PD 360 Testimonials

Barbara Ragin, Assistant Superintendent
Clarendon School District One, South Carolina

“Reflection is a critical part of effective learning. Responding to PD 360 reflection questions through the use of a journal encourages teachers to become more reflective learners and practitioners.”

“Campus administrators and teachers find that the online learning approach through PD 360 lends itself to individualization and customization of learning and professional growth.”

“When considering the more appropriate and cost-effective methods for addressing the diverse needs of certified personnel and campus administrators, I certainly would advocate for the purchase and use of PD 360. In fact, I strongly recommend it as the initial purchase or replacement of other approaches to systematic professional development. This is an investment that pays great dividends relative to enhanced content knowledge of teachers, improved classroom practices, and ultimately increased student success!”
 

Robert Petrulis, PhD, Principal Consultant/EPRE Consulting LLC
Columbia, South Carolina

“PD 360 is a central component in Clarendon One’s professional improvement program. Because it meets expectations and answers real issues, feedback from a recent teacher survey was very positive. It is individualized, convenient, and targeted. I suggest that other districts look into it.”

“Clarendon One teachers are required to document their professional growth, and PD 360’s convenience makes it a popular choice for doing so. It is also useful in their Goals-Based Evaluation Action Plan strategies.”

“All teachers like to see how strategies are put into practice, and the ability to view real classroom implementation is significant in teacher education.”
 

Lynette Eichers, Professional Development/Title I Specialist
Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, Granite School District, Utah

“PD 360 has a positive impact on teacher growth with the availability of a large library of quality programs and good materials. As they become more aware of teaching methods and learning styles, teachers are better equipped to shape student success.”

“Common Core 360 is a remarkable tool. Making it accessible to our teachers has made it much easier for them to understand and implement the new standards.”

“At Woodrow Wilson, we face many challenges and PD 360 is helping us tackle them. It is a valuable support to teachers of every level and ability.”

Robin Farnsworth, Third Grade Teacher
Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, Granite School District, Utah

“PD360 has taught me many strategies I can use in my classroom. It is a resource for solutions to my concerns and issues. It allows me to learn from more experienced teachers and also share my experiences with others.”

“Talking with other teachers about PD 360, I say it is worth the investment of your time to stay at the top of your teaching game. The strategies and skills you learn are tried and true. It will improve your teaching skills if you use it and reflect upon your own practices.”

“My top concern is classroom management. I love that I can learn tips and strategies from the PD 360 programs to help me better manage my class. I like that the classrooms are authentic and the strategies are practical and effectual.”

Pamela Johnson, Sixth Grade Teacher
Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, Granite School District, Utah

“PD 360 is a great way to focus on personal growth as an educator. At the same time, it is a valuable tool providing ideas that will enable you to better meet specific needs for your unique situation and for individual students.”

“The ELL segments have given me some great ideas to better utilize time and resources for my language learners.”

“I have always been concerned about challenging every student and providing appropriate learning for all student levels so I have enjoyed the PD 360 segments of multiple ways to differentiate instruction. Joining the interactive groups has given me a chance to create a “go to” network of educators from whom I glean ideas.”

“As a National Board Certified Teacher, I continuously look for ways to more effectively monitor, assess, and instruct students to maximize experiences. Learning more about specific areas has caused me to look closely at my students to determine where I require more knowledge to meet their needs. I have seen increased participation in personal learning plus a positive energy and sense of community in the classroom. Students are becoming more academically confident in their own ability to learn and master concepts.”

Lynda Hart, Principal
Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, Granite School District, Utah

“We use PD 360 at Woodrow Wilson to provide professional development for our teachers and staff. We all enjoy the versatility of individuals enabled to focus on areas of curriculum or practices that impact them or grade level groups enabled to choose segments to watch with group discussions following.”

“Most of our teachers have chosen to work on PD 360 as part of our district’s professional growth and evaluation process and have found it to be very beneficial and enjoyable.”

Dr. Kathy Hitt, Director of Professional Development/Pathfinder High School Principal/Jeffrey City Elementary School Principal
Fremont County School District #1, Wyoming

"Districts around the country are scrambling to roll out Common Core Standards and PD 360 is a huge support for managing the implementation. The examples of real classrooms are especially helpful and show what good instruction looks like

For staff to find value in a professional development resource, the source must first be valued by district and school leaders. Our administrators are finding relevance in PD 360 and passing that on to our teachers.

