PD 360 Case Study:
Scotland County Schools

District Needs
Scotland County Schools in Laurinburg, NC has made professional development for teachers and administrators a top priority.  Scotland County faces difficult demographics, including poverty rates of over seventy percent, that necessitate providing teachers with ongoing support and training to meet and accommodate student needs.

In 2006, Dr. Barbara Howard, the former Director of Professional Development at Scotland County and now an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian State University, began looking for a web-based professional development resource that teachers could use as a part of their professional development program.  Because Scotland County rigorously follows the National Staff Development Council’s Standards for Staff Development, any resource Dr. Howard chose would have to be research-based and promote implementation of learning.

The Solution
Near the end of 2006, Dr. Howard saw a demonstration of PD 360, the School Improvement Network’s on-demand professional learning solution, at the NSDC Annual Conference.

“I have many years of experience in the area of professional development, and when I saw PD 360, I was impressed by the quality of the video segments and the experts they featured,” said Dr. Howard.  “However, I liked that PD 360 was more than watching videos.  The integrated follow-up and reflection tools promote teacher application of learning.”

PD 360 is the leading on-demand professional learning solution for schools and districts. Teachers, administrators, professional learning communities, coaches, mentors, instructional leaders, and paraprofessionals have available at their fingertips hundreds of indexed and searchable video segments that present real, best-practice classroom examples and feature respected education experts, such as Michael Fullan, Rick DuFour, Doug Reeves, Rick Stiggins, and many others.  Educators can instantly find the help they need on nearly every topic, including differentiation, assessment, English language learners, leadership, and more.  PD 360 bridges the gap between training and classroom implementation with job-embedded follow-up, tracking, and reflection tools.

Since implementing PD 360, Scotland County educators have logged over 30,000 minutes  of 500 hours of professional development.

The Benefits
Since implementing PD 360 at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, Scotland County has seen a variety of benefits.  Many of these benefits stem from the many ways Scotland County utilizes PD 360.

More Effective Professional Learning Teams
Scotland County implemented Professional Learning Teams to reduce teacher isolation and promote increased collaboration.  Professional Learning Teams are teacher-driven groups that meet weekly to analyze student data and focus on what professional skills they need to improve learning.  Members of Professional Learning Teams at Scotland County use PD 360 to find video segments that align to their focus.  The video segments provide team members with instruction from the top experts and show what the strategy looks like when implemented in the classroom.

Better New Teacher Training
When novice teachers begin at Scotland County, they are assigned PD 360 video segments on classroom management.  Because new teachers are very busy, PD 360 is especially useful because they can access training anytime, anywhere.  Dr. Howard found that this method of training new teachers was more effective than holding monthly workshops, which are not job-embedded and do not necessarily address individual needs.  The elementary and secondary classroom examples were particularly useful for helping new teachers see what effective strategies look like.  As an unexpected bonus, tech-savvy new teachers have helped spread the word to veteran teachers about PD 360’s usefulness.

Research-Based Learning for Every Educator
In addition to using PD 360 as a part of their Professional Learning Teams, teachers in Scotland County appreciate that they have a resource they can access at any time and location for their own learning.

Said Dr. Howard, “PD 360 benefits everyone from paraprofessionals to administrators because it provides an entire library of resources in one location.  Not only is the content very valuable, the instant accessibility ensures that educators use it consistently.”

Enhanced Principal Walkthroughs
Principals conduct regular walkthroughs during which they look for use of student motivation techniques and the nine high-yield strategies.  Principals collect data to let teachers know how they are doing.  Teachers then use PD 360 to learn more about the strategies they are missing.  As principals continue to give feedback, PD 360 facilitates a cycle of improvement and collaboration between principal and teacher.  A principal’s ability to email teachers video segments directly from PD 360 simplifies the follow-up process.

More Impactful Group Training
Curriculum facilitators and principals, who are often responsible for group training at Scotland County, have used PD 360 while working with teachers.  The digitized Facilitator Guides in PD 360 provide assistance as facilitators prepare training sessions.  The curriculum facilitator selects a video segment, uses the segment in his or her work with a group of teachers, and then assigns PD 360’s automated reflection questions to help teachers implement new strategies.  The trainer can read teachers’ answers and provide suggestions and feedback.

Ease of Use and Implementation
“Once teachers learned how to use PD 360, I have not received one complaint about this new resource.  As most administrators know, this level of buy-in is almost unheard of.  Teachers of all technological abilities have found PD 360 very easy to use,” said Dr. Howard.

When considering online products, Dr. Howard liked the School Improvement Network’s responsiveness to her district’s needs and the simplicity of the PD 360 implementation process.

“While I was considering PD 360, I also explored other online product offerings.  To be honest, there was no comparison in the ease of use and implementation and, most importantly, the quality,” said Dr. Howard.

After only a short time, PD 360 has become an integral part of professional development in Scotland County.  The district’s varied uses of PD 360 have promoted expanded and more effective learning opportunities for every teacher and administrators.

Said Dr. Howard, “PD 360 has a lot of possibilities that schools must continue to explore.  As far as professional development resources, PD 360 is right up there with the best because it is research-based, content-oriented, job-embedded, and promotes classroom implementation.”

For more information, contact:
School Improvement Network
800-572-1153
www.schoolimprovement.com