The Irving Independent School District works hard to provide the best education for its students, but they needed a new professional development program to better educate its teachers. Each teacher wasn't able to attend all of the PD events in order to gain credit, so they sought a solution that would make it easier for their teachers to get the training they needed. Read how PD 360 provided the customizable and on-demand resources that helped them promote the growth of their entire staff.

1. Case Study
HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA
School Improvement Network
Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY
ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO
Large, Urban Texas
COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD
HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA
District Increases
Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY
Teacher Accountability
ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO
COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD HENRICO COUNTY ARTESIA Lamesa ISD
IRVING INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, TX
“PD360 has added another dimension to our profession-
al development system allowing for Just in Time Teach-
ing for new and/or struggling teachers with research-
based best practices.”
FOCUS
Dianna Hopper
Director for Staff Development
Irving ISD, TX The IISD professional development (PD) department is com-
mitted to helping every staff member develop the skills and
DISTRICT PROFILE knowledge they need to ensure success for all students and
close the achievement gap by delivering quality services,
resources, and programs which support and promote the
The Irving Independent School District (IISD) is located professional growth of its staff.
in the center of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and for
100 years, has been offering students the best resources IISD provides a great deal of PD for its teachers but with
available to achieve a quality education. Carefully planned 4,000 employees, not all are able to come to every PD
academic, athletic, and extracurricular programs prepare event to accrue the credits that are needed to meet con-
students to succeed in a world that will demand their best. tract requirements. The district wanted a resource that
would allow flexibility for teachers to do some of their own
• IISD serves 33,800 students. PD.
• This school district was rated “academically accept- The district also has a large, growing ELL population and
able” by the Texas Education Agency in 2009. wants to provide a comprehensive program for students
while training teachers in differentiated instruction.
• All IISD high school students are issued a laptop
computer. IISD Division Director of Staff Development, Dianna Hopper
was looking for an online, on-demand, source that was user
• As part of a grant program, all students at DeZavala friendly and job embedded, to add to IISD’s PD program. It
Middle School also get laptops. needed to be a versatile resource that would add to staff
effectiveness to ensure high achievement for every student.
• Sixty-seven languages are spoken by IISD students
who represent 99 different countries.
SOLUTION
• There are 73% of students qualifying for free and
reduced lunches.
• IISD is a minority-majority district and 67% of the Ms. Hopper met School Improvement Network PD 360
students are Hispanic. Trainer Gregg Morrow at a conference four years ago. He
told her about PD 360, an all-inclusive online PD resource,
• English Language Learners (ELL) make up 39% of and he offered to put IISD on a pilot program. Ms. Hopper
the student population. has been glad she accepted the offer.
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com | 800.572.1153

2. ABOUT PD 360 liaisons provide support to first and second year teach-
ers and feel it is important to train these new teachers
to use PD 360. Therefore, new teachers are immediately
PD 360 is an on-demand library of professional teacher introduced to it as a teaching resource.
development resources that leverages technology to
make professional learning more effective, convenient, > Teacher Liaisons
and sustainable. With over 200 hours of research-based Teacher liaisons give ongoing first and second year
video content, plus tools for follow-up, tracking, reflec- teacher support. They are often retired teachers hired by
tion, and group training, PD 360 is the most comprehen- IISD. They meet with first and second year teachers on a
sive solution to your professional teacher development regular basis to answer questions and listen to concerns.
needs. When there is an issue in a classroom, a teacher liaison
can direct the teacher to PD 360 segments included in
More than 600,000 educators across North America programs such as Classroom Management, Differentiated
already use PD 360 to access individualized support on Instruction, and many more.
the most relevant topics, like differentiation, minority stu-
> Teachers Who Struggle
dent achievement, English language learners, classroom
The instructional support staff helps teachers who
instruction that works, leadership, assessment, and
struggle. They are able to easily suggest specific PD 360
many more. PD 360’s content is divided into hundreds
segments in classroom management and diversity that
of indexed and searchable segments that make it easy
show what best classroom practices look like in needed
for teachers, administrators, aspiring leaders, coaches,
areas. Each teacher’s usage as well as their answers to
mentors, paraprofessionals, and professional learning
Reflection and Follow-Up Questions can be tracked by the
communities to find the answers they need. New content
administration to follow growth.
is continually added to keep you up-to-date. See a dem-
onstration at www.pd360.com.
> Walkthroughs
Getting principals into the classrooms has a huge impact
DRIVING USAGE AND IMPLEMENTATION on teacher training. When principals do classroom walk-
throughs, they can suggest specific PD 360 segment links
that are relevant to the instructional needs of the teach-
ers while providing easy and effective, job-embedded
> Excellent Training
follow-up. Being able to quickly email instant remediation
IISD has formed a Staff Development Council made up
on many issues has been beneficial to both IISD princi-
of one representative from each school. The council and
pals and teachers alike.
administrators received beneficial instruction on PD 360
by School Improvement Network trainers. Those who were > Staff Development Training
trained then went back to their schools and shared the PD 360 makes it easy for IISD to personalize staff de-
information with their colleagues. velopment training. Video segments in differentiation,
assessments, compliance, and paraprofessional needs
“The training we received from School Improvement
are shared to help teachers implement new strategies.
Network for PD 360 was of good quality. In fact, we have
The digitized Facilitator Guides that accompany video pro-
scheduled more training for the Focus Objectives. And
grams provide assistance as district facilitators prepare
when we have called for any technical help, the School
training sessions.
Improvement Network people have been friendly and very
willing to help us.” > Teacher Certification
IISD teachers are allowed up to six credits of PD 360
Dianna Hopper for Distributed Learning Credits and it may be used by
Director for Staff Development
Irving ISD, TX Instructional Paraprofessionals for District Exchange Cred-
its. The first set of reflection questions must be answered
after viewing each segment and the programs selected
> Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) must align with Core Curriculum objectives.
PD 360 supports Professional Learning Communities
in IISD and gives them a solid resource to study. PLC’s > English Language Learners (ELL’s)
watch a PD 360 video segment and discuss how to apply IISD is a school district that welcomes diverse heritages
the practices in their classrooms. The accompanying and excels at meeting these students’ thirst for learning.
digitized Facilitator Guides provide group activities, dis- PD 360 ELL and differentiated instruction programs are
cussion questions, lesson plans, and graphic organizers. helping teachers in these areas.
Many include handouts that can be printed. > Large Library of Content
> New Teachers Educators in IISD can immediately find the help they
IISD instructional coaches, administrators, and teacher need in the 1400 fully indexed, video learning segments
that address the most pertinent topics and have easy
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com | 800.572.1153

