Evaluation of eTAP Website

TEACHING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
e-TAP, Inc. , a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation

Evaluation of eTAP Website
by California Education Consultant, and much more!

Evaluation of eTAP Website
by California Education Consultant
I reviewed the Website legacy.etap.org for quality of content and ease of navigation. I am pleased to report that eTAP is equal to or better than many of the best educational sites I have encountered or worked with. 

I found the site to be very user-friendly and easier to navigate than most mainstream education sites. There are no banners, popups, or cluttering images. The registration process, required to access content, was simple and quick to complete.

Once inside the content area, I discovered that the strands of content were solid, focusing heavily on correlation to state standards. The actual content is written in a friendly, informal style, yet it lacks the “fluff” of many educational sites. It is clear that the focus of this site is on helping students master basic, state-required content, in order to prepare for standardized tests.

The content is written at a lower-grade vocabulary level to help students who are struggling in their regular studies. The student reads a page of instruction, and then s/he is presented with a Practice Exercise (quiz). At the end of the lesson, a Problem section tests the student on the entire lesson. In addition to instructional content, links to other learning resources and videos are provided throughout the lesson for students, parents, and teachers to gain further instruction

Because of its strong content and associated, teacher-focused links, eTAP is an excellent resource for beginning teachers. Each lesson is correlated to CA state standards, which aids the teacher in focusing on specific required content. I highly recommend eTAP as a strong, promising resource for students, teachers, and parents. eTAP stands among the very best.

More feedback from Education Consultants:

RE: Review of eTAP.org Web Site and Content  – From Rhea Stewart

I was pleased to be given the opportunity to review eTAP’s web site and assess the   curriculum offerings. These points summarize my observations.

  1. Based on my experiences as a curriculum developer and a parent of students in a California school district, I found the alignment of instructional content to the California State Standards to be an important feature of eTAP content. California’s schools are becoming increasingly aware of the relationship between content alignment and increased student achievement. By aligning their content to California’s standards, eTAP facilitates easy integration of their curriculum into existing classroom instruction.
  2. eTAP makes their curriculum accessible to students who are learning English. This is an important curriculum step to supporting English language learners, who form an increasing population in schools in California and across the United States.
  3. The use of audio to support instructional strategies offered in eTAP’s curriculum shows a strong use of effective instructional pedagogy, by supporting multiple learning styles.
  4. The instructional design strategy of eTAP’s lessons demonstrates attention to instruction, enrichment, practice, assessment, and an effective model of the use of technology.
  5. The breadth of content available in the core subject areas positions eTAP’s content to provide excellent subject coverage.
  6. The content offerings could be easily integrated into an existing curriculum to for an effective instructional model for all students.

The Web site’s interface is clean and easy to navigate. Users are able to move seamlessly through all aspects of content, especially to be able to move

Teachers

Teacher,  Independent study Brisbane, AU
“Fantastic site. Very informative and user friendly. Definitely one of the best sites I’ve found in 2 years of searching. I will be a regular visitor. Keep up the good work.”
Grades: K-12 Original Study, Review, Independent study Dunedin, FL
“I have only browsed through the site. I am responsible for the curriculum at Anchor Academy. I will recommend this site for students who may need refresher or remedial help.”
Grade(s): K-12, Number of Students: 20, Original Study, Test Preparation, Independent Study Setting, Classroom Instruction El Centro, CA
“This is a great website and gives a lot of information. I was amazed at the printer-friendly versions. I have visited other websites with lesson plans and helpers for the classroom but I’ve never seen something as complete. Keep it going!! Please!!”
Grades: 6-12, Independent study, Class room instruction Bronx, NYC
“This is a most interesting and easy to use site.”
Teacher, grade 4th, Class room instruction Cordova, SC
“Great place for my students to study and learn.”
Teacher, High School Oceanside, CA
“eTAP has provided me with excellent supplement materials for the science and math courses that I teach. I also use eTAP as a tutorial for students by distributing the url at the start of a semester and recommending students to access this site if they have trouble understanding certain concepts. I appreciate your services. Thank you, Kelly Gaughan, Futures High School”
Teacher, High School San Bernardino , CA
“I have used eTAP for preparation of students in the field of science. We used the NY Regency Exam as well as TX in sample questions for preparing our students for CA state testing and now for exit exams. Thomas Quinn, Library Media Teacher”
Teacher, High School Pomona, CA
“At the present time I am using it to design test questions and lesson plans. I intend to have my students use your site a lecture note resource. Patricia Noonan, Science Teacher”
Teacher, Independent Study El Centro, CA
“This is a great website and gives a lot of information. I was amazed at the printer-friendly versions. I have visited other websites with lesson plans and helpers for the classroom but I’ve never seen something as complete. Keep it going! please!”
Teacher Dunedin, FL
“I am responsible for the curriculum at Anchor Academy. I will recommend this site for students who may need refresher or remedial help.”
Teacher, Grade 10 GA
“This site has wonderful potential for all educators and students. I am eager to use it for review of basic mathematics for my son and for supplemental instruction in high school level math concepts.”

