As one of the 40 largest schools districts in the United States, Polk County Public Schools needed a solution that could scale well and still be customizable and easy to use for each of their teachers in over 160 schools. Find out how PD 360 was able to give them the resources, content, and expertise that they were looking for.

1. Case Study
School Improvement Network
HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA
Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY
ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO
Large Florida District
COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD
HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA
Sparks Educator
Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY
Enthusiasm with PD
ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO
COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, FLORIDA
“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 SOLUTION
experts in his or her field has been enormous.”
When PCPS purchased PD 360, the School Improvement
Kerryn Bowden
Sr. PD Coordinator
Network’s online and on-demand professional learning
Polk County Public Schools, FL solution, it knew it had discovered what it was looking for:
an individualized, job-embedded, and superior product with
plenty of content.
DISTRICT PROFILE
ABOUT PD 360
Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) is a big district with
big needs and big plans. It is the eighth-largest district in
Florida and among the 40 largest nationally. It has 160 PD 360 is an on-demand library of professional teacher
school sites with more than 92,000 students enrolled. It is development resources that leverages technology to make
the largest employer in PCPS with nearly 13,000 employees professional learning more effective, convenient, and
of which more than half are teachers. The Polk County sustainable. With over 200 hours of research-based video
School Board’s goal is to “ensure rigorous, relevant learning content, plus tools for follow-up, tracking, reflection, and
experiences that result in high achievement.” group training, PD 360 is the most comprehensive solution
to your professional teacher development needs.
DISTRICT CHALLENGES
More than 700,000 educators across North America
already use PD 360 to access individualized support on
As an already strong program, the PCPS Professional the most relevant topics such as differentiation, minority
Development (PD) Center had been using traditional student achievement, English language learners, classroom
methods but was looking for a solution that could further instruction that works, leadership, assessment, and many
the department mission to “provide quality professional more. PD 360’s content is divided into hundreds of indexed
learning opportunities for all employees to enhance student and searchable segments that make it easy for teachers,
learning.” It wanted a high quality, easy to use product that administrators, aspiring leaders, coaches, mentors,
would meet the individual professional growth needs of paraprofessionals, and professional learning communities
every teacher and administrator. In a district this large, that to find the answers they need. New content is continually
could be a daunting task. added to keep educators up to date. See a demonstration
at www.pd360.com.
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com | 800.572.1153

2. DRIVING USAGE AND IMPLEMENTATION Educational Timeline (TARGET). By using PD 360, teachers
earn in-service points that go into their files for certification
and advancement.
No matter how good the solution, if teachers, staff, and
administrators don’t use it, then the desired outcomes will
For each total hour of viewing = 1 hour of seat time
not occur. PCPS knew from the beginning that a deliberately
planned implementation of PD 360 was needed to drive
• Must have at least 30 minutes or more of overall
maximum usage and benefits. The PD department planned
viewing time to count for first hour of seat time.
to keep it in front of teachers consistently with focus on the
Example: overall viewing total 37 minutes = 1 hour;
following:
overall viewing total 15 minutes=will not count for any
points resulting in no points for reflection/follow-up
PD 360 Training
questions
• May round up total minutes to next hour. Example:
The district started by giving free access to a few principals
overall viewing total 154 minutes= 154/60=2.56
and administrators for a three-month trial after which
hours=3 hours
presenting it to all principals at a Professional Learning
Communities (PLCs) conference. At a later date, it was
For each video segment: (video segments vary in length)
shown to the PD staff. All were trained to coach and
support the teachers.
• 30 minutes for 3 Reflection Questions (1/2 point)
• 30 Minutes for Implementation Progress Questions
“I think the one thing that has been helpful for us
(1/2 point)
is that we did a PD 360 overview with each staff
• Total Follow-up for each video segment is one (1) hour,
member to show them the basic ways to maneuver
if Reflection Questions and Implementation Progress
through the site, how simple it was to use, and
Questions are completed for each video segment
everything it provided in terms of their individual
• 1 hour= 1 in-service point
needs. We also set some realistic expectations about
what we wanted to focus on as a school and set
Teachers and administrators can access PD 360 reports
some due dates and guidelines on what needed to be
to see the total number of hours of viewing time and the
accomplished.”
completion of Reflection Questions and Implementation
Progress Questions for each video segment.
Christopher L. Roberts
Principal
Highland City Elementary Each teacher who would like to be awarded in-service
Polk County Public Schools, FL points for PD 360 use can print out his or her Individual
User Report and submit the report, along with one school
Professional Development Newsletter Accountability Report: Reflections and Outcomes of Work
(ARROW) form, at the end of the year. The report will serve
The professional development department releases a as documentation of follow-up. Up to 60 in-service points
quarterly newsletter to all staff members encouraging PD can be earned by PD 360 usage during one school year.
360 usage and offering informative articles about it.
BENEFITS
PD 360 Usage Contest
The quarterly PD newsletter has announced an ongoing Teacher response to PCPS’s well-planned PD 360 rollout
incentive contest. The purpose of the contest is to has been extremely enthusiastic.
recognize a school and teacher with the most monthly PD
360 use. The winning school is awarded a monetary gift • Usage of PD 360 in PCPS continues to go up, improving
and the winning teacher is awarded a gift for classroom weekly. In less than seven months, the district’s viewed
use. monthly minutes went from 3,000 to 42,433.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) • Teachers feel that PD 360 is a superior product, user-
friendly, flexible, and accessible anytime.
To foster learning and an attitude of shared team effort,
PCPS encourages educators to use PD 360 as a support in • Long-time teachers find that it reminds them of
PLCs and Early Learning Coalition training. concepts they have been previously taught, reinforcing
and broadening what they already know.
Professional Growth Plans / In-Service Points
• Teachers enjoy communicating with other educators in
PCPS has an individual professional growth plan for the interactive learning communities.
teachers called Teachers’ Action Research Goals and
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com | 800.572.1153

