New Courses and New Observation Tool for PD 360

PD 360, the world’s largest online community, video and professional development distribution network for teachers and educators announces significant enhancements to their content and technology. Included are new courses from the leading authors and experts on diversity in the classroom, teaching, and educational leadership, as well as a cutting-edge classroom observation tool that works on an iPad, iTouch, or iPhone and integrates with PD 360.

To ensure the highest quality professional development, School Improvement Network and Corwin have joined forces to develop several exciting new job-embedded training courses for PreK-12 educators from experts such as Michael Fullan, Marcia Tate, Charlotte Danielson, Glenn Singleton and many others. Utilizing the easy-to-use tools powered by PD 360 technology, each course is unique and in depth with live author collaboration, facilitation by the authors themselves, networking with experts and participating peers, and more.

To learn more about the new online courses or the new observation tool integrated with PD 360, click HERE

Promise Neighborhoods Include Charter Schools

Yesterday, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan released the results of the winners for those who applied for the development of "Promise Neighborhoods." The communities are inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone in New York. The 21 winners will divide $10 million in funds from the Office of Innovation.

Read the full article at GOOD

Kansas City, Missouri Schools Chose PD 360 for School Turnaround Efforts

Needing more than incremental change, Kansas City, Missouri started by closing just under half of its public schools, and then partnering with School Improvement Network to help them with a metamorphosis. “Their report card will be our report card,” says CEO Chet Linton.

Kansas City has customized its use of PD360’s on-demand professional development content by embedding it within its new online curriculum frameworks as well as providing the content to teachers as part of on-going feedback from the new e-walk observation system.

To learn more about how Kansas City is making school improvements with PD 360, read the full article HERE

Michael Fullan Explains How to Create Motion Leadership

School Improvement Network and Corwin have produced an online learning experience with Michael Fullan that can't be had anywhere else. Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy is a content-rich online course that dives deep into what it takes for any school leader to put real and measurable change in motion. The course is divided into eight self-paced modules. Through each module, participants join Michael on a journey that explores change leadership—visiting, through video, successful schools and effective administrators that have accomplished significantly profound institutional change that works. Developed in direct collaboration with Michael, the Motion Leadership course is intended for leaders as well as leadership teams as they focus on putting practice into theory.

Learn More

The Future of STEM Education—"Change the Equation" from President Obama

Today, President Obama announced "Change the Equation," an effort to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the United States. The President reminded Americans that, "One assessment shows American 15-year-olds ranked 21st in science and 25th in math wehn compared to their peers around the world."

Read President Obama's full remarks.

What Can We Learn From President Obama's Back to School Speech?

Yesterday, President Obama gave his second annual back to school speech at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spoke about the need for education in life beyond just for getting into a great college or getting the perfect job. So what are some of the things we can learn from the President's speech?

-"Nobody gets to write your destiny but you.  Your future is in your hands.  Your life is what you make of it.  And nothing -- absolutely nothing -- is beyond your reach, so long as you’re willing to dream big, so long as you’re willing to work hard."

-"You’ve got an obligation to yourselves, and America has an obligation to you, to make sure you’re getting the best education possible.  And making sure you get that kind of education is going to take all of us working hard and all of us working hand in hand."

And with a little help from Tamerria Robinson (a 12-year-old girl in Georgia) we learn, "'I try to achieve my dreams and help others do the same."  "That," she said, "is how the world should work."

Read the full speech at The Whitehouse Press Office

Equity 101 Session 7

Equity Culture: Practitioner Interview with Dorothy Kelly

Thursday, September 16 at 9 a.m. (PDT), 10 a.m. (MDT), 11 a.m. (CDT), 12 p.m. (EDT)

Engage in this informative webinar as Curtis Linton interviews Dorothy Kelly on how she worked to build an equitable culture for students. Dorothy Kelly has worked over 26 years as an educator, serving 19 years as a middle school assistant principal and five years as a district-wide administrator. She recently retired from the School District of Clayton where she was an assistant principal at Wydown Middle School and the Director of the Clayton Voluntary Student Transfer Program. This program is a highly successful desegregation program in which African American and African descent families from the city of St. Louis attend St. Louis suburban school districts. In describing an equitable school culture, Dorothy says:


“An equitable school culture involves a leader who is hyper focused on achievement, and his or her attitude and actions permeate all aspects of teaching in the building. Teachers, counselors, students, and parents know the goals and purpose of what and how students are learning. All who enter the door are welcomed and feel confident that children will be nurtured and taught well. A healthy school culture exists when students have support in their learning endeavors, whether they need special education or gifted education. Those children would not be able to tell the difference—they would simply know they are cared about and are having fun while they learn.”

Learn More

Register for Session 7

•Follow Curtis on Twitter @curtislinton

•Follow the Equity 101 conversation with #equity101 on Twitter