This document provides an overview of strategies for building educator success through teamwork and professional development. It discusses establishing professional learning cultures and communities of practice to promote peer collaboration and support teacher effectiveness. The document outlines an agenda for a professional development workshop that will define effective instructional practices, align learning to student achievement, and support deliberate practice growth targets using the ASCD PD In Focus program and resources.

1. BEST: Building Educator
Success through
Teamwork
New & Early
Career
Teachers
Office of Professional Development and Evaluation
Engage in
Deliberate
Practice
Foster
Professional
Learning
Cultures
Communities of
Practice
Promote
Peer-to- Peer
Collaboration
Support
Teacher
Effectiveness
ASCD
PD In Focus

2. Making Connections
Do Now…
As you walk in, look around the room at the instructional
practices listed, think about the following:
1. What would you see going on in the classroom?
2. What are some of the things you would hear from
the teacher and the students?
• Independently generate responses as it pertains to each
instructional practice on a post it
• Post your responses on the white board next to the
appropriate instructional practice

4. Agenda
• Welcome
• Making Connections
• Norms
• Framework of Effective Instruction
• Standards for Professional Learning
• What the Research States
• Deliberate Practice
• ASCD PD In Focus
• Q & A
• Turn and Talk

5. Norms
A few agreements for our work together:
ASK questions
Engage fully
Integrate new information
Open your mind to diverse views
Utilize what you learn

6. Learning Objectives
• Identify effective instructional practices through the
Framework of Effective Instruction
• Align professional learning needs to student
achievement outcomes
• Support deliberate practice growth targets
• Use ASCD PD In Focus channels and resources to
support professional learning

8. Standards for Professional Learning

9. Professional Learning and Student Results

10. Research: What Works in PD
Types of PD Knowledge
Educators understand
Skills
Educators are able to do
Application &
Problem Solving
Educators apply
Information
Presentation of
Theory
85% 15% 0.5-10%
Modeling &
Demonstration
85% 18% 0.5-10%
Practice & Specific
Feedback
85% 80% 10-15%
Coaching, Study
Teams & Peer
Observations
90% 90% 80-90%

11. What is Deliberate Practice?
“engagement in structured activities
created specifically to improve performance
in a domain.”
Macnamara, Hambrick, and Oswald, 2014

12. One of Three Components of IPEGS
The IPEGS Unified Summative Rating breakdown as
follows:
 Learner Progress (34%)
 Professional Practices (50%)
 DPGT (16%)

13. “Unless you try to do something beyond what you
have already mastered, you will never grow. Every
job is a self portrait of the person who did it…
Autograph your work with excellence.”
Vince Lombardi

14. Time to Reflect!
As PD Liaison…
• How do you assess the professional learning needs of
the teachers in your school?
• What are your school’s professional learning priorities for
the year?
• What types of professional learning designs do you
facilitate for your school?
• What resources do you have available to support these
professional learning designs?

15. Moving Forward…
• What resources do teachers have available to support
their professional learning needs?
• How can access to online, 24/7 professional learning
assist teachers in meeting deliberate practice growth
targets?

18. PD In Focus Overview
Channels
Custom Channels
Groups
Assignments
Filtered Search
Reporting

19. What is PD In Focus?

20. Getting Started – Overview Tutorial

21. Accessing PD In Focus

23. PD Facilitators (PLSTs/(Principals/Assistant Principals/PDL)
work with groups of teachers based on the needs identified by
the PD leader. Lead the learning and send assignments to
teachers.
2
3
PD leaders (Principals/Assistant Principals/PDL):
create groups of teachers and assign them to one or more
PD facilitators.
1
Teachers: complete assignments and can work with
multiple facilitators and groups at the same time. Search
videos.
Role-Based Professional Development
4
PD administrators (OPDE): who can manage members and
licenses in PD In Focus applications.

24. Functionality Based on Roles
Feature Administrator PD Leader PD Facilitator Teacher
Create Groups  
Make Assignments 
Complete Assignments    
View/Print Individual Reports   
View Video and Print Resources    
Write Journal Entries    
Rate Video and Print Resources    
Search for Videos and Print Resources    
Save Videos and Print Resources to My
Library
   
View Related Resources    
Create Custom Channels   
Import Users  
Manage Members/License  
Manage Related Resources   
You may
have
multiple
roles
assigned to
your log-in
name.