PD 360 is a low-cost approach to providing a large variety of professional development resources such as outstanding experts, current topics, real classroom examples, LiveBooks, and webinars. It is an additional way to supply development that builds the best teachers for each classroom."
 

Christine Smith, Manager of Professional Development
Red Clay Consolidated School District, Delaware

"There is a major research base that directly correlates effective teaching with high student achievement, so our district goal is to make sure we have the most highly effective teachers we can develop. PD 360 is a great learning tool where teachers can self select content to improve specific areas of their instruction.

It is a huge advantage that we can customize PD 360 to our requirements, and we look forward to creating custom courses. We have already taken some content and fleshed it out with PLCs or hybrid programs to create really powerful teacher development.

Student achievement will always be improved by teacher effectiveness, and PD 360 is an excellent way to differentiate effective learning for teachers."
 

Suzanne Bonifay, EdD Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction 6-12
Decatur County Schools, Georgia

"Decatur County Schools, Georgia Many variables shape Decatur County student achievement and PD 360 is definitely a favorable factor. When teachers can improve their instructional effectiveness, there is a corresponding improvement in student learning.

Increasing teacher effectiveness is not about sending everyone to a conference or workshop. It’s about each individual getting what they need, whether it’s classroom management or instructional content/strategies, when they need it and getting it at their own levels.

PD 360 is a great means for individual and global progress within a district. It is accessible and immediate, featuring diverse tools that integrate well for those teaching academic content and electives, as well as for those in a leadership support role."
 

John Thissen, Superintendent
Herington Unified School District #487, Kansas

“PD 360 materials are excellent, simple to use, and will benefit anyone in education. Our teacher performance is improving because with a resource they like, they are open to change and more motivated.

“Since teachers are often pressed for time, they love the flexibility of PD 360. It is simple to view the programs anytime and anywhere so that accruing their required certification hours becomes much easier.  

“The real experts are a big selling point of PD 360. Teachers sit up and take notice when they hear information coming straight from the people whose names and work are well known to them.” 

Chris Ostgaard, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Pinon Unified School District #487, Arizona

"In my years as an educator on the Navajo Nation Reservation, I have seen many changes. One of the most far-reaching of these has been the increased availability of technology. PD 360 has changed teacher effectiveness for remote districts like ours by giving us access to the most up-to-date teaching strategies.

Our teachers are so happy to have PD 360 meeting their individual needs in every area of professional learning. All the topics are there and are continuously available.

School Improvement Network customer service is great. They respond quickly, spending as much time with me and our teachers as is necessary to correct the problem. I really appreciate that.

Bringing in specialists for training workshops or sending teachers to conferences has become extremely expensive. Now teachers find what they need when they need it, directly from the experts. Based on our experience, PD 360 is cost-effective, differentiated instruction."

Teresa DeGraffenreidt Joiner, Assistant Principal for Academics
Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, Washington, DC

"Teachers love learning and PD 360 makes it easy for them to explore current topics and trends. I have a teacher who is so excited with it that she travels from one subject to another; happy to find so much information on her own.

The best training is when teachers learn from one another and I like that PD 360 encourages collaboration. My goal is teacher unity through inclusive professional development that supports learning and working together.

School Improvement Network customer service is great. They respond quickly, spending as much time with me and our teachers as is necessary to correct the problem. I really appreciate that.

I love what I'm doing! It's all about the kids and knowing that they will achieve if given the right tools by teachers who have the right tools. It's about helping teachers build their capacity to support our students. I would recommend PD 360 to anyone needing a resource for training teachers to recognize and understand student needs. Success will follow."

Todd Howard, Principal
Silver Hills Elementary School
Wallace School District, Idaho

“PD 360 has added a new level to our professional development. It is an individualized resource that fits all educator needs with multiple topics and a wide range of information. Students will always benefit when teachers have knowledge and information.

“The customer service has been exceptional. From the training to the technical help for our streaming problems, PD 360 has been there for us.

The tracking features of PD 360 allow me to see which teachers are seriously working toward improvement and what programs they are using.

As a tool for teacher development, PD 360 is a very giving, easy-to-use avenue. I appreciate the client-friendly layout that breaks down programs into small chunks with the aim of watching them during limited amounts of time.”

Judith Evans, Ed.D., Superintendent
Medway Public Schools, Massachusetts

"PD 360 has everything in one place, with a flexibility and availability that empowers teachers to explore. The equitable access and tracking tools are cost-effective professional development.

I am very pleased with PD 360 and its resources. Observation 360 is a great advantage for painless walkthroughs. Common Core 360 programs are preparing us as we move toward Common Core State Standards. And the tracking tools provide a record of teacher usage. It is a superior package of professional development.

