Monday, January 1, 2001
New Leadership for Georgia Public Broadcasting
James M. Lyle is Georgia Public Broadcasting's (GPB) new Executive Director, succeeding Claude Vickers who has retired. Lyle, who previously served as GPB's Deputy Director, took over his new responsibilities November 1. After Vickers announced his plans to retire, Governor Roy Barnes recommended that Lyle be appointed as the new Executive Director. The Georgia Public Telecommunication Commission (GPTC), the state policy-making authority that oversees Georgia Public Broadcasting and its networks, made the appointment official in October.
Friday, December 1, 2000
Georgia Learning Connections: Serving Georgia Schools
By Sara Pitts
Do you know how to best demonstrate cellular mitosis to your students? What about explaining the election rules for the District of Columbia? Teachers who use Georgia Learning Connections do; they know to just log onto www.glc.k12.ga.us, perform a search for "cell" or the "Constitution," and the results pop right up on the computer screen. But teachers using a regular search engine... well, who knows how long it may take? With the advent of the Information Age, the world of education has become a much easier and much more exciting place to work. Distance learning has opened an array of opportunities, educational sites are showing up all over the World Wide Web, and teachers are able to access an incredible amount of information to use in the classroom through the Internet - but only if they have the patience to sift through all the results most search engines (such as Yahoo and Excite) retrieve.
About three years ago the Georgia Department of Education recognized the need to minimize time-consuming research work for teachers in order to free up their time for students. Georgia Learning Connections (GLC) was created, and in October 1999 the GLC web site, www.glc.k12.ga.us, made its debut on the Internet with over 8,000 curriculum standards, links to 18,000 educational web sites, a database of lesson plans, and a bulletin board as big as the state.
Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards are the guidelines Georgia teachers use in the classroom and are the foundation upon which GLC has been built. GLC was first conceived as an online repository for these QCC standards, making them instantly available to all teachers in Georgia. And in order for the standards to be most effective, the GLC staff attached teaching tools such as web links and lesson plans, so teachers can easily access resources when they teach specific standards. As a result, the GLC web site became a showcase for both the best educational sites on the Internet and the best lesson plans in Georgia. Now, English teachers looking for a new way to explain the impact culture has on literature can bypass a lengthy search at an online search engine. Instead, the teacher can go directly to the GLC web site, pull up the QCC standards for American Literature and Composition, and find 14 web links attached to Standard 33 to teach this concept to students. And, not only can teachers find web links, but they can also find lesson plans written by Georgia teachers, teacher-recommended assessments for ideas on how to test students, and assessment correlations matching that standard to standardized tests such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
Teacher Resource Center (TRC) is another major component of the GLC site, and the material found here is a supplement to the QCC standards. The TRC is organized into Curriculum Resources and Educational Resources. While the web links found in the QCC standards are very specific, Curriculum Resources is a listing of broad, general web sites for each subject area and are not connected to any one QCC standard. With the links in the TRC, a geography teacher can research facts about all of the 50 states at once with her students, instead of focusing on just one state. Educational Resources has a wide array of material with subheadings such as Georgia Treasures and Teacher Tools. Georgia Treasures is just what it sounds like - links to information about Georgia's museums, parks, libraries, government agencies, and historical sites and figures. Teacher Tools is a database of activity sheets, like calendars and rubrics, and software resources, like mini-manuals to guide new users in the basics of computer applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Netscape Navigator.
Finally, Bulletin Board is the last of the three original modules on GLC and is a listing of education announcements from all over the state. It is organized into seven categories such as Conferences, GLC Highlights, and Celebrating this Month plus an archive of past announcements. The postings on the Bulletin Board range from announcing the revised QCC math standards to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution's Honor Teacher Awards to instructions on how to use GLC itself.
With the constantly changing face of education and technology, the staff knows that the site will never be finished, that it will only keep expanding and improving to serve Georgia's teachers and students for years. With that in mind, GLC has added two more features this year to the big blue arrow that is the hallmark of the GLC home page. The additions are Georgia Education Initiatives and Lesson Plan Builder.
Georgia Education Initiatives is a showcase of educational programs in Georgia that work with the GLC staff to correlate their educational material with QCC standards. One example is Junior Achievement, a group that teaches children about the intricacies of the business world while they are still in grade school. Gifted Education, a division of the Georgia Department of Education, will have a module featuring a virtual library, a teacher's forum, and a bank of educational resources all geared toward teachers and parents of gifted children.
