School Improvement Network Case Study:
Western State College of Colorado

University Needs
Western State College of Colorado is a public university of 2,500 students located in Gunnison, CO.  The Teacher Education Program at Western is unique in how it provides options to fit its students’ individual needs.  There are several program offerings to help every type of teaching student become a highly qualified educator.  One such offering is an online teaching certification program that allows students from across the United States and the world to earn their teaching certificates from any location.

Besides simply reading about methods and theories in textbooks, it is critical that teaching students actually see the theories in practice.  Because online students are not in the regular classroom, Western’s teaching professors needed a way to model classroom instruction and best teaching practices remotely.  In sticking with Western’s high standards for its teaching program, Nella B. Anderson, Director of the Teacher Education Program, only wanted a resource that was research-based and showed students best-practice classroom examples. 

Solution
Dr. Anderson found the solution to providing effective modeling to distance students with content from the School Improvement Network. 

Says Dr. Anderson, “I liked that the resources from the School Improvement Network were research-based and showed the methods and practices that have been proven to work in the classroom. We had never found resources like these before, and we had been looking for a long time.”

The School Improvement Network worked closely with Dr. Anderson to provide customized content that aligned with the Teaching Education Program’s curriculum.  To do this, Dr. Anderson and her colleagues previewed many of the School Improvement Network’s Video Journal of Education programs and chose the content from the programs that best fit their needs.  The School Improvement Network then developed a customized CD-ROM with the chosen content—content which is also available on PD 360. Each teaching student purchased the CD-ROM at a price comparable to a text book.  Topics covered in the CD-ROM content include assessment, differentiated instruction, classroom instruction that works, and classroom management.  This year, eighty-five teaching students utilized the CD-ROM as part of their studies. 

Benefits
After using the customized CD-ROMs with their distance teaching students for the past year, Dr. Anderson and the rest of the teaching faculty have been pleased with the results.

“The content has made a huge difference in our distance teaching program.  We now have a way to model best practices to our students no matter their location,” says Dr. Anderson.

Research-Based Content
The research-based content (which is also available on PD 360) has been highly effective in helping the Teaching Education Program accomplish its primary goal of preparing highly qualified teachers.  The most skilled teachers use the practices and methods that have been proven effective in raising student learning and achievement.  Seeing these practices in action through real classroom examples help teaching students understand what the practices actually look like when implemented with students.  In addition, the research-based content gives Western’s teaching faculty the confidence that they are providing only the best instruction to their students.

Effective Modeling to Any Location
With students spread across Colorado and as far away as Alaska and the U.K., the CD-ROM has provided a way for Western to model best practices to every teaching student, whether they are in the regular classroom or thousands of miles away from campus.  Having this instantly accessible modeling resource has benefitted faculty as well, who now can be sure that their distance learners are receiving the same quality of instruction as their resident students.

Deeper Level of Understanding
Dr. Anderson says that she has noticed a difference in the students that have used the customized CD-ROM in their coursework.  She says, “Those students who have studied the content have developed a much deeper understanding of concepts and methods because they can actually see what these practices look like in the classroom.  Using this content has been highly effective with our students.”

Gaining a deep comprehension of what works in the classroom is critical to teaching students’ success as educators.  If they leave the university knowing and understanding not only the theories but also the practices that lead to high achievement, they will be better prepared to help every student learn and succeed.

PD 360: the Next Step
Western State College has been so pleased with the content on their customized CD-ROM that they have decided to use the School Improvement Network’s PD 360 to provide more content to more students.  PD 360 includes all the content Western is already using, plus hundreds of hours of additional content that covers even more topics.  With PD 360, every teaching student, both resident and non-resident, will have unlimited access to a comprehensive and searchable on-demand library of best practice examples and expert advice.

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