This is targeted teacher PD and I would like to see it used as a flexible, always-available source of professional learning for our teachers, administrators, and support staff. I look forward to teachers taking advantage of the collaborative viewing option to support discussion of central topics and sharing of best practices."

Nicola Vrabel, Mathematics Teacher
Monroe City Schools, Louisiana

"The biggest advantage of PD 360 is its availability. It puts professional development at my fingertips, which is an ideal answer for busy teachers. I can use it anytime and anywhere—even at home—without missing classes to attend conferences and workshops.

I love the interactive learning communities on PD 360. It is refreshing and supportive to find other teachers who are like me with similar interests and concerns. I am now exchanging great ideas with colleagues all over the country.

I am a better teacher because of PD 360. The high-quality instructional strategies programs have made me more conscious of my teaching techniques and the differentiated instruction programs have made me more aware of my students' learning differences. And because PD 360 continues to add new content, I stay current on the newest ideas and strategies."

Emily Walker, PhD, Program Co-Chair/Professor
Master of Education in Teacher as Instructional Leader Program, South College, Tennessee

"PD 360 is a tremendous source for teacher improvement. The comprehensive, updated content encourages thinking, generates deeper, more open discussions, and influences teachers to respond positively to situations. It is a perfect professional development venue.

Glenn Singleton's "Courageous Conversations about Race" book was excellent and extremely thought-provoking in a diversity class I taught last term. It encouraged a good deal of discussion.

The real experts featured in PD 360 programs are a huge asset. The students already know the names and are aware of their work which creates interest and inquiry into what they have to say. You can do nothing better for students than to provide them with the best authorities and information.

As actual practicing teachers, my students are finding new ways of thinking and are experiencing many 'aha' moments as they watch PD 360. It supplements and enhances what they already know.

I have used various videos in graduate classes to introduce, refine, and redefine topics for the students. My graduate students love it because it gives them professional development in addition to graduate work during their class time. It is like they are getting a 'two for one' deal."

I am the number one cheerleader for PD 360 at South College. This phenomenal tool is the best professional development out there, much better than conferences!  It is a well of information and I am repeatedly impressed!"

Holly Stec, Masters Candidate
South College, Tennessee

"PD 360 is a really great resource for professional development with a wide array of topics to support educator improvement. I have enjoyed using it and would advise others to look into it also!"

Nicola Vrabel, Mathematics Teacher
Monroe City Schools, Louisiana

"I think the biggest advantage of PD 360 is its availability. It puts professional development at my fingertips, which is an ideal answer for busy teachers. I can use it anytime and anywhere – even at home – without missing classes to attend conferences and workshops.

I love the interactive learning communities on PD 360. It is refreshing and supportive to find other teachers who are like me with similar interests and concerns. I like exchanging great ideas with colleagues all over the country.

I am a better teacher because of PD 360. The high-quality instructional strategies programs have made me more conscious of my teaching techniques and the differentiated instruction programs have made me more aware of my students' learning differences. And because PD 360 continues to add new content, I stay current with the newest ideas and strategies."

Laura Link, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development
Shelby County Schools, Tennessee

"PD 360 enhances any professional learning program. It offers differentiated PD that is tailored to the individual needs of teachers with 24/7 accessibility, active tools, and a large library of content. It is a comprehensive resource for all the current issues in education and teachers are able to find help on any subject. The ability to watch programs in small chunks whenever they want, is a good fit for busy schedules."

Melissa McConnell, Professional Development Specialist
Shelby County Schools, Tennessee

"Because this is a cohort group who only meets a handful of times throughout the year, we use PD 360 as a complement to our face-to-face meetings. We have focused on the topic of effective professional development, so I have assigned the Leadership and Learning videos with Doug Reeves."

Lisa M Higgins, Instructional Technology Supervisor
Shelby County Schools, Tennessee

"I wanted to take a moment to share my accolades for two members of your School Improvement team that I have had the pleasure to work with on a custom class for our district.

Katie Clayton has been extremely helpful in every instance. If she was unsure about a specific item, she committed to finding an answer and then followed up. She was (and continues to be) friendly and personable on the phone, with a strong focus on helping the client. She was prompt with follow up to emails and phone inquiries, and did not hesitate to include others with technical expertise when needed. Katie projects professionalism and I would love to work with her on other projects.

