Public Impact

  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Media
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
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
  • 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
    • Serving Students with Highest Needs
  • More Topics
    • Big Ideas for Education
    • Entrepreneurship in K-12
    • Parents and Community
    • Philanthropy in Education
    • Special Populations
    • Technology in Schools
    • Assessment and Data

Phoenix-area Districts to Use Opportunity Culture

written by Sharon Kebschull Barrett on October 5, 2016

 

“I know Opportunity Culture is one of the best strategies we can offer.”–Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools Don Covey

Using a $60 million federal grant, Arizona’s Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA) will help at least five small and medium-size Phoenix-area districts and one charter network design and implement Opportunity Culture school models that reach many more students with excellent teachers. Teachers in new, advanced roles will earn substantial pay supplements, which will continue after the grant ends.

Opportunity Culture schools create teacher and teacher-leader roles that aim to provide all students with access to excellent teaching, consistently. These roles extend great teachers’ reach to more students and provide teachers with teacher-led, on-the-job learning and paid career advancement opportunities, all funded within regular school budgets.

Money used from the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant will support districts and schools in making the transition to new school models. Pay for advanced roles will be funded with each school’s budget, making Opportunity Culture compensation sustainable. Less than 2 percent of the TIF grant will be used for temporary transition costs.

“A recent survey shows Arizona school districts have over 8,000 teacher vacancies. Low teacher pay and support are cited as the reason. School districts need strategies for recruiting, retaining, and sustaining effective educators. I know Opportunity Culture is one of the best strategies we can offer,” said Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools Don Covey.

Arizona and its districts join 10 other districts in six other states nationwide that are already designing or implementing Opportunity Culture models, with more joining each year since the first schools implemented in 2013.

Lori Renfro, assistant superintendent of Human Capital Management Systems, who oversaw the TIF applications, also noted that Arizona is facing an unprecedented teacher shortage.

“The partnership with Opportunity Culture has come at a perfect time,” Renfro said. “Opportunity Culture will empower our school districts to capitalize on the talent they already have, and increase their likelihood of attracting higher-quality candidates in the future.”

In Arizona, Roosevelt Elementary School District, Wilson Elementary School District, Nadaburg Unified School District, Mobile Elementary School District, Maricopa County Regional School District, Incito Schools, and possibly one more district will be part of the Opportunity Culture initiative. These districts, a mix of rural and smaller urban districts and a district formed to help students in transition graduate, include more than 1,000 teachers who could benefit once Opportunity Culture plans are fully implemented.

Update (March 23, 2017): Under an amended TIF application, Roosevelt Elementary School District is no longer participating; Phoenix Elementary School District #1 has joined the initiative.

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®

Public Impact, LLC
Chapel Hill, NC
919-240-7955

Public Impact encourages the free use, reproduction, and distribution of our materials, but we require attribution. If you adapt the materials, you must include on every page “Adapted from PublicImpact.com; Copyright Public Impact” in the font size specified here.

Materials may not be sold, leased, licensed, or otherwise distributed for compensation. See our Terms of Use page or contact us for more information.

Public Impact is certified as a living wage employer by Orange County Living Wage.

Search

Subscribe

Sign Up for E-News!
 


 
Read Back Issues of our
E-Newsletter

 
Subscribe to our blog with RSS

Follow

New from Public Impact

Employment Opportunities—Opportunity Culture Consultant
Public Impact is seeking candidates for Opportunity Culture consultant positions, with a Summer 2021 start date. The deadline for applications is January 17, 2020!

Learning in Real Time—How Charter Schools Served Students During Covid-19 Closures
Profiles highlight how charter schools were able to respond quickly to school closures during the pandemic and continue to serve their students well.

Building an Effective Staff—Profiles of Leaders of Color
Three-part series looks at how being a person of color affected the ways in which successful charter school leaders built schools where students, families, and staff learn, grow, and thrive.

Engaging Families—Profiles of Leaders of Color
Three-part series looks at how being a person of color affected the ways in which successful charter school leaders built schools where students, families, and staff learn, grow, and thrive.

Building a Strong School Culture—Profiles of Leaders of Color
Three-part series looks at how being a person of color affected the ways in which successful charter school leaders built schools where students, families, and staff learn, grow, and thrive.

The Impact of School Restarts—Lessons from Four Indianapolis Schools
Report analyzes how enrollment, demographic, and student performance data changed following the restarts of four charter schools in Indianapolis, IN.

Learning from Project L.I.F.T.—Legacy of a Public-Private School Turnaround Initiative
Report examines successes, challenges, and lessons from a private-public district turnaround initiative.

Public Impact, LLC | 919-240-7955 | Terms of Use | © Public Impact 2000-2020 | Wordpress website design by LeGa Design Group


Don’t miss the latest Public Impact reports:
Sign-up for our newsletter!



×