All of the lesson plans on GLC have been written and tested in the classroom by Georgia teachers - none were bought or gathered from an outside or commercial source. To continue this standard of excellence and consistency, GLC created the Lesson Plan Builder, an online tool for teachers to build effective lesson plans. Teachers are invited to use this step-by-step guide to write lessons for their classroom and to submit for possible inclusion on GLC. As they write these lesson plans, teachers can add worksheets, answer keys and web resources right into the lesson. Once the lesson is finished the author can submit it to GLC to be reviewed by GLC staff and possibly be posted to a specific standard on the web site. This feature is an important aspect not only for the builder but also for education in Georgia; because of the builder, teachers are using GLC to share their expertise with every other educator in Georgia.
The GLC staff has spent the past year spreading the word about the web site to teachers across the state, spending time doing hands-on training sessions, and sending out informational material to superintendents and principals. The GLC staff wants the Internet to be useful, not an unwieldy research tool that is eventually abandoned because it's too time consuming. The resources should benefit all teachers: Whether they choose to use the resources word for word in the classroom, modify them for their class's needs, or just use them for new ideas, the ultimate goal should be to improve student achievement in Georgia.
Do you know how to best demonstrate cellular mitosis to your students? What about explaining the election rules for the District of Columbia? Teachers who use Georgia Learning Connections do; they know to just log onto www.glc.k12.ga.us, perform a search for "cell" or the "Constitution," and the results pop right up on the computer screen. But teachers using a regular search engine... well, who knows how long it may take? With the advent of the Information Age, the world of education has become a much easier and much more exciting place to work. Distance learning has opened an array of opportunities, educational sites are showing up all over the World Wide Web, and teachers are able to access an incredible amount of information to use in the classroom through the Internet - but only if they have the patience to sift through all the results most search engines (such as Yahoo and Excite) retrieve.
About three years ago the Georgia Department of Education recognized the need to minimize time-consuming research work for teachers in order to free up their time for students. Georgia Learning Connections (GLC) was created, and in October 1999 the GLC web site, www.glc.k12.ga.us, made its debut on the Internet with over 8,000 curriculum standards, links to 18,000 educational web sites, a database of lesson plans, and a bulletin board as big as the state.
Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards are the guidelines Georgia teachers use in the classroom and are the foundation upon which GLC has been built. GLC was first conceived as an online repository for these QCC standards, making them instantly available to all teachers in Georgia. And in order for the standards to be most effective, the GLC staff attached teaching tools such as web links and lesson plans, so teachers can easily access resources when they teach specific standards. As a result, the GLC web site became a showcase for both the best educational sites on the Internet and the best lesson plans in Georgia. Now, English teachers looking for a new way to explain the impact culture has on literature can bypass a lengthy search at an online search engine. Instead, the teacher can go directly to the GLC web site, pull up the QCC standards for American Literature and Composition, and find 14 web links attached to Standard 33 to teach this concept to students. And, not only can teachers find web links, but they can also find lesson plans written by Georgia teachers, teacher-recommended assessments for ideas on how to test students, and assessment correlations matching that standard to standardized tests such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
Teacher Resource Center (TRC) is another major component of the GLC site, and the material found here is a supplement to the QCC standards. The TRC is organized into Curriculum Resources and Educational Resources. While the web links found in the QCC standards are very specific, Curriculum Resources is a listing of broad, general web sites for each subject area and are not connected to any one QCC standard. With the links in the TRC, a geography teacher can research facts about all of the 50 states at once with her students, instead of focusing on just one state. Educational Resources has a wide array of material with subheadings such as Georgia Treasures and Teacher Tools. Georgia Treasures is just what it sounds like - links to information about Georgia's museums, parks, libraries, government agencies, and historical sites and figures. Teacher Tools is a database of activity sheets, like calendars and rubrics, and software resources, like mini-manuals to guide new users in the basics of computer applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Netscape Navigator.
Finally, Bulletin Board is the last of the three original modules on GLC and is a listing of education announcements from all over the state. It is organized into seven categories such as Conferences, GLC Highlights, and Celebrating this Month plus an archive of past announcements. The postings on the Bulletin Board range from announcing the revised QCC math standards to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution's Honor Teacher Awards to instructions on how to use GLC itself.