Steve Burton went beyond guiding and assisting me to converting our videos into the necessary format for upload to the PD 360 site. He was willing to guide me in a new and unfamiliar program to set up correct parameters for video conversions. His directions for uploading were clear, concise, and easy to follow. He was motivated to help me do what was needed to get the class posted.

Both Katie and Steve had such upbeat and positive attitudes. I knew that with them 'on my team,' the custom class I needed to set up would happen and be one of quality as well. Based on my interactions with them, I will highly recommend our district's continued use and also suggest you to other school districts as well."

Melissa McConnell, Professional Development Specialist
Shelby County Schools, Tennessee

"As a district, we have established a focus for our PD, a significant coaching support for teachers, and we center significant energies on building capacity through professional learning communities. PD 360 has been a wonderful complement to these efforts and provides both district- and building-level administrators with an easy way to build a common language among our faculty and support teachers in specific areas when needed."

Brent Bacon, Ed.S. Director of Special Services
Laramie County School District #2, Wyoming

“Budget cuts have made it impossible to send all teachers to conferences or to bring in well-known experts for training. For us, PD 360 is very cost-effective as it provides professional development with the most current topics and the best authorities in education.

As a small, spread out district, it can be difficult to get all teachers together so we really benefit from PD 360’s accessible online training. It is easy to use, always available, and encourages teachers to take charge of their own development.

What would I say to other districts about PD 360? Get it! It’s worth it! The benefits are huge!”

Larry Davis, Principal Emery High School
Emery County School District, Utah

“I encourage administrators to go to the PD 360 website, get a free trial, and check it out. It has been valuable for our school and we are getting a lot out of this all-inclusive program. I believe it is really the best bang for the buck!”

Kirk Sitterud, Superintendent
Emery County School District, Utah

“PD 360 content is research based and classroom proven. The programs cover every area of professional development and, with real classroom examples, show how to implement best practices.

I already trusted the high-quality programs and liked that they were now available online to teachers for independent study. I felt very confident making the decision to add PD 360 to our teacher development.

Budget cuts have made it difficult to send a teacher to conferences but PD 360 has reduced that expenditure with cost-effective, online availability. It is there to train teachers in relevant areas with the real experts in education.

If student success is going to be affected, it goes back to what happens in the classroom. Providing outstanding teacher development improves instruction and increases student achievement.”

Dr. Michelle Kutch
Curriculum Program Director/Race to the Top Coordinator
Brandywine School District, Delaware

"Because of budget cuts, we are unable to sponsor as many professional development days and our time to pull groups together is limited. We have had to be creative and offer other venues for teachers to manage their own growth. I foresee more funding cuts and we must be ready. In the last two years, we have increased implementation of PD 360 in order to equip teachers with the tools they need now and in the future.

PD 360 is cost-effective for Brandywine. Our teachers hear the well-known experts in education give the same presentations online as in expensive conferences. It provides us with the best resources in ongoing teacher training.

PD 360 is user-friendly and convenient, giving educators flexibility to view pertinent programs and training webinars. It is responsive to the topical areas in education and can be used on any level with groups or individual application."

Tristan Gill, Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center
Tangipahoa Parish, LA

"I have nothing but good things to say about PD 360. I would recommend it to anyone in the education field."

Rita Bongarten, Frank P. Graham Elementary
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools, NC

"I really love PD 360 and have used it for individual PD as well as whole-staff PD. Excellent resource. Currently, we are studying 'Strategies That Work' by Marzano. Teachers are reading the book as well as using PD 360 as a resource."

Andrea Rodrigue, Central Office
Terrebonne Parish School Board, LA

"I would definitely purchase PD 360. I work with a pilot program in my school district. Our district does not allow blogging or wiki sites. The teachers in this program, who are spread through 7 different schools, use the group pages to communicate ideas, concerns, and follow up information after trainings among other communication needs.

I use the videos to provide job-embedded professional development. If a teacher and I agree on an area that needs improvement, I will find a related video or community discussion to use for information. The community discussions are especially helpful when we need information, new ideas, or experiences with programs from educators around the country.

I have also been involved with the support personnel at School Improvement Network. They did not stop working on my problem until we had found a solution. They were great!

This has probably made the most impact on teachers through collaborative use. They hear me say something about a research-based strategy or program, they see it here on PD 360, or we ask about it and get feedback from the community.

PD 360 is an amazing idea for educators."

Scott Davis, Assistant Superintendant
Lamesa Independent School District, TX

"It meets our need to individualize staff development at a department level, vertical team level, school level, or individual teacher level. Because PD 360 is hosted on our server, teachers can access it from school or home, making PD 360 the most flexible and pervasive method of professional development delivery available."

