Public Impact

  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
Innovation. Excellence. Service. Impact.
  • Opportunity Culture
  • Teachers & Principals
    • Teacher Leadership
    • Recruit, Select, and Keep Education Talent
    • Competencies of High Performers
    • Evaluating Teacher and Leader Performance
    • Teacher and Leader Compensation
    • Professional Development for Educators
  • Technology
    • Making Technology Work for Students & Teachers
    • Case Studies of Technology in Action
  • Turnarounds
    • Turnarounds Within Schools
    • Restarts by Charter Operators
    • Innovation Zones
  • Funding
    • School Funding
  • Charters
    • Charter School Authorizing
    • Scaling Up Quality
    • Restarts in Failing Schools
    • High Market Share Cities
    • State and Federal Charter School Policy
    • Help for Charter Schools
  • More Topics
    • Big Ideas for Education
    • Philanthropy in Education
    • Assessment and Data
    • Entrepreneurship in K-12
    • Special Populations
    • Parents and Community

Cabarrus County, N.C., Schools Join Opportunity Culture Initiative

written by Sharon Kebschull Barrett on May 12, 2014

A second North Carolina district has joined its neighbor in implementing an Opportunity Culture: Three elementary schools and seven high schools in Cabarrus County, N.C., will pilot Opportunity Culture models in 2014–15–affecting approximately 1,000 students in the first year of implementation alone.

Public Impact will assist some of the school teams in redesigning their schools. These schools will each have a team of administrators and teachers to choose and adapt the models that fit their school best, following the Opportunity Culture Principles.

The district is beginning work without philanthropic support for the costs of making this transition, but hopes to obtain funding to support additional school-level design teams. Six of the high schools asked to be included after hearing a presentation about Opportunity Culture models from the first high school principal to opt in this spring and Jason Van Heukelum, deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Cabarrus County.

Once schools make the transition to an Opportunity Culture, the higher pay is all funded within existing school budgets, not temporary grants. (See financial analyses of the models here.)

The Cabarrus County district, which includes Concord, N.C., has 39 schools and 30,000 students, 43 percent of whom are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Its schools join neighboring Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) in implementing an Opportunity Culture. Four CMS schools piloted their new models this school year, and CMS announced plans in January to scale up its Opportunity Culture work to include nearly half of the district’s schools by 2017–18.

“We strive to provide all of our students access to excellent teachers, while at the same time we struggle to pay our teachers a competitive salary,” Van Heukelum said. “Opportunity Culture models address both of these areas, and we are excited to partner with Public Impact in this work.”

Design teams from the Cabarrus schools visited Ashley Park Elementary and Ranson IB Middle, two of the CMS schools implementing an Opportunity Culture this year. Design teams at the elementary schools are considering using some combination of Multi-Classroom Leadership, Time Swaps, and Elementary Subject Specialization.

“Cabarrus County first contemplated creating an Opportunity Culture when it applied for the Race to the Top district competition,” said Bryan C. Hassel, Public Impact’s co-director. “The district was one of 35 finalists across the country, but didn’t win. Regardless, the district’s leaders saw the benefits for its students and teachers and forged ahead, with enthusiasm from both participating principals and teachers.”

See here for more on other districts piloting the Opportunity Culture models.

Stay tuned: Tomorrow, Public Impact will release a report estimating the economic, fiscal, pay, and learning impact if North Carolina were to implement Opportunity Culture schools statewide.

About Sharon Kebschull Barrett

Sharon Kebschull Barrett is a senior editor with Public Impact. She edits the Public Impact and Opportunity Culture blogs, copyedits Public Impact's reports, and provides research and writing for the firm. Her recent work focuses on extending the reach of excellent teachers, charter schools, and state policy. A former newspaper reporter and copy editor, Ms. Barrett is the author of two cookbooks, Desserts from an Herb Garden and Morning Glories (St. Martin's Press). She has a B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she served as editor of The Daily Tar Heel.

Public Impact®

Chapel Hill, NC
919-240-7955
919-903-8649 fax

We encourage the free use, reproduction, and distribution of our materials, but we require attribution for all use. See here or contact us for more information.

Subscribe

Sign Up for E-News!


Read Back Issues of our
E-Newsletter

Subscribe to our blog with RSS

New from Public Impact

Autonomous District Schools–A New Kind of High-Quality, Innovative Public School
Report illuminates how districts are implementing autonomous district schools to gain charter-like flexibilities and opportunities.

Built to Grow–A Case Study of IDEA Public Schools
Report describes how IDEA continues to expand and thrive as the charter sector slows.

Employment Opportunities—Join the growing Public Impact team!
We are hiring entry-level consultants for Summer 2019 start dates. Smart, driven candidates committed to excellence please apply! Deadline for applications is February 13, 2019.

Closing Achievement Gaps—In Diverse and Low-Poverty Schools
Report commissioned by Oak Foundation proposes a fresh, complete package of approaches to closing achievement gaps in diverse schools.

Design for Impact—Teacher Residencies that Last
Report provides actionable guidance for designing financially sustainable teacher residency programs.

Public Impact | 919-240-7955 | Terms of Use | © Public Impact 2000-2018 | Wordpress website design by LeGa Design Group