With the constantly changing face of education and technology, the staff knows that the site will never be finished, that it will only keep expanding and improving to serve Georgia's teachers and students for years. With that in mind, GLC has added two more features this year to the big blue arrow that is the hallmark of the GLC home page. The additions are Georgia Education Initiatives and Lesson Plan Builder.
Georgia Education Initiatives is a showcase of educational programs in Georgia that work with the GLC staff to correlate their educational material with QCC standards. One example is Junior Achievement, a group that teaches children about the intricacies of the business world while they are still in grade school. Gifted Education, a division of the Georgia Department of Education, will have a module featuring a virtual library, a teacher's forum, and a bank of educational resources all geared toward teachers and parents of gifted children.
All of the lesson plans on GLC have been written and tested in the classroom by Georgia teachers - none were bought or gathered from an outside or commercial source. To continue this standard of excellence and consistency, GLC created the Lesson Plan Builder, an online tool for teachers to build effective lesson plans. Teachers are invited to use this step-by-step guide to write lessons for their classroom and to submit for possible inclusion on GLC. As they write these lesson plans, teachers can add worksheets, answer keys and web resources right into the lesson. Once the lesson is finished the author can submit it to GLC to be reviewed by GLC staff and possibly be posted to a specific standard on the web site. This feature is an important aspect not only for the builder but also for education in Georgia; because of the builder, teachers are using GLC to share their expertise with every other educator in Georgia.
The GLC staff has spent the past year spreading the word about the web site to teachers across the state, spending time doing hands-on training sessions, and sending out informational material to superintendents and principals. The GLC staff wants the Internet to be useful, not an unwieldy research tool that is eventually abandoned because it's too time consuming. The resources should benefit all teachers: Whether they choose to use the resources word for word in the classroom, modify them for their class's needs, or just use them for new ideas, the ultimate goal should be to improve student achievement in Georgia.
Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Video On Request
Video on Request is one of PeachStar's most popular services to Georgia schools. Have you ever missed a PeachStar broadcast because of equipment failure or other technical difficulty? Or, perhaps you were all set to record a program when the bell for a fire drill rang. Or maybe you just didn't know about a broadcast until it was over. These are the types of problems that Video On Request was designed to remedy. The service allows library media specialists and classroom teachers to call PeachStar and request a special rebroadcast of programs that have been missed for whatever reason. And that's not all; you can also use the service to request customized Theme Packets of programming. Say you are building a lesson plan around the topic of the Revolutionary War. You can call Video On Request, tell us what you are looking for, and we will go through our entire tape library and identify all the programs that pertain to your interest. Then we would blockfeed all of that programming at a time convenient to you.
Making a request is easy - just phone (404) 685-2580 if calling from the Atlanta area. Our toll-free number is 800-222-6006, Ext. 2580.
Before you make a request:
You might want to take a few minutes before making a request to scan the program listings in your current Pipeline, or search the database in the Broadcast Schedule section of PeachStar's web site, to determine whether the programming you are interested in is already scheduled for airing on one of PeachStar's channels in the near future.
Please allow a 72-hour turn around for requests of rebroadcasts. If you are requesting a Theme Packet, it may take longer. Also be aware that PeachStar does not have the rights to rebroadcast some series and programs (for example, the GALAXY Classroom series and Reading Rainbow).
Video On Request is a valuable resource for Georgia classrooms. Please take advantage of it!
Making a request is easy - just phone (404) 685-2580 if calling from the Atlanta area. Our toll-free number is 800-222-6006, Ext. 2580.
Before you make a request:
You might want to take a few minutes before making a request to scan the program listings in your current Pipeline, or search the database in the Broadcast Schedule section of PeachStar's web site, to determine whether the programming you are interested in is already scheduled for airing on one of PeachStar's channels in the near future.
Please allow a 72-hour turn around for requests of rebroadcasts. If you are requesting a Theme Packet, it may take longer. Also be aware that PeachStar does not have the rights to rebroadcast some series and programs (for example, the GALAXY Classroom series and Reading Rainbow).
Video On Request is a valuable resource for Georgia classrooms. Please take advantage of it!
Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips
Explore our early American heritage through Colonial Williamsburg's Electronic Field Trips. The series uses today's technologies to discover the past. During the live, interactive broadcast events, students speak by phone to historic characters and experts. Throughout the school year, students participate in web site activities and Internet forums.
