Public Impact News & Views

Curious about the impact of an Opportunity Culture? We’ve just updated our dashboard, as we will every year, with the latest statistics. Such as: 110+ schools at 17 sites in 7 states—and growing 34,000+ students taught by teachers extending their reach—a 50 percent increase from 2015–16 1,250+ teachers with advanced roles or on-the-job development—a 50 percent increase, too Average pay supplements over $12,000, up more than $1,300 in one year $3.1 million in extra pay…

  After 26 years of teaching, I was the model of a traditional teacher. Class began with review, then new material and cooperative or independent work, then closure. But two years ago, intrigued by my district’s request that I pioneer an Opportunity Culture biology blended-learning class, extending my reach to more students (and for more pay), I took the challenge: Could I learn some new tricks? Yes. Just not the way I expected. –Cabarrus County,…

What’s the recipe for an effective system of teacher leadership that can lead to higher student growth? My school, Rocky River Elementary, in Cabarrus County, N.C., ranked at the bottom of student proficiency and student growth in recent years. We clearly needed to cook up something new. So we stirred up equal parts trust-building and capacity-building with student-centered coaching and administrative support, and created a powerful stew that led to meeting student growth goals for…

  “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…

“Come join the exciting new initiative at Meachem Elementary. We are pursuing proven strategies to increase student achievement by increasing adult leadership and the capacity to more effectively reach all students; this will assist in raising our test scores, and provide teachers with more support by their peers, smaller reading-group sizes, classroom management support, and interventions using technology that engage students in their academic journey. Join the Opportunity Culture team and take part in this…

Fifty-nine percent of Opportunity Culture schools in North Carolina exceeded student growth expectations in 2015–16, more than double the percentage of N.C. schools overall at just 28 percent, according to school performance data the state released September 2. Similarly, high-poverty Opportunity Culture schools exceeded growth expectations at much higher rates than in North Carolina overall: 56 percent versus 26 percent of high-poverty schools statewide. High-poverty schools have 40 percent or more students qualifying for free…

As the charter school sector has grown too large to ignore in some cities, districts and charters have sometimes begun collaborating or coordinating some efforts. Public Impact’s Daniela Doyle, Christen Holly, and Bryan Hassel focus on how and why this happened by looking at Cleveland in a new piece for Education Next, based on their recent study for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute that studied Boston, Cleveland, Denver, the District of Columbia, and Houston. They…

In a new column for Real Clear Education, Public Impact’s co-directors, Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel, highlight the opportunities through ESSA for state leaders to achieve excellence: State and district leaders have a great new opportunity under the 2015 federal Every Student Succeeds Act: more flexibility in spending the funds they receive than in prior versions. But let’s face it: Most states won’t seize this opportunity to strive for greater excellence in students’ learning….

State and district leaders, here’s your chance: Under ESSA (the 2016 Every Student Succeeds Act), you can use your new funding flexibility to take  a new approach that focuses on excellence for teachers and students. In a new brief and one-page executive summary, we explain four opportunities to achieve a culture of excellence under ESSA, one that attracts even more talented educators, keeps them for longer careers, and helps them excel. What does ESSA require,…

The Harlandale Independent School District, in south-central San Antonio, Texas, has joined the national Opportunity Culture initiative to extend the reach of excellent teachers and their teams to more students, for more pay, within recurring budgets. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) made Texas the first state to support multiple districts in creating an Opportunity Culture; the initiative now includes districts in six states. Harlandale ISD has about 15,000 students, 97 percent of whom are Hispanic,…

How can new teachers and principals start their jobs prepared for educational excellence, and how can the schools that hire them know they’re ready to excel? In today’s preparation systems, no one is fully getting what they need—not aspiring teachers and principals, not schools, not students. There is a better way. In Opportunity Culture schools, Multi-Classroom Leadership creates the potential for aspiring teachers to experience paid, full-time, yearlong residencies led by excellent teachers who lead…

In the most successful Opportunity Culture schools, principals lead a team of multi-classroom leaders—strong teachers who lead small teams and are accountable for outcomes in each grade and/or subject—to ensure instructional excellence schoolwide. Successful principals say this schoolwide “team of leaders” approach is crucial to their students’ success and to providing teachers with deep support throughout the school. A new set of tools from Public Impact can help other principals emulate their approach. Leading a…

What does teacher-leadership look like when teachers lead a team while continuing to teach? For four pioneering multi-classroom leaders in high-need elementary, middle, and high schools, it starts with taking accountability for up to 500 students and leading a collaborative teaching team toward higher growth and personalized learning for all those students. These teacher-leaders took on roles in some of the first Opportunity Culture schools as multi-classroom leaders (MCLs). MCLs keep teaching while leading a…

“How many teachers are out there struggling daily because of lack of support?  How many burn out because they’ve tried all they know?  How many leave our profession early because they can’t do it on their own any longer? How many kids suffer because they have access to only one teacher? How many students are falling more and more behind because they have zero control over their educational trajectory?  We need a change; more important,…

A great article in Saturday’s Charlotte Observer highlighted what some Opportunity Culture multi-classroom leaders (MCLs) make. As noted, 26  MCLs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools receive supplements of $16,000 to $23,000–within school budgets, not from temporary grants, done by reallocating budgets. But did you know that many others working in Opportunity Culture roles in CMS make more, too? In fact, Charlotte’s Opportunity Culture schools this year have a total of 56 MCLs–the 30 not mentioned in the…