3. search ability. In addition, PD 360 continues to add more ideas, participate in discussion forums, upload lesson
programs that are up-to-date and applicable. plans, and share web links to helpful resources. Teachers
and administrators can share best practices, learn
> Job Embedded/Accessible Professional Growth from one another, and eliminate classroom isolation
Professional development should not be identical for regardless of location. Learning Communities can be
each IISD teacher but should be job embedded to be created as public or private domains.
responsive to a teacher’s day-to-day practices in school
and student needs. As questions and situations arise in CONCLUSION
classrooms, teachers can instantly find answers in PD
360 to improve teaching and give support when needed By bringing PD 360 to its professional development for
instead of waiting for workshops. The wide variety of con- teachers, IISD has added a school improvement support
tent in PD 360 ensures that teachers of every experience that is versatile, all inclusive, and gives teachers personal
level can find individualized help when they need it. accountability. The district is easily able to focus on con-
tent, classroom management, assessment, and English
Because PD 360 is an online and on-demand solution, Language Learners.
teachers in IISD can access it anytime and anywhere they
have the Internet. They can log on at home as well as at ABOUT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT NETWORK
work, encouraging teacher education on their own time
schedule. The School Improvement Network is the leading provider
of teacher education and teacher training, specializing in
“We love that teachers are able to use PD 360 on their on-demand, research-based professional development
own as a professional growth tool. When they are in need anytime, anywhere. As the home of The Video Journal
and looking for help, they can find it.” of Education, PD 360, and the Leadership and Learning
Framework, School Improvement Network’s education
Dianna Hopper training resources focus on the most relevant topics,
Director for Staff Development such as classroom management. The resources also
Irving ISD, TX
feature top experts such as Michael Fullan and Doug-
> Focus Objectives las Reeves, and show how to put theory into practice.
Ms. Hopper is planning to customize PD 360 Focus Ob- With its focus on long-term improvement, sustainability,
jectives to align with state, district, and school goals and and greater internal capacity, the School Improvement
initiatives in the coming year. As teachers and adminis- Network helps its clients close achievement gaps, meet
trators use these aligned segments, they can actually high standards and increase student learning for both
see what the standards and best classroom practices elementary education and secondary education. To learn
look like when implemented in real classrooms. Focus more about School Improvement Network’s dynamic
Objectives allow administrators to efficiently drive com- resources, visit www.schoolimprovement.com.
mon language and practice with all educators.
> Relevant Topics
IISD is very happy that new, quality content is continually
being added to the up-to-date PD 360 library providing
a resource that helps teachers continue to grow profes-
sionally. PD 360 has programs dealing with nearly every
educational initiative of the past two decades.
> Real Classroom Examples
Teachers in IISD have been pleased with the wide variety
of real classrooms from across the country that are
shown in every PD 360 program because they can actu- To read more case studies, scan this QR
ally see how to implement best practices in their own code with a smartphone or visit www.
classroom management. schoolimprovement.com/casestudies
> Real Experts
Over 120 respected education experts are available at
each IISD teacher’s fingertips whenever they need them.
Now educators do not have to wait to attend workshops
and conferences yet can learn from the best authorities.
> Interactive Communities
PD 360 Learning Communities allow teachers to
communicate and collaborate with each other. Through
it, teachers present each other with implementation
www.schoolimprovement.com | www.PD360.com | 800.572.1153