Georgia schools may watch, record and use the programs in the classroom at no cost. Schools that wish to actually participate in the live broadcasts and access the many support materials must register and pay a fee. (The fee is $100 per school per program. Discount options are available.) Support materials include a Teacher's Guide, including lesson plans, primary source documents, glossary, time lines and historical background; Web site Access, featuring web adventures, discussion forum, online voting, and email; access to the 1-800 number for call-ins during the live broadcast; colorful poster; introductory video; and tips for teacher booklets. To register call 1-800-761-8331 or visit www.history.org/trips/.
Seven live field trips are scheduled to air on PeachStar's Channel 410 this school year. The first is "Missions To America," which airs 1-2 PM, Thursday, October 5. On this field trip, students travel to America's first English settlement, a French Great Lakes trading post and a Spanish mission in the Southwest to explore how different European nations colonized America.
Georgia schools may watch, record and use the programs in the classroom at no cost. Schools that wish to actually participate in the live broadcasts and access the many support materials must register and pay a fee. (The fee is $100 per school per program. Discount options are available.) Support materials include a Teacher's Guide, including lesson plans, primary source documents, glossary, time lines and historical background; Web site Access, featuring web adventures, discussion forum, online voting, and email; access to the 1-800 number for call-ins during the live broadcast; colorful poster; introductory video; and tips for teacher booklets. To register call 1-800-761-8331 or visit www.history.org/trips/.
Seven live field trips are scheduled to air on PeachStar's Channel 410 this school year. The first is "Missions To America," which airs 1-2 PM, Thursday, October 5. On this field trip, students travel to America's first English settlement, a French Great Lakes trading post and a Spanish mission in the Southwest to explore how different European nations colonized America.
Saturday, October 21, 2000
Experiencing Technical Difficulties?
Help Is Available
The PeachStar Satellite Network reaches more than 2,000 locations across Georgia including public schools, colleges, universities, regional public libraries and other state agency offices. All PeachStar sites are provided Help Desk and Maintenance services supporting the operation of the local satellite receiver system. These services are provided through Convergent Media Systems (CMS), a private vendor under contract to PeachStar.
What Your Help Desk Services Include
All technical problems with the satellite system should be reported promptly to the Help Desk. Technical Service Coordinators are available to provide help by telephone from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. The toll free number for the Help Desk is 1-800-877-7805.
In most cases the Technical Service Coordinator will be able to solve problems over the telephone. In instances where the problem is not resolved by phone, the Technical Service Coordinator may order a field service call.
Field Service Calls
If the Technical Service Coordinator determines that a field service call is required, a technician can be dispatched to the site pending whatever proper approval is required at the local level. Schools may or may not be required to pay a fee for the service call, depending on whether the technical problem and the services rendered are covered by PeachStar's contract with CMS.
What Is Covered:
Under normal wear and tear, the following components are covered for repair or replacement:
* Ku-band LNB
* C-band LNB
* Corotor
* Actuator Arm
* IF and RF cable connectors
* Chaparral or Drake analog receivers
* General Instrument DSR 4200C digital receivers
The service also covers re-peaking, realigning or reshaping the parabolic of the satellite antenna as necessary. All labor associated with repairing or replacing covered items is included.
What Is Not Covered ("Out of Scope" Services)
The following items or situations are not covered:
* Damage due to the installation of any video distribution or satellite-related equipment if that installation was not performed by a CMS technician
* Damage due to servicing of the satellite equipment in any way by other than a CMS technician
* Damage due to renovations or construction
* Vandalism
* Negligence
* Force Majeure or Acts of God (lightning or storm damage, etc.)
Again, if a field service call is ordered, and the service technician discovers that the problem is due to an "out of scope" cause, the site may be charged for material and labor, as applicable.
Help Desk
If you ever have questions about what work is covered or if you would like more information, feel free to call John Fawcett, Project Manager at Convergent Media Systems, at (404) 231-8697 or 1-800-877-7805, the toll-free Help Desk number.
You may also call Bix Doughty of PeachStar Education Services at (404) 685-2566; outside the Atlanta area call toll free at 1-888-501-8960.
If you need help with your satellite receiving equipment, call The Satellite Help Desk. Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at 1-800-877-7805.
The PeachStar Satellite Network reaches more than 2,000 locations across Georgia including public schools, colleges, universities, regional public libraries and other state agency offices. All PeachStar sites are provided Help Desk and Maintenance services supporting the operation of the local satellite receiver system. These services are provided through Convergent Media Systems (CMS), a private vendor under contract to PeachStar.
