SCHOOL PROFILE

Our Lady of Good Counsel High School is a private, college-preparatory high school in Olney, Montgomery County, Maryland. With a student body of just over 1,200, the school prides itself on the quality of its academic offerings including AP and IB programs, and has been twice awarded the Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in Secondary Education by the United States Department of Education. Today, through more successful professional development, they are raising their student achievement levels.  
 
SCHOOL NEEDS

Gail Donahue is a full time staff developer at Good Counsel High School with the goal of moving the school to a superior level of learning for all students.  She knew that she wanted to provide more effective professional development for the teachers which would translate to better student learning. However, as the school grew, it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to get into every classroom to address the needs of each teacher.

SOLUTION

Gail was familiar with School Improvement Network and The Video Journal of Education (VJE) products and as an adjunct professor at a college, had used the VJE materials in the classroom. While attending an NSDC Conference, she learned of PD 360 and immediately signed up. She recognized it as an easier way to access the quality videos with which she was already familiar.

PD 360 is the leading on-demand professional learning resource for schools and districts, with over 500,000 subscribers across North America. Comprising over 466 hours of research-based video content, teachers, administrators, professional learning communities, coaches, and mentors have available at their fingertips hundreds of indexed and searchable video segments that present real, best-practice classroom examples. The segments 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.

“Teachers would go in, watch the three required assessment videos, and start hunting around—pretty soon they got hooked and watched a lot more!”    
Gail Donahue, Staff Developer at Our Lady of Good Counsel HS, MD

DRIVING USAGE AND IMPLEMENTATION

Once Good Counsel High School decided to implement PD 360, Gail needed to integrate ways to drive the usage with the teachers.

Gail began putting PD 360 reminders in all memos and communications.

Gail spoke several times at faculty meetings about the PD 360 “Strategy of the Week” which often became the topic of the meeting. “Strategy of the Week” is a free weekly resource offered by School Improvement Network that provides valuable professional development tips and information for educators. 
A two-day retreat was held for the faculty of which three-quarters of one day were dedicated to their professional learning teams and how to move them to the next level in teaching. Together they created a form, an inquiry and decision model. The form helps them create goals and then do research on the goal using PD 360 as a data source. 

Two teachers are on an improvement plan for next year. Gail always watches the videos with them to generate discussions and questions. 

“PD 360 contributes to more effective teaching in the classrooms.”
Gail Donahue, Staff Developer at Our Lady of Good Counsel HS, MD

BENEFITS

Improved PD Coaching

Gail feels that PD 360 enables her to give true on-demand coaching. If she sees a weakness when visiting classrooms, she can immediately refer the teacher to a specific segment. PD 360 also helps with her professional development planning as she can quickly review a program containing the information she needs.

Deeper New Teacher Orientation

As a private school, Good Counsel High School hires a large number of pre-certified teachers who haven’t taught yet. PD 360 is a great training tool for new teachers and they quickly realize the valuable content. New teachers are asked to view a segment before training and come prepared to discuss it. During training, Gail shows more programs for training and discussion.

More Thorough Teacher Involvement

All teachers at Good Counsel are required to have portfolios. As part of each teacher’s portfolio, they are asked to view three of the assessment programs and then write a reflection on them. The teachers often become so involved with the segments that they continue to watch more than is required.

Increased Teacher Enthusiasm

Teachers at Good Counsel have been pleased to find how much they are enjoying the programs as shown by some of their comments:  

• “I just found them so interesting.”
• “I didn’t think about that…”
• “I am hooked!”

Enhanced Teacher Impact

PD 360 has changed the techniques of teachers who were having specific difficulties. After PD 360 training, all educators have learned to

• Use various strategies and assessments.
• Work more collaboratively with other teachers.
• Understand that not everyone learns in the same way and how to address individual student needs. 

Elevated Student Achievement

Good Counsel High School is striving to encourage students from all program levels to attempt at least one AP course in their high school career. This year, more students (328) sat for AP exams in May than in any other year, a 26% increase on the previous year. There was also a 23% increase in the total number of AP exams taken. These results highlight the successful focus of the AP objectives from 2006-2009. Since 2005, for example, the number of AP tests taken rose from 337 to 563, or a 67% increase. In making the classes more accessible to all Good Counsel students, one might anticipate a slight decline in average test scores.  This year’s pass rate of 74% is in line with last year’s rate of 76%, despite the noticeable increase in both students testing and exams being taken. A passing score is 3, and 42% of all test takers scored 4 or better.

About School Improvement Network

Founded in 1991 by two school teachers, School Improvement Network empowers educators with comprehensive, research-based, professional learning tools that build teacher expertise to foster greater achievement among their students. As the home of The Video Journal of Education, PD 360, and The Learning Framework, School Improvement Network offers content from the largest group of educational experts, the broadest range of topics, and the most classroom examples anywhere.   The leading source for educational professional development, School Improvement Network has documented best practices in over 3,500 classrooms across North America and Canada and boasts the world’s largest educator-verified, on-demand professional development network with over 500,000 users.  To learn more about School Improvement Network’s dynamic resources, visit www.schoolimprovement.com.