Public Impact News & Views

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 PL through multi-classroom leader teams, notably hit the mark for those two principles and each of the key features. Opportunity…

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 Opportunity Culture models—to rapidly reach as many students as possible and maximize the innovative staffing of Opportunity Culture teams to…

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 usual, specialize in specific aspects of the broader teaching role, work a part-time schedule, and play a lead role in…

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 for aspiring teachers, allowing them to learn on the job in a teaching team led by an excellent teacher. Fifty-five…

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 goal of reaching all students with high-growth learning, Public Impact has expanded the Opportunity Culture initiative’s participating schools (including those…

When Covid forced students to learn from home in spring 2020, families were left largely on their own to figure out how to fill the gaps in school structure and supports, leading to the emergence of learning pods. Some of these small learning communities continued into fall 2021, either because of continued pandemic uncertainty or because of their potential value as part of a new structure for public education. What supports could make it possible…

Don’t miss the latest posts on the Opportunity Culture website! Keeping Kentucky’s Teachers: How Opportunity Culture Roles Could Help When the Northern Kentucky Tribune took a look at why schools struggle to retain teachers, Data Editor Jan Hillard noted several “best-practice solutions,” including Opportunity Culture models. Hillard highlighted Opportunity Culture roles, such as Multi-Classroom Leadership, as a way to improve career advancement and development. Redesigning a school using Opportunity Culture models can address all of the solutions Hillard noted—improving support…

The January Opportunity Culture newsletter includes opportunities for community, a reflection from educators on continued pandemic challenges, tools and videos for educators, Opportunity Culture news, and more. Featured stories include: “Everybody is Traumatized”: Opportunity Culture Fellows on Keeping On By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, January 25, 2022 With ongoing Covid-related stresses this year, many Opportunity Culture educators have wondered how much their challenges match those of other Opportunity Culture schools. Before the winter break, educators from multiple…

The Opportunity Culture Model: Public Impact Co-President Bryan Hassel will be a featured expert at the Next Education Workforce Summit, February 2–3, hosted by Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Read his Q&A where he discusses the Opportunity Culture initiative. Trends in the Teacher Workforce: Tune in to an online panel February 23 moderated by Public Impact Senior Vice President Alison Harris Welcher, focused on “headwinds and opportunities to ensure equitable access to effective teachers in North Carolina.” Panelists…

In a state where only 42 percent of kindergartners scored at or above grade level on the state’s Reading Indicator in fall 2020, the need for more and better early education is clear. Research shows that attending full-day kindergarten boosts students’ academic outcomes, self-confidence, and ability to work and play with other children.  Yet Idaho is one of 8 U.S. states that does not provide funds for all districts to offer some form of full-day…

Public Impact Co-President Bryan Hassel will join a panel on Tuesday, November 2, on “Learning at Home and in the Classroom: Innovation in Curricula & Professional Learning,” hosted by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Hassel will share how Opportunity Culture roles can help with teacher shortages, what professional development looks like on Opportunity Culture multi-classroom leader teams, and more. Register for the webinar here. From the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading: Learning at Home and in…

As districts continue to cope with a drawn-out end to the pandemic and worsening staff shortages, education research groups, advocacy organizations, and state and federal offices have publicized strategies for Covid recovery—with many suggesting Opportunity Culture models as one strategy to consider. U.S. Department of Education, Strategies for Using American Rescue Plan Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time (page 16)The U.S. Department of Education suggests schools and districts take a creative approach to staffing…

Researchers from Texas Tech University report that students served by Opportunity Culture multi-classroom leader teaching teams achieved learning growth in the top quartile teamwide, on average, according to their study of the Ector County Independent School District’s first Opportunity Culture year. The district asked the researchers to conduct an independent review of its first eight Opportunity Culture schools, which began using Opportunity Culture roles in 2020–21 with 27 multi-classroom leaders. In those first schools, 72% of students—7,121…

Bringing a fresh approach to teacher training, five more Texas school districts will be providing yearlong, paid teacher residencies on teaching teams led by excellent teachers in the 2021–22 school year, by implementing Opportunity Culture roles in partnership with local universities and US PREP National Center (University-School Partnerships for the Renewal of Educator Preparation). The national Opportunity Culture initiative, led by Public Impact, is now in more than 45 districts and charter school organizations in 10 states. Opportunity Culture teaching…

By Public Impact Public Impact announces with pleasure the seventh cohort of Opportunity Culture Fellows, made up of eight principals who have achieved strong results in their schools and districts. Fellows provide support to their cohort, take one another’s ideas back to their schools, write columns or lead webinars about their experiences, and speak locally and nationally about their Opportunity Culture roles. Their feedback and leadership are invaluable in helping to improve the Opportunity Culture…