Metropolitan Nashville (Tenn.) Public Schools: www.mnps.org.

Metropolitan Nashville (Tenn.) Public Schools: www.mnps.org. METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE (TENN TENN Tennessee (old style)TENN Tetranitroapthalene (Explosive).) Public Schools is one of the largest urban districts in thecountry, covering 525 square miles of Davidson County Davidson County is the name of two counties in the United States: Davidson County, North Carolina Davidson County, Tennessee and including75,000 students and more than 9,000 staff members. The district hasmaintained its Web site since 1997. DESIGN The district home page is primarily text, except for a montage montage(mŏntäzh`, Fr. môNtäzh`), the art and technique of motion-picture editing in which contrasting shots or sequences are used to effect emotional or intellectual responses. ofphotos at the top, so the information presented is simple for users toaccess. The home page is also kept short and concise, so users do notneed to scroll down an unnecessarily long page. Nearly all the pages onthe district's site maintain a consistent design. Despite its simplicity, the home page has an awkward appearance.Different sections are not clearly defined, and they use text of similarfonts and colors that consequently blur together. The content alsoappears crushed between the unnecessarily wide and empty margins. NAVIGATION The drop-down menu See pull-down menu. drop-down menu - pull-down menu and "breadcrumb See breadcrumbs. " navigation bar A set of buttons or graphic images typically in a row or column used as a central point that link you to major topic sections on a Web site. If the navigation bar is a single graphic image with multiple selections, it is known as an imagemap. See imagemap. areconsistent on nearly all the pages, making navigation straightforwardand convenient. The site map is theoretically quite useful, giving users an optionto view the whole site on one page, but it needs to be better organized.The map lists hundreds of links in a dizzyingly long column, withoutclear category headings or indentations. INTERACTION WITH THE USER The district has done a thorough job in presenting an impressiveamount of content on its site. The "About MNPS MNPS Metro Nashville Public Schools (Nashville, Tennessee)MNPS Minimum Navigation Performance SpecificationMNPS Maryland Native Plant SocietyMNPS Minnesota Native Plant SocietyMNPS Malaysian Natural Products Society " menu sectionis a particularly strong and informative section that includes theoperating budget Noun 1. operating budget - a budget for current expenses as distinct from financial transactions or permanent improvementsbudget items, operating cost, operating expense, overhead - the expense of maintaining property (e.g. , annual reports, as well as links to departments, theboard of education, policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental , and a strategic plan for2007-2014. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The search tool could be a very useful feature, but it was notfunctioning at the time of this review. The "School Board PolicySearch" and each school's home page search tools also did notwork. Particularly in such a large district, a malfunctioning mal��func��tion?intr.v. mal��func��tioned, mal��func��tion��ing, mal��func��tions1. To fail to function.2. To function improperly.n.1. Failure to function.2. searchtool displayed so prominently is a frustrating oversight. SCHOOL TO HOME INTERACTION The "Teaching & Learning" heading lists and links toa great deal of important information, including academic standards,subject areas, and special education content. Unfortunately, the"Frequently Asked Questions" page addresses only questionsabout English Language English language,member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. Learner students and does not cover any otherissues in teaching and learning. The home page also links to community and federal education sites,such as the Nashville Alliance for Public Education, No Child LeftBehind, and the Pencil Foundation, a local public education nonprofitorganization Nonprofit OrganizationAn association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well.Notes:Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The "Homework Hotline" is a valuable district resourcethat offers assistance in nearly any subject for students and parents.However, since it is so useful and popular, the phone number would bemuch better placed more prominently on the home page instead of existingsolely under the "Parents & Community" heading. The reading lists under "Teaching & Learning" arealso very useful and consequently should also be accessible via a quicklink on the district home page because of their universal importance toparents and students. USE OF ONLINE TECHNOLOGIES Overall, there is little creative use of Web technologies on thepages. The site offers no video or audio options and few pictures, whichis disappointing for such a large district. The technical assistance phone number on the home page is a veryuseful resource. The convenient "Print this page" link opensup a printer-friendly version of the announcements on the home page. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As is unfortunately true with most district sites, there are noaccess provisions for disabled users. UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION The site appears to be well maintained and up-to-date. However, thedated material could be consolidated, as there is a list ofannouncements in the middle of the page, a redundant "MNPSAnnouncements" bar at the top, news items displayed in the leftmargin, and an "Upcoming Events" button on the right. Asingle, consistent location for news and announcements would be easierto access and understand. Kurt O. Dyrli is a contributing writer for DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION.To be considered for a district site review, contact Judy Hartnett atjhartnett@edmediagroup.com.