What Your Help Desk Services Include
All technical problems with the satellite system should be reported promptly to the Help Desk. Technical Service Coordinators are available to provide help by telephone from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. The toll free number for the Help Desk is 1-800-877-7805.
In most cases the Technical Service Coordinator will be able to solve problems over the telephone. In instances where the problem is not resolved by phone, the Technical Service Coordinator may order a field service call.
Field Service Calls
If the Technical Service Coordinator determines that a field service call is required, a technician can be dispatched to the site pending whatever proper approval is required at the local level. Schools may or may not be required to pay a fee for the service call, depending on whether the technical problem and the services rendered are covered by PeachStar's contract with CMS.
What Is Covered:
Under normal wear and tear, the following components are covered for repair or replacement:
* Ku-band LNB
* C-band LNB
* Corotor
* Actuator Arm
* IF and RF cable connectors
* Chaparral or Drake analog receivers
* General Instrument DSR 4200C digital receivers
The service also covers re-peaking, realigning or reshaping the parabolic of the satellite antenna as necessary. All labor associated with repairing or replacing covered items is included.
What Is Not Covered ("Out of Scope" Services)
The following items or situations are not covered:
* Damage due to the installation of any video distribution or satellite-related equipment if that installation was not performed by a CMS technician
* Damage due to servicing of the satellite equipment in any way by other than a CMS technician
* Damage due to renovations or construction
* Vandalism
* Negligence
* Force Majeure or Acts of God (lightning or storm damage, etc.)
Again, if a field service call is ordered, and the service technician discovers that the problem is due to an "out of scope" cause, the site may be charged for material and labor, as applicable.
Help Desk
If you ever have questions about what work is covered or if you would like more information, feel free to call John Fawcett, Project Manager at Convergent Media Systems, at (404) 231-8697 or 1-800-877-7805, the toll-free Help Desk number.
You may also call Bix Doughty of PeachStar Education Services at (404) 685-2566; outside the Atlanta area call toll free at 1-888-501-8960.
If you need help with your satellite receiving equipment, call The Satellite Help Desk. Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at 1-800-877-7805.
Saturday, October 7, 2000
PeachStar's Neighbors
Reminder: Georgia Public Broadcasting is not the only source of quality instructional programming on satellite TelStar 4. South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) and Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) also use T4, and, thanks to a mutual agreement between GPB and the other states, your IRDs should already be mapped and authorized to receive the South Carolina and Louisiana schedules. To check out the educational programming offered by these agencies, just change the channel on your IRD.
* SCETV channels are numbered in the 300 series.
* LPB channels are numbered in the 200 series.
* SCETV channels are numbered in the 300 series.
* LPB channels are numbered in the 200 series.
Friday, October 6, 2000
PeachStar Survey Summary
Customer satisfaction is extremely important to PeachStar, and we are constantly seeking comments, criticisms and suggestions from educators, to help us determine ways to better serve Georgia classrooms. In March 2000, PeachStar mailed surveys to Media Centers at 1,874 Georgia public schools. The purpose of the survey was to determine use of, and satisfaction with, PeachStar programming and services. More than 1,200 media specialists completed and returned the questionnaires - a return rate of approximately 65 percent. We received surveys from 734 elementary schools, 216 middle schools, 220 high schools, 14 middle/high schools, six K-12 schools and 11 schools whose grade levels we were not able to determine.
* 90 percent of all schools indicated they use the PeachStar Satellite Network receiving equipment which the state installed in Georgia public schools seven years ago. As for the 10 percent who do not use the equipment, three main reasons were given:
1) Their equipment is broken
2) Their school doesn't have the equipment
3) They don't know how to use the equipment.
* According to the survey, Georgia Stories is by far the most popular series offered over the satellite network. Fifty-nine percent of all the responding schools and 95 percent of middle schools use the series. SALSA, Count On It!, Transitions, GALAXY, Integrated Science, NASA Connect, and Teachers' Workshop also fared well in the survey.
* Media specialists were asked to judge how their teachers would rate PeachStar programming. Zero percent said "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 32 percent said "Good," 46 percent said "Very Good," and 18 percent said "Excellent."
