factual information has been provided in the articles about the same. From the readings, the information on the site seems accurate. The text on the website and all links follow basic rules of grammar, spelling and composition. The bibliography or reference list is not included on the website. //**Overall, the website is user friendly and easy to understand. It is easy to navigate through the website and find the required links and information. There is lot of depth in the information provided on the website.**// //**I would recommend this website to any school system who**// //**wants to improve their students' language arts comprehension, encourage high-performing teachers to stay in the field, suggest ways the state can increase the performance of the lowest achieving schools by using evaluation, policy, professional services and research.**//

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