25. What is a Channel?
• All videos in PD In Focus are organized into themed
channels guided by widely recognized experts.
• There are 37 channels with more than 335 hours of
content spread over 850 videos, documents, and
applications!
• Watch real teaching practice videos that educators
can immediately take back to the classroom and
implement.

27. Group Management
Group Management makes it easy to create groups of
learners
• A group is a collection of Teachers created by a PD
Leader and led by a PD Facilitator.
• The PD Facilitator creates assignments for the groups
based on PD needs and goals.
• Groups consist of members from an account who have
access to the same PD In Focus license.

28. Manage Groups

29. Let’s Practice: Create a Group
Select Manage Groups from the Administration tab and follow
these three easy steps.
Step 1: Type the name of your group in the text field and click
Create Group. The group will be created and information
about it will be displayed below in Edit Group Profile, where
you can select a PD facilitator.
Step 2: Assign yourself as the PD facilitator.
Step 3: Add available teachers to your group.

30. Assignments
• Get to the heart of the matter. PD facilitators can
create assignments for members who are in groups
assigned to them. Personalize any assignment with your
own directions and comments.
• Point out the most important, relevant parts of a video or
reading; draw connections between multiple resources.

31. How to Create an Assignment

32. Creating Assignments

33. Let’s Practice: Creating Assignments
Select the resource you wish to assign and click Create
Assignment. A window will appear showing a three-step
process for making the assignment.
Step 1: Select Teachers for Assignment
Step 2: Select an Assignment Completion Date
Step 3: Instructions for Teachers

34. Journaling

35. Let’s Practice: Journaling
Step 1: Select My Journal tab
Step 2: Provide a title
Step 3: Under the channel select Enhancing
Step 4: Professional Practice
Step 5: Enter your text
Step 6: Save

36. Filtered Searches
PD In Focus has a robust search engine that allows educators to search for
content by different categories such as channels, subject areas, grade levels,
instructional settings, location, and professional development.

37. Let’s Practice: Filtered Searches
• Click on the Filtered Search tab
• Type “formative assessment” into the search
• Filter by English and Math in the subject area
• Filter by grades 6-8 in the grade level area
• Filter by small group in the instructional
setting area
• Filter by suburban in the location area
• Now, filter for something you want to find!

38. Custom Channels
New channels? How about your own. With the custom
channel builder, you have total control over your PD In
Focus experience.
• Create unlimited custom channels and fill them with any
PD In Focus resources, plus any web-based resources
you want: videos, documents, web pages, podcasts… if
the resource has a URL, you can add it. Build what you
want; target the groups you need.

39. Create Custom Channel

40. Let’s Practice: Creating Custom Channels
Select Create Custom channel from Administration tab.
 Step 1: Give it a Title
 Step 2: Write a Description
 Step 3: Click Add new sub channel
Add Sub channels, and then click checkmark and
save
 Step 5: Search for Content to add to your custom
channel

41. Reporting

42. Reporting

43. Give One, Get One!
1. Channel/Video 2. Channel/Video
3. Channel/Video 4. Channel/Video

44. Turn and Talk
• How could PD In Focus support your school’s improvement
initiatives?
• How could teachers use PD In Focus to support deliberate
practice growth targets?
• How could you incorporate PD In Focus in your professional
learning designs?
• How can PD In Focus support the Framework for Effective
Instruction?

45. PD In Focus Planning Guide
• Think about your PD needs assessment survey
• Identify a focus for your next professional learning session

46. PD Planning Guide

47. Putting it all Together
Now that you have explored PD In Focus and identified an
area of focus, the intended outcome, and activities, let’s
practice creating your own Custom channel.
 Step 1: Give it a Title
 Step 2: Write a Description
 Step 3: Click Add new sub channel
Add Sub channels, and then click checkmark and
save
 Step 5: Search for Content to add to your custom
channel

48. Need Help Getting Started?
The Getting Started with PD In Focus channel
includes video tutorials, collaborative learning
tools, and guides for use at your school.
• Video Tutorials
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

50. For Your support in Creating a Culture of
Professional Development Excellence!
Staff in the Office of Professional Development and Evaluation
are always willing to answer
questions and/or provide
guidance as needed.