* Media specialists were asked to judge how their students would rate PeachStar programming. Zero percent said "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 37 percent said "Good," 44 percent said "Very Good," and 14 percent said "Excellent."
* Forty-two percent of the responding media specialists said they had used PeachStar's Video On Request service. Of those who had used the service, 2 percent rated it "Poor," 3 percent said "Fair," 20 percent said "Good," 34 percent said "Very Good," and 41 percent said "Excellent."
* Virtually all of the responding media specialists said they received their annual PeachStar Program Guide. Zero percent rated the Guide "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 22 percent said "Good," 40 percent said "Very Good," and 32 percent said "Excellent."
* Virtually all of the responding media specialists said they received their monthly bundles of PeachStar Pipeline. Zero percent rated the newsletter "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 22 percent said "Good," 40 percent said "Very Good," and 33 percent said "Excellent."
* Sixty-two percent of the responding media specialists said they had visited PeachStar's web site. Of those, zero percent rated it "Poor," 2 percent said "Fair," 23 percent said "Good," 42 percent said "Very Good," and 32 percent said "Excellent."
In addition to answering our specific questions, respondents were asked to write down any comments they wished to offer concerning PeachStar services; nearly 700 media specialists did just that. Some findings:
* PeachStar's blockfeed scheduling format is very popular.
* The ID slates that we have put at the beginning of every program are helpful.
* Some schools receive PeachStar print materials late. (Based on this response, the print and distribution schedule for Pipeline has been revised. We hope every school is now receiving Pipeline well before the first of the month.)
* There is a need for more programming designed for grades 9-12. (This will be a priority for us as we begin to line up programming for next year.)
* A special thanks to the 91 folks who simply told us to "Keep up the good work!"
We appreciate everyone who took time from their busy schedule to complete the questionnaire and return it to PeachStar.
* 90 percent of all schools indicated they use the PeachStar Satellite Network receiving equipment which the state installed in Georgia public schools seven years ago. As for the 10 percent who do not use the equipment, three main reasons were given:
1) Their equipment is broken
2) Their school doesn't have the equipment
3) They don't know how to use the equipment.
* According to the survey, Georgia Stories is by far the most popular series offered over the satellite network. Fifty-nine percent of all the responding schools and 95 percent of middle schools use the series. SALSA, Count On It!, Transitions, GALAXY, Integrated Science, NASA Connect, and Teachers' Workshop also fared well in the survey.
* Media specialists were asked to judge how their teachers would rate PeachStar programming. Zero percent said "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 32 percent said "Good," 46 percent said "Very Good," and 18 percent said "Excellent."
* Media specialists were asked to judge how their students would rate PeachStar programming. Zero percent said "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 37 percent said "Good," 44 percent said "Very Good," and 14 percent said "Excellent."
* Forty-two percent of the responding media specialists said they had used PeachStar's Video On Request service. Of those who had used the service, 2 percent rated it "Poor," 3 percent said "Fair," 20 percent said "Good," 34 percent said "Very Good," and 41 percent said "Excellent."
* Virtually all of the responding media specialists said they received their annual PeachStar Program Guide. Zero percent rated the Guide "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 22 percent said "Good," 40 percent said "Very Good," and 32 percent said "Excellent."
* Virtually all of the responding media specialists said they received their monthly bundles of PeachStar Pipeline. Zero percent rated the newsletter "Poor," 5 percent said "Fair," 22 percent said "Good," 40 percent said "Very Good," and 33 percent said "Excellent."
* Sixty-two percent of the responding media specialists said they had visited PeachStar's web site. Of those, zero percent rated it "Poor," 2 percent said "Fair," 23 percent said "Good," 42 percent said "Very Good," and 32 percent said "Excellent."
In addition to answering our specific questions, respondents were asked to write down any comments they wished to offer concerning PeachStar services; nearly 700 media specialists did just that. Some findings:
* PeachStar's blockfeed scheduling format is very popular.
* The ID slates that we have put at the beginning of every program are helpful.
* Some schools receive PeachStar print materials late. (Based on this response, the print and distribution schedule for Pipeline has been revised. We hope every school is now receiving Pipeline well before the first of the month.)
* There is a need for more programming designed for grades 9-12. (This will be a priority for us as we begin to line up programming for next year.)
* A special thanks to the 91 folks who simply told us to "Keep up the good work!"
We appreciate everyone who took time from their busy schedule to complete the questionnaire and return it to PeachStar.
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