This case study describes how Foster Traditional Academy, a school in Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky, is using the online professional development tool PD 360 to improve instruction. The school was seeking a structured PD solution to benefit all students. Teachers appreciate PD 360's on-demand access to expert content and classroom examples. PD 360 is being used for individual and collaborative learning. The principal plans to further customize PD 360 and track its impact on teacher practices and student outcomes.

1. A School Improvement Network Product
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practice classroom examples. Each segment includes
School Profile content from respected educational experts such as
Michael Fullan, Rick DuFour, Doug Reeves, Rick Stig-
Foster Traditional Academy is located in Louisville, Ken-
gins, and many others. PD 360 can be used to create a
tucky, and is part of Jefferson County Public Schools.
structured learning experience for an individual teacher,
Serving 641 students, with an at-risk population of
professional learning community, or entire school. It
78%, its mission is to educate all students to their
bridges the gap between training and classroom imple-
fullest potential in a safe environment. All learners will
mentation with job-embedded follow-up, tracking, and
be provided the opportunity to achieve at the highest
reflection tools. PD 360 also gives educators access to
level of academic expectations while fostering positive
an online community of teaching professionals that al-
social/emotional behaviors and attitudes.
lows interaction and collaboration either within a district
or across the United States and around the world. See a
demonstration at www.pd360.com
School Needs
Foster wanted a professional development solution that
would help educators create a structured learning expe- Driving Usage and Implementation
rience that would positively impact every student.
To introduce Foster to PD 360, Principal Quinlan took
all the teachers into the school computer lab. As each
educator sat in front of a computer, she walked them
Solution through the basic steps of the online and on-demand
Foster has had PD 360 in their school for one year but professional development product. Now she is ready to
Principal Susan Quinlan feels they have only scratched solidify usage in the school by:
the surface of its potential. Foster has renewed PD 360
>>Customizing PD 360 with the district’s initiatives so in-
for another year and Principal Quinlan is now planning
structors can see how to implement the focused practices.
how her school will utilize it in greater depth.
>>Applying PD 360 in new teacher training to introduce
them to PD 360, initiate important discussions, and
About PD 360 show them how PD 360 will benefit them.
PD 360 is the leading on-demand professional learning >>Aiding teachers who are struggling by assigning particu-
resource for educators with over 600,000 subscribers. lar segments that pertain to their specific needs and
Teachers, administrators, professional learning commu- questions.
nities, coaches, etc., have access to over 1,400 indexed
and searchable video segments that present real, best-
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com

2. >>Having teacher teams present a PD 360 segment at fac- >>Teacher Enthusiasm
ulty meetings to pass on something they have learned Teacher response has been excellent and focused. They
and to start discussions. have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the
content and pleased with the classroom examples.
>>Making use of tracking features, to follow teachers’
professional learning activity and progress. Tracking “PD 360 has opened up many possibilities for teacher
teacher responses to reflection questions allows admin- growth and has helped us as a professional community
istrators to follow growth and application of users after with initiating the necessary conversations regarding
each segment. instructional best practices.”
>>Implementing inquiry-based instruction to better meet the Susan Quinlan
needs of students. Principal
Foster Traditional Academy, KY
>>Sending the Strategy of the Week to all educators to
give ideas and information to enhance their professional
development.
About School Improvement Network
“Strategy of the Week” is a free weekly resource of-
fered by School Improvement Network that provides Founded in 1991 by two school teachers, School Im-
valuable professional development tips and informa- provement Network empowers educators with compre-
tion for educators. hensive, research-based, professional learning tools that
build teacher expertise to foster greater achievement
among their students. As the home of The Video Journal
Benefits of Education, PD 360, and The 360 Learning Frame-
work, School Improvement Network offers content from
Foster has already experienced many benefits from PD the largest group of educational experts, the broadest
360 and is looking forward to even more, including: range of topics, and the most classroom examples any-
where. School Improvement Network boasts the world’s
>>Availability largest educator-verified, on-demand professional
PD 360 is available to educators anytime and anywhere development network with over 600,000 users. To learn
the internet is accessible, making it easy for them to get more about School Improvement Network’s dynamic
answers when they need them. resources, visit www.schoolimprovement.com
>>Respected Experts
Well known education experts are readily on hand with
candid answers to tough questions and everyday class-
room circumstances.
>>Embedded Professional Development (PD)
As questions and situations arise in their own class-
rooms, teachers can instantly find in PD 360 the
answers and support they need to improve their own
teaching.
>>Best Practices
Teachers can see how effective teaching actually looks
with over 1,000 research based and classroom proven
best practices shown in real classroom examples.
>>Real Classroom Examples
Teachers can access over 1,000 real classroom ex-
amples from urban, suburban, and rural schools across
North America that show what successful instruction
looks like in actual school settings.
>>Vast Library of Specific Content
Educators can instantly find the help they need by
searching hundreds of fully-indexed video learning seg-
ments that address the most up-to-date topics.
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com