“We’ve all heard the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” but how many of us have actually stopped to wonder why? Is the dog just apathetic? Insecure in his ability to learn? Unsure of the goal? Maybe the greater question to ask is, “Why not?” With the right motivation, feedback, love, and support, I could have my 13-year-old black lab, Linus, rolling over by sunrise. This, however, can only happen with the …
In just five years, Tennessee went from 29 charter schools and six charter management organizations (CMOs) serving 5,500 kids to 98 schools and 24 CMOs serving 29,000 students—while emphasizing the need to replicate high-performing and high-potential charters in underserved communities. How did Tennessee do it, and what lessons can other education leaders learn from this state?
As we document in Public Impact’s new report for the Charter School Growth Fund, Growing a High-Quality Charter Sector: Lessons …
If you’re interested in:
–Spreading your excellent teaching to many more students
–Leading a team of teaching peers toward the great outcomes you’ve gotten with your students by:
collaborating with them
co-teaching
coaching
co-planning
giving (and getting) consistent, on-the-job, genuine professional development and support
–Taking responsibility for the learning of all students in the team
–Making significantly higher pay for taking on this leadership and responsibility
…then a Multi-Classroom Leader role is waiting for your application!
Schools across the country have posted their Opportunity Culture positions, …
As the Opportunity Culture initiative was beginning, three principals signed on to lead low-performing, high-poverty schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Metropolitan Nashville districts. The odds were stacked against them and their students—one school, for example, has student transiency rates of 70 percent and higher.
But within a few short years, their schools all showed very high growth—one school was in the top 1 percent in North Carolina for growth, and the other two received the highest …
“What does ‘teacher voice’ actually mean? Until this year, it sounded like a nice phrase, but it didn’t hold much meaning for me.
“But I have a job I love, one that shakes up traditional teaching and holds the promise of making a huge difference in students’ and teachers lives—as it did for my students. I wanted to spread the word about my job—and now, with positions like mine under threat at my school, I needed …
A strength of the charter school community has been its willingness to address quality and accountability issues, especially in the face of inconsistent academic quality among charters. Charter school advocates increasingly realize that great authorizing includes the will and ability to close failing schools.
As authorizers and states have increased performance expectations and grown less hesitant to close failing schools, “authorizer shopping” has emerged as a growing threat to overall charter school quality. Authorizer shopping happens …
What could you do in an Opportunity Culture? In a new video, teachers in Opportunity Culture schools tell how their roles let them:
–Reach more students with great teaching
–Lead other teachers without leaving teaching—“the best of both worlds”
–Give and get support—“the best part of an Opportunity Culture”
–Personalize learning for more students
–Help students learn far more
–Earn higher pay for the long haul—pay supplements in Opportunity Culture schools range up to 50 percent of average pay
Opportunity Culture schools …
What makes school turnaround leaders special? State and district leaders can understand how to identify, select, and retain great leaders using the research-based competencies specific to successful turnaround leaders, with a new, free three-part professional learning module.
Developed through a partnership between the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, the Center on School Turnaround, Public Impact, and the University of Virginia Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education, these tools build on the strong cross-sector research base …
“When out with friends or at dinner parties, I frequently get asked, ‘So what do you do?’ My ‘I’m a biology multi-classroom leader’ response receives perplexed looks, so my boyfriend usually pipes in, ‘It’s kind of like the science department chair’—and then I have to kindly say, ‘Well, sort of, except that I do all this other stuff…’
“As the leader of a five-person teaching team at a high-need Charlotte, N.C., high school, I teach a …
Note: The Opportunity Culture Dashboard has been updated. See the most recent dashboard results here.
22,000+ students reached by Opportunity Culture teachers, more than 800 teachers in advanced or team roles, $2 million in higher pay in one year alone, and more high growth and less low growth than other schools: These are just a few results from the schools in districts launching an Opportunity Culture. Public Impact’s expanded, interactive dashboard on OpportunityCulture.org shows progress in the …
“When I was asked to be on my school’s design team for a new initiative, I had no idea what I was getting into. I heard it would help build relationships with students and the community, and improve learning, so I thought, ‘Cool. I’m in. That is right up my alley.’ But this wasn’t any new initiative: Our school was about to be part of something huge that would affect not only the community and …
This post by Whitaker Brown, an eighth-grade science teacher at Ranson IB Middle School in Charlotte, N.C., first appeared on the Project L.I.F.T. website. See here to learn how to apply in February for Opportunity Culture positions in the Project L.I.F.T. zone of schools.
Long nights. Physically and emotionally draining days. Moments feeling that I was just barely keeping my head above water. All of these were common occurrences during my (and I have no doubt, …
This post by Nicole Hardy, a kindergarten teacher at Ashley Park Pre-K–8 Elementary School in Charlotte, N.C., first appeared on the Project L.I.F.T. website. See here to learn how to apply in February for Opportunity Culture positions in the Project L.I.F.T. zone of schools.
This is my first year in Project L.I.F.T., and my first year of having the support and guidance from an MCL. I can honestly say that I feel like I have bettered …
Teachers using blended learning need guidance to help students achieve high-growth learning consistently. Teacher-leaders and their teams need time to collaborate and learn together on the job. Students need access to personalized instruction that catalyzes consistently high growth and expands their thinking.
How can schools achieve all of these goals? Combine blended learning with teacher leadership. Two new models from Public Impact explain how elementary and secondary schools can combine Time-Technology Swaps and Multi-Classroom Leadership— while …
Teachers using blended learning need guidance to help students achieve high-growth learning consistently. Teacher-leaders and their teams need time to collaborate and learn together on the job. Students need access to personalized instruction that catalyzes consistently high growth and expands their thinking.
How can schools achieve all of these goals? Combine blended learning with teacher leadership. Two new models from Public Impact explain how elementary and secondary schools can combine Time-Technology Swaps and Multi-Classroom Leadership— while …