Sonya Unseld, Principal
Lincoln Elementary School, KY

"PD 360 creates a personal venue of learning for staff at Lincoln Elementary Performing Arts School."

Mary Connery, Director of Staff Development
Fairport Central SD, NY

"Three things concerning PD 360 make me very optimistic regarding our professional development. It is user friendly, accessible, and a great quality product. There are tools to fit the different needs of our instructional teams and individual teachers."

Monty Wilson, Supervisor of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction
Wilson County Schools, TN

"Many of our teachers are saying that this is the best professional development they have ever experienced. In just six months, we have had great teacher buy-in with 70% usage and with approximately 128,000 minutes viewed. Our goal is to attain 100% usage within the first month of the next school year."

Dr. Nella B. Anderson, Director of the Teacher Education Program
Western State College of Colorado

"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."

Bobby Cockerham, Director of Title I
West Carroll, LA

"The Learning 360 Framework is a great program and the best money we have ever spent on professional development. I liked the comprehensive approach and, in particular, Steve Olsen’s dynamic presentations."

Pat MacNeil, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent
Greene County Schools, NC

"When I saw PD 360, I knew it would be a great resource for us in always having on-demand experts available to use with professional development sessions."

Karen Hawkins, Director of Professional Development
Williamson County Schools, TN

"PD 360 puts every resource into the hands of every teacher."

Dr. Tracee Grigsby, PD Coordinator
Alief ISD, TX

"The programs are a good match with our district initiatives. We have used Classroom Instruction That Works extensively as well as Quality Questioning. We also do a lot of work with the Center for Leadership and Learning and PD 360 just added the Leadership and Learning program to their lineup so, again, that has been a good match with our current initiatives."

Karen Hawkins, Professional Development Coordinator
Williamson County Schools, TN

"By making usage so easily available, PD 360 recognizes that not all learning takes place in a classroom. Because they are capable of using it anytime and anywhere, teachers feel it is respectful of them and their needs."

Susan Quinlan, Principal
Foster Traditional Academy, KY

"PD 360 has opened up many possibilities for teacher growth and has helped us as a professional community with initiating the necessary conversations regarding instructional best practices."

Steven Stark, Reading First Coach
Johnsontown Road Elementary, KY

"PD 360 gives teachers a way to incorporate meaningful reflective practices based on their own classroom environments and cultures while providing a visual of a teacher modeling the professional development topic."

David Bodine, Principal
Wilder Elementary School, KY

"PD 360 has allowed me to individualize PD for each member of my staff in order to meet their individual growth plans."

Ronda Cosby, Principal
Chancey Elementary School, KY

"I can recommend many concepts to teachers, but hearing other teachers and seeing real classroom examples gives them an “ah-ha” moment. They become much more aware when it is not just my suggestion."

Patricia Hughes, Director of Staff Development
Mobile County Public School System, AL

"We anticipate that MCPSS educators will increasingly look to PD 360 to address their job-embedded professional development needs and to support their improvement efforts through networking with other learners on PD 360 online community forums."

Karen Sanders, Retired Executive Director of Professional Development
Burleson ISD, TX

"I had one teacher tell me that she had learned more in a seventeen minute PD 360 video segment than she had learned in two years of talking about and studying the same subject."

Rick Stewart, Director of Federal Programs
Artesia Public Schools, NM

"We do not send staff members to conferences and seminars unless they have exhausted the resources in PD 360. Not only has the reduction in travel costs saved us money, but we have actually gained instructional time. The less teachers have to leave the classroom, the better for the students."

Gail Donahue, Staff Developer
Our Lady of Good Counsel HS, MD

"Teachers would go in, watch the three required assessment videos, and start hunting around—pretty soon they got hooked and watched a lot more!"

Kerryn Bowden, Sr. PD Coordinator
Polk County Public Schools, FL

"We purchased PD 360 because it is user friendly, has access 24 hours a day/7 days a week, and helps both teachers and administrators with their professional development. The staff enthusiasm for the rich content that PD 360 offers and the presentations by experts in his/her field has been enormous."

Linda Thompson, Assistant Director of Staff Development
Henrico County Public Schools, VA

"In the beginning of our implementation, we provided a two-hour initial training for our staff development representatives, administrators, and content specialists on usage strategies and the admin tools. Now school-based individuals will help identify video segments and populate focus objective folders specific to whole faculty or study group needs."