3. • Teachers like seeing real, best-practice examples in Lee Strain
actual classrooms. Fourth Grade Teacher
Highland City Elementary School
Read what PCPS educators are saying about PD 360. Polk County Public Schools, FL
“The teachers have enjoyed being able to go on and
find examples for their needs and their students’ “One of my favorite features on the PD 360 is that
needs and then implement these strategies I do not have to complete whole assignments in
immediately. The fact that they do not have to one sitting. With such a busy schedule at school
constantly meet and take away from their precious and home, I have the freedom to take my time and
time has also been a motivator.” organize my sessions on PD 360 in a more effective
way to suit my life.”
Christopher L. Roberts
Principal Stacy Teston
Highland City Elementary Third Grade Teacher
Polk County Public Schools, FL Highland City Elementary School
Polk County Public Schools, FL
“I found that watching video of actual teachers
completing the thinking maps with their students
“PD 360 is a strong resource for educators. It
and showing different examples of how they can be
reminded me to continue to utilize best teaching
brought into all subject areas was a more effective
practices. Just being able to converse with other
way of learning for me than just reading a book or
colleagues and sharing ideas was a win-win situation
manual on this strategy. I find it useful that I can
too.”
stop, rewind, or even go back, to previous material
I have viewed. I am a note taker and I find it very Jessie Peterson
helpful to be able to take notes and pause sections Intensive Reading Teacher
of the video as I feel needed.” Lake Gibson Middle School
Polk County Public Schools, FL
Stacy Teston
Third Grade Teacher
Highland City Elementary CONCLUSION
Polk County Public Schools, FL
Polk County Public Schools quickly and successfully
introduced PD 360 as an integral part of its PD program.
“Teaching on a block schedule where I see my Consequently, teachers are responding positively, rewards
students for 90 minutes every other day poses a are coming in, and students are winning.
challenge to plan activities that high school students
enjoy as well as keep their focus. I was encouraged
to see teachers modeling many of these strategies Polk County Public Schools
on PD 360 and it prompted me to try out several of Proficiency Scores
them I had learned about but not attempted before. 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10
I was inspired to test some the very week I had seen READING 52 54 55 57
the videos. Students learn differently today than
MATH 56 59 60 62
when I first began my career and PD 360 has shown
me how to expand and improve my craft.”
Robin Pack
English Teacher
“PD 360 has proven to be a great return on our
Lake Gibson Senior HS
Polk County Public Schools, FL investment!”
Kerryn Bowden
Sr. PD Coordinator
“I like being able to join groups and communicate Polk County Public Schools, FL
with other educators. I have found some great links
that these teachers shared. PD 360 is very easy to
use and I have been able to implement some of the
practices in my classroom. I also find the ones on
technology very helpful because that is where I want
to grow.”
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com | 800.572.1153

4. ABOUT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT NETWORK
School Improvement Network is the leading provider of
teacher education and teacher training, specializing in
on-demand, research-based professional development
anytime, anywhere. As the home of The Video Journal of
Education, PD 360, Observation 360 and the Learning
360 Framework, School Improvement Network’s education
training resources focus on the most relevant topics, such
as classroom management, minority student achievement,
English language learners, and more. The resources also
feature top experts such as Michael Fullan and Douglas
Reeves, and show how to put theory into practice. With its
focus on long-term improvement, sustainability, and greater
internal capacity, School Improvement Network helps its
clients close achievement gaps, meet high standards, and
increase student learning for both elementary education
and secondary education. To learn more about School
Improvement Network’s dynamic resources, visit
www.schoolimprovement.com.
To read more case studies, scan this QR
code with a smartphone or visit www.
schoolimprovement.com/casestudies
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com | 800.572.1153