We’re excited to share the latest results from Opportunity Culture schools in North Carolina, according to the data released by the state. The following is a column by Public Impact’s co-presidents, Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan C. Hassel, first published by EducationNC on January 2, 2019. As the founders of the Opportunity Culture initiative to […]
Opportunity Culture in the News: Edgecombe County Schools
Today’s Hechinger Report highlights Opportunity Culture in Edgecombe County Public Schools, a rural North Carolina district, noting its effects on: teacher recruitment (schools using this model have historically started the year with two to four empty teaching positions, but this year had none), “profound collaboration among teachers,” and strong student growth (North Edgecombe High School […]
Improving Reading Outcomes—New Column from NC Early Childhood Foundation
In Friday’s EdNC.org., Mandy Ableidinger asks, “The most recent NC end of third grade reading assessment results show scores hardly shifting from last year and continued racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic gaps. What can we do differently?” Referring to our recent report, Closing Achievement Gaps in Diverse Schools: An Action Guide for District Leaders, Ableidinger, the […]
Closing Achievement Gaps in Diverse Schools–New From Public Impact
To close achievement gaps, education leaders must adopt more complete approaches to outstanding learning for all, secure and healthy learners, and a culture of equity within low- and moderate-poverty schools. A shortfall in any of these three areas within a school magnifies the impact of unequal access to resources—educational, personal, and sociopolitical—outside of school. In […]
The Risks and Rewards of Using Blended Learning to Reach More Students
By Elizabeth Annette Bartlett. This column first appeared on EducationNC. If, as a teacher who sees success with one class of students, I could reach twice as many students per class, why shouldn’t I try? That’s the question I asked myself in trying to solve a dilemma my middle school science students faced. In the […]
Multi-School Leadership: Tools to Extend Excellent Principals’ Reach
An Opportunity Culture extends the reach of excellent teaching—what about doing the same for excellent schoolwide leadership? Public Impact, which founded the national Opportunity Culture initiative, today releases a set of practical materials on Multi-School Leadership: How to extend the reach of excellent principals by having them lead a small group of schools, for more […]
Meeting the Personalization Challenge with New Roles + Blended Learning
Amid all the buzz about personalizing learning, what can we learn from schools getting great results? In Public Impact’s new report with the Clayton Christensen Institute, Innovative Staffing to Personalize Learning, we analyzed eight schools and school networks that are not only personalizing learning, but also getting strong learning results with disadvantaged students. What’s different […]
Public Impact’s Opportunity Culture in the News
What’s new with Opportunity Culture? Recent news coverage highlights the growth and successes of Opportunity Culture, an initiative of Public Impact: Guilford school board wants flexibility to help 9 low-performing schools: Jessie Pounds of the News & Record reported on the expansion of Opportunity Culture into nine schools in Greensboro, N.C., with the district planning […]
Guilford County Becomes N.C.’s 5th Opportunity Culture District
Under Superintendent Sharon Contreras, Guilford County Schools, based in Greensboro, N.C., has joined the national Opportunity Culture initiative to extend the reach of excellent teachers and their teams to more students, for more pay, within schools’ recurring budgets. Researchers at the Brookings Institution and American Institutes for Research released a study in January showing the […]
Personalizing Learning with Innovative Staffing + Blended Learning: 4 New School Profiles
As part of a deep look at how schools rethink how they are organized to address each student’s needs, Public Impact and the Clayton Christensen Institute today released the second set of profiles of schools and teachers using innovative staffing with blended learning. These profiles, many with accompanying videos, set the stage for an upcoming white paper […]
Opportunity Culture by the Numbers: 2017-18 Dashboard Updates
Quick Stats from the Opportunity Culture Dashboard, updated for 2017-18: 225+ schools committed to Opportunity Culture 1,450+ teachers with advanced roles or on-the-job development 41,000+ students reached by excellent teachers extending their reach $3.3 million in extra pay for teachers in 2017–18; $10 million since Opportunity Culture was implemented in the first schools five years […]
Innovative Staffing to Personalize Learning: School Profiles
How can schools begin to address all their students’ individual learning needs? Blended learning is increasingly part of the answer schools consider—but what about a broader rethinking of how schools are organized and staffed? At Public Impact, we’ve been working with the Clayton Christensen Institute to take a close look at eight schools/school networks around […]