In today’s Education Next, Public Impact Co-Directors Bryan C. Hassel and Emily Ayscue Hassel take a look at the seductiveness of the concept of reducing class sizes–and why policymakers should resist temptation. “The answer’s pretty simple,” they write. “A large-scale reduction requires hiring massively more teachers, dipping deeper and deeper into the applicant pool. It […]
At West Charlotte High, Opportunity Culture Making a Difference for Students and Teachers
EdNC, March 8, 2017, by Erin Burns
When I showed North Carolina’s new state superintendent Mark Johnson around West Charlotte High recently, he saw a vastly different school than when he taught there. Both Johnson and I started our careers in education at West Charlotte in the D building science wing: Johnson taught earth science from 2006 to 2008, and I taught biology in 2009.
Indianapolis is Experimenting with a New Kind of Teacher — and It’s Transforming This School
Chalkbeat, February 16, 2017, by Dylan Peers McCoy
Teachers at School 107 are up against a steep tower of challenges: test scores are chronically low, student turnover is high and more than a third of kids are still learning English.
Teacher Leadership Roles Come to Edgecombe County
EdNC, February 14, 2017, by Liz Bell
When teachers get really good, they often stop teaching. After years in the classroom, the desire to move onto something with higher pay, more responsibility, and greater challenge is understandable. When that time comes, Public Impact is hoping to give teachers a meaningful alternative to transitioning into administration.
Free Tools for Teacher-Leaders, Turnaround Principals
Start off the new year with support from a large selection of new, free tools from Public Impact. Whether you are leading a teaching team or leading a school—especially one attempting a turnaround—you’ll find tools based on research and the practices of the best Opportunity Culture teacher-leaders and principals nationally.
Recruitment Toolkit
This four-step guide walks districts through the key recruiting steps to encourage great candidates to apply for Opportunity Culture roles.
Evaluation, Accountability, and Professional Development in an Opportunity Culture: A Practical Guide
This guide will help education leaders align evaluation and its uses with an Opportunity Culture and similar school models and career paths.
Opportunity Culture Voices: Getting the Recipe Right for Teacher Leadership
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 […]
Opportunity Culture Voices: My Unexpected Journey to Teacher Leadership
“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 […]
Fresh Ideas for ESSA Excellence: Four Opportunities for State Leaders
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, […]
Is Multi-Classroom Leadership Right for You?
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 […]
Opportunity Culture Voices: Why All Schools Need Multi-Classroom Leadership
“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 […]