ASCD's mission—to empower educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged—has never been more important. So we are grateful to see that school districts across the country are leveraging ASCD's digital resources to provide professional learning during school closures. Below are some insights from district PD directors on how they are using ASCD's Activate and PD In Focus products to provide customized, remote-access support to teachers.
Glenda Horner, executive director of staff development in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Texas, on ASCD's Activate Professional Learning Library:
How was Activate used to support staff's professional learning prior to the COVID-19-related closures?
Initially, Activate provided us the convenience of accessing high-quality professional development in an online environment with 24/7 access. For our educators, the nontraditional idea of "pulling" what you need when you need it, rather than the traditional method of "pushing" professional development toward them, was very inviting. We layered it onto existing practices and used it to promote and enhance professional learning that integrates with campus initiatives and meets individual teacher needs.
How has Activate been able to continue to support professional learning for your staff during the COVID-19 crisis?
In our current reality, Activate has moved from a convenience to a necessity. Just as the district provides continuity of instruction for our students, Activate allows us to offer professional-learning continuity for our educators. Providing relevant and purposeful professional development is a hallmark of our district, and the digital tools within Activate allow us to continue to do so.
What aspects of Activate are of most value to you today?
The most-used tools continue to be PD In Focus and PD Online. We affectionately refer to PD In Focus as the Netflix of professional development because the online platform features short video segments showing research-based teaching practices in action. PD Online features courses that are built on the work of some of ASCD's top experts and authors. Both tools allow educators to personalize their learning and even break that learning into smaller bite-sized pieces.
What are three adjectives you would use to describe Activate?
Engaging, relevant, and research-based.
Carmen S. Concepción, executive director of teacher leadership and development in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, on ASCD's PD In Focus video-based online learning platform.
How was PD In Focus used to support staff's professional learning prior to the COVID-19 crisis?
PD In Focus was primarily used as a resource for school and district-based collaborative professional development opportunities. It is a resource used by teachers as part of their Deliberate Practice Growth Target to continue to grow their expertise. Individual channels have been created to highlight distinct district initiatives. Some of the videos included in the district channels were recorded in Miami-Dade County Public Schools and highlight the work of our teachers.
Professional learning support teams at each school have created channels and uploaded personalized videos that meet the needs of the teachers at their school. We have also used PD In Focus to host webinars developed by the district on best resources for promoting ethical standards. Finally, we've used PD In Focus as a resource platform to further enhance the district's partnership with the local institutions of higher education that prepare our pre-service teachers.
How has PD In Focus been able to continue to support professional learning for your staff during COVID-19 closures?
Undoubtedly, the global novel coronavirus pandemic has changed the manner in which teachers participate in professional learning. To provide instructional personnel additional support, six online professional learning courses have been developed using videos and resources from PD In Focus that are aligned to our district's Framework of Effective Instruction. We are also extending the availability of PD In Focus to our entire workforce for training and development. We are in turn transforming the remote work environment into one that allows us to focus on capacity building via online learning to our employees across the school district. Our goal is to continue to work with PD In Focus to secure additional resources for our school support personnel as we are rolling out a districtwide professional development menu for our paraprofessionals, temporary instructors, interventionists, custodians, security monitors, food service personnel, and clerical workers.
What aspects of PD In Focus are of most value today?
The most important aspect of PD In Focus is that our teachers have access to a myriad of research-based videos and resources 24/7. The videos and resources can be differentiated to meet the individual needs of each teacher and are aligned to our district's Framework of Effective Instruction. They can be used to personalize professional learning within a safe platform.
What are three adjectives to describe PD In Focus?
Accessible, personalized, differentiated.
To learn more about Activate, visit www.ascd.org/activate.
To learn more about PD In Focus, visit www.ascd.org/pdinfocus.
