The Nettle Creek School Corporation in Indiana has embraced PD 360 to enhance teacher education and effectiveness, providing flexible online professional development resources. Principal Mark Childs highlights the program's role in helping teachers meet Common Core standards and comply with training requirements, leading to improved student outcomes. The district has seen significant gains in student proficiency in reading and math since implementing PD 360, with ongoing support from the School Improvement Network.

1. PD 360
Case Study
Small Indiana District Embraces Meaningful
24/7 Teacher Education
“Our teachers really enjoy PD 360 as a valuable
source of solutions and best practices to support
their responsibilities. It is a powerful aid for the ever-
expanding demands placed on teachers and schools.”
Mark Childs Principal, Hagerstown Junior - Senior High School, Indiana
Profile
A charming, picture-postcard town, Hagerstown is home
to Nettle Creek School Corporation (NCSC), a rural district
of roughly 1,200 students within two schools, Hagerstown
Elementary and Hagerstown Junior - Senior High. The res-
idents are rightfully proud of their small town and dedicat-
ed to maintaining a high-quality lifestyle and an outstand-
ing education system.
Focuses
In pursuit of greater teacher effectiveness, NCSC has iden-
tified the following three focuses to concentrate on in the
coming year:
• Common Core State Standards
• Teacher Compliance Training
• Classroom Technology
Solutions
Hagerstown Junior - Senior High School Principal Mark
Childs is an optimistic, proactive leader who has dedicated
28 years to teacher efficiency and student achievement.
Searching the Internet in 2009, he came across School Im-
provement Network’s PD 360 and was intrigued with the
possibilities of online, on-demand training.
Aware of how well it fit the district’s needs, Principal
Childs was instrumental in the purchase of EES with its
components PD 360, Observation 360, and Common Core
360. Current focuses are met by the following:
• Common Core 360 has all the tools and resources
needed to get every teacher ready for new state
standards in time for assessments. The ever-growing
library has 300+ training videos, including 70 in-class
examples of teachers actively using the Common
Core Standards.
• Beginning this year, NCSC personnel are required to
have annual compliant training by watching the PD
360 compliance series. These programs explain steps
to identify and protect against issues such as bullying,
blood borne pathogens, Internet safety, emergency
preparedness, identifying potential hazards, and more.
• In a world that requires technical proficiency, a
technology-infused classroom is critical for students.
PD 360 programs such as Technology Pedagogy and
Technology in the Classroom prepare teachers to
implement diverse technologies into classrooms to
develop relevancy and student engagement.

2. Usage
NCSC is incorporating PD 360 and Observation 360 in a
variety of ways:
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
Successful PLCs require planning and structure and
NCSC is pleased to have PD 360 as a guideline resource.
Groups determine a focus, watch a video segment either
individually before the meeting or together during the
meeting and then discuss how to implement the practices
in their classrooms.
Certification Renewal
Because PD 360 is simple and convenient, NCSC teachers
are excited that its usage is applicable to the required state
and district recertification hours.
Professional Growth Plans
As part of the evaluation process, NCSC teachers have
individual Professional Growth Plans that include identified
areas for growth, action plans, and progress-reporting
procedures. Principals often suggest PD 360 programs for
specific needs to which teachers respond and reflect on
their personal progress.
Observations
Classroom observations are vital to teacher evaluations
and Observation 360 is making them more efficient for
NCSC administrators and more valuable for teachers. Using
a mobile device, administrators give teachers immediate
feedback, recommend pertinent PD 360 courses, online
PLCs, Common Core training, and file attachments.
“Observation 360 has been a great help for our teacher
evaluations. It tightens up the whole observation process
by immediately providing the teacher with relevant data
and links to PD 360 programs.”
Mark Childs
Principal, Hagerstown Junior - Senior High School, Indiana
Benefits
NCSC has successfully integrated progressive teacher
training with advantages:
Differentiated Teacher Learning
Teacher education, like student instruction, should meet
a variety of abilities and be adaptive to evolving needs.
With 3,000+ video segments on 130 topics from 120
experts, PD 360 ensures that NCSC teachers of all
experience levels will find individual support to improve
classroom strategies.
Capacity/Accessibility
NCSC administrators feel it is a bonus that teachers are
able to access PD 360 anytime and anywhere. Able to log
on at home as well as at work, teachers are encouraged to
take charge of their own learning and view segments and
programs as many times as needed.
Cost Efficient
PD 360 is proving to be economical for the district.
The expense is much less than traditional conferences
and because educators have unlimited access to view
programs as many times as they wish and as often as they
need, it is never just a one-shot training.
Educator Enthusiasm
NCSC is dedicated to high-quality training for its teachers
and as evidenced by their high usage numbers, they are
finding applicable answers in the PD 360 programs and
increasing their usage.
Nettle Creek Schools Corporation, Indiana
PD 360 Usage March 2012 – August 2013
Registered Users 94
Programs Viewed 558
Segments Viewed 1,158
Minutes Viewed 7,546
Average Minutes Per User 80
“Our teachers are using PD 360 for a variety of reasons
such as assigned viewing, personal choice learning, and
earning highly effective teacher points. They love to choose
their own usage times, often in the evenings after home
and family time.”
Mark Childs
Principal, Hagerstown Junior - Senior High School, Indiana
www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153

3. High usage has been found to make a difference in
school performance.
A 2011 independent study of PD 360 usage showed
that higher numbers of video minutes viewed per user
in schools resulted in more than twelve times the gains
in math proficiency and twice the gains in reading
proficiency than district averages.
Comparative Change for High Min/User
Schools Vs. Districts
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Math
Change
Reading
Change
High Min/User
Schools
Districts Average
Rising ISTEP Scores
NCSC students are experiencing greater success since
teachers began using PD 360.
Nettle Creek Schools Corporation, Indiana
ISTEP Passing
2009-10 2010-2011 2011-2012
Reading 75.8% 80.2% 83%
Math 74.3% 80.8% 81.8%
Conclusion
Nettle Creek School Corporation knows the importance
of good teachers and a learning environment that
motivates all students to their highest potential. Principal
Childs and the other administrators are happy to have the
Educator Effectiveness System beside them on their way
to student achievement.
“The School Improvement Network employees provide us
with ongoing support and the EES products enhance our
teaching program. PD 360 adds meaningful 24/7 teacher
development, Observation 360 fine-tunes our observa-
tions, and Common Core 360 is bringing us up to speed
with state standards.”
Mark Childs
Principal, Hagerstown Junior - Senior High School, Indiana
www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153

4. www.schoolimprovement.com | 801-572-1153
About School Improvement
Founded in 1991 by teachers, School Improvement
Network has spent decades researching and documenting
the best practices in education. From this research, School
Improvement Network has developed the Educator
Effectiveness System. This system delivers a process to
improve teacher practice, and gives educators a set of
powerful tools to drive the process. Research shows that
districts and schools that use the tools in the Educator
Effectiveness System produce better teachers and,
as a result, experience dramatic increases in student
achievement, driving up student test scores by as much as
30 percent in a single year. School Improvement Network
works with thousands of schools and districts in every
state and around the world and has visited over 3,500
classrooms to document best practices in action. Learn
more at www.schoolimprovement.com