 Students

Grade(s): 7, Original Study, Review, Independent study Albuquerque, NM
 “I think this is the best website I’ve been to help me in math. I had C’s on my entire test in math because I didn’t know my fractions no one could explain them but you.”
College Student Miami, Fl
“This is a very helpful site I rank it one of the best, most clear and understandable sites, especially when dealing with quadratic equations. Keep this site going, please, it’s needed. The quadratic equations explanation I rate very high. I’m impressed.”

Homeschoolers

Grades K, 2, 7 homeschool: Jacksonville, FL
“I’m amazed at all the information. eTAP has answered my prayers. It’s not only affordable, but for my needs with 3 kids everything is literally at my fingertips.”

Ann Zeise, A to Z Home’s Cool Homeschooling: “High School Prep Math, Especially for the audio learner or a student with poor eyesight (reading ability), this pre-algebra course has written and streaming audio lessons, practice sheets and quizzes. Moves fast, so good for a review as well.”

Grade: 10, Original Study, Home schooling, Bennett, CO
 This is a marvelous idea. What a help!! I wish I had known about this a LONG time ago. I am going to tell everyone I know about this wonderful site.
Grade: 6, Original Study, Review, Home schooling Charlotte, NC
“Fantastic! This is a God-send! I am beginning Home schooling and have a child with learning “disabilities”. There is no way I can adequately express my gratitude! I will let you know how my son does with the program. In the meantime, I am thrilled to have everything he needs to know this year right at our fingertips. The material is thorough, easy to follow, interesting and straight-forward. I think we’ll actually have fun with math!”
Grades: 5/6, Original Study, Review, Home schooling Alpine, UT
 “Thank you very much for this site. I’ve read midway through lesson 2 and have found it to be very interesting and well presented. It has given me some new ideas for the presentation of math to my child including the integration of other materials I have recently purchased. God bless you in your endeavors”.
Grade(s): 7, 10, Original Study, Home schooling Syracuse, NY
“This is an awesome concept. We just heard about it at our home school convention and we will use this often. Who needs to spend a million on curriculum with this! The Math worked for me in every area I checked. “
Teacher GA
“This looks marvelous. My grandson has an autoimmune disease and I am home-schooling him. I used to teach school but this is going to help me so much. Thank you for this. You are wonderful. “

Corporate Donors 

Walter Burgin,  Executive Director EDWARD E. FORD FOUNDATION
, “I did take your advice and looked at your site and found it well done. I read the first few lessons in mathematics, and they are what an old teacher of mine called “good stuff”. I hope the continued development of the course goes well and you find the support you need.”
Julie C. Gibson, Corporate Giving Specialist QUALCOMM
  “… eTAP is clearly a worthwhile organization…We sincerely hope that you are able to obtain the necessary funds …for your program….”
Corine Fitzpatric, Ph.D, Graduate Division, School of Education MANHATTAN COLLEGE, Riverdale, New York:
 ” Project review: Idea is significant; sites have been developed for teachers and curriculum developers, but few if any have been developed for students themselves. Math site is explicit in language, which is important. The TIMMS study has noted that our children do not know the language of mathematics well, and our teachers do not know content…”

 

 

 

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