by Bryan C. Hassel | May 1, 2025 Our nation could reverse and completely recover from student learning slides with three moves: 1. Embed small-group tutoring in regular classrooms by boosting the time all adults spend on it for all students. 2. Spread accountable teacher-leader roles reserved for teachers with prior high growth or similar results. These leaders can organize schedules and lead adults […]
New Data, Big Results: Opportunity Culture Roles Outpace Others in Learning Growth
In a year of bleak NAEP outcomes nationwide, the latest data on schools using Opportunity Culture® teaching teams provides hope for scaling up student learning results nationwide.
Both experience with Multi-Classroom Leader® teams and the percentage of students reached by them affected schoolwide outcomes.
Title I schools that had several years of experience with these teams, which can include new educator roles, and reached students schoolwide showed the best growth results—boosting their odds of high-growth learning schoolwide by 83 percent over schools without the roles.
A Sure Fix for NAEP Woes
The latest NAEP scores are no surprise, despite educators’ hard work to support students, but this is not just an educational crisis; it’s an economic one. Education outcomes determine students’ job prospects, which affect local and state economies—and tax revenues. Learning boosts add to public funding, while shortfalls drain public funding. Whatever you care about, K–12 learning results could pay for it, and support students and their communities.
What is the sure fix? Choose changes with the maximum average outcomes.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Montgomery County, & Fort Worth School Districts Receive Federal Grant for Wide Use of Opportunity Culture Models
We’re excited about our latest news! Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Fort Worth ISD, and Montgomery County Public Schools have been awarded a $7.7 million federal TSL grant for widespread implementation of Opportunity Culture innovative staffing models, which CMS pioneered with Public Impact’s support in 2013. With the grant, CMS will expand its use of these models to […]
Building a Tutoring Culture: On-Demand Module Live
What is a scalable, sustainable tutoring culture, and how can schools build it? Opportunity Culture schools can create a tutoring culture when those in Multi-Classroom Leader (MCL) roles guide their teams to maximize the impact of small-group teaching and tutoring for all students, with all available adults. Our new on-demand module for district and school leaders and those in MCL roles provides an overview of […]
Kids Need Tutoring. Few Kids Get Tutoring. Opportunity Culture Models Can Help.
Despite a steady national drumbeat about the power of high-dosage tutoring to help students rebound from the dramatic post-Covid learning dip, the National Center for Education Statistics reported on Wednesday that such tutoring reaches only about one in 10 students. Although 37 percent of schools reported that they offer high-dosage tutoring—that is, at least a […]
How Innovative Staffing Can Address Teacher Shortages, Permanently—and Boost Learning
How can innovative staffing help reduce staffing shortages and boost learning? Public Impact’s latest brief explains how the Opportunity Culture initiative uses innovative staffing designs to create new career options for educators, increase collaboration and support, and incorporate high-impact tutoring for all students into the school day—within regular budgets. Following the five Opportunity Culture Principles, […]
How Opportunity Culture Models Strengthen Educator Professional Learning
In Building Better PL: How to Strengthen Teacher Learning, researchers Heather Hill and John Papay highlight six key design features of effective professional learning, or PL. Those features fall under two general principles for effective PL—it supports teachers’ day-to-day practice, and it involves accountability for change and improvement. Opportunity Culture schools, which provide routine, job-embedded […]
Maximize Opportunity Culture Models to Respond to NAEP Results
The NAEP results released this week may feel deeply discouraging—if not surprising—to weary educators. But Opportunity Culture research points to sustainable, scalable ways to improve student learning—and at Public Impact, we see ways to improve learning well beyond those initial research findings. This is the moment for Opportunity Culture schools and districts—and those considering using […]
Scaling up the best parts of learning pod staffing
New from Public Impact and the Center on Reinventing Public Education:How could the best aspects of learning pod staffing be scaled up? “Pandemic pods” created new opportunities for adults interested in supporting children’s education. In these pods—established by families, school districts, and microschools—teachers had the chance to work with much smaller groups of students than […]
Arkansas, Texas, Virginia, and North Carolina School Systems Join National Opportunity Culture Initiative
Eleven school districts and a charter management organization in Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas are the latest to join the national Opportunity Culture initiative, led by Public Impact, which extends the reach of excellent teachers and their teams to more students, for more pay, within recurring budgets. Some sites also include yearlong, paid residencies […]
Annual Opportunity Culture Dashboard 2021-22 Update: Opportunity Culture Growth—By the Numbers
As districts seek innovations to bolster student academics and bring support and joy to students and teachers, the Opportunity Culture model continues to spread and produce results, even in another challenging pandemic year. Each year, Public Impact analyzes Opportunity Culture data to improve its materials and its work with schools and districts. With the overarching […]