In this series of three vignettes, we profile Michelle McVicker, Alison Harris Welcher, and Christian Sawyer’s use of the Multi-Classroom Leadership model that enabled them to create and lead a team of teacher-leaders in their schools in Nashville, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C.
Publications
Opportunity Culture®: Introduction for Policymakers and Advocates
Policymakers and education advocates can use the Introduction for Policymakers and Advocates slide deck to understand and explain why students and educators need an Opportunity Culture. It provides some background statistics on the history of teaching and pay, and explains how Opportunity Culture career paths are helping address the profession’s challenges today, along with other resources.
Boosting Idaho Rural Students’ College Prospects by Expanding Access to Great Teaching
In this paper written for the Rural Opportunities Consortium of Idaho, Public Impact examines the challenges that prevent rural schools from providing great teaching, and presents four strategies for increasing access to highly effective instruction in rural Idaho.
The Whole Package: 12 Factors of High-Impact Teacher-Leader Roles
Too often, “teacher leadership” roles intended to attract and retain teachers—especially great ones—and close student learning gaps fail to produce the intended impact. This two-page brief offers a quick list of the common pitfalls of designing such roles, and a chart of the 12 essential factors for creating high-quality, lasting teacher-leader roles.
How One Union-District Partnership Launched an Opportunity Culture®
For superintendents in collective bargaining districts who wonder how an Opportunity Culture could work, Syracuse, N.Y., educators have advice on working with unions. This vignette details the collaboration between the Syracuse district administration and union in launching an Opportunity Culture, highlighting actions to consider and critical moments in the process.
Evaluation, Accountability, and Professional Development in an Opportunity Culture® Brief
This brief summarizes and discusses state policies needed to support evaluation and accountability in an Opportunity Culture. A companion practical guide details management and administrative changes at both the state and district levels. Seizing Opportunity at the Top II explains all the policies states should address as more schools implement an OC for teachers and students.
Evaluation, Accountability, and Professional Development in an Opportunity Culture® Guide
Evaluation is one critical element of an Opportunity Culture, used primarily to guide development and career opportunities. But previous teacher evaluation reforms were built for the one-teacher-one-classroom model, and few districts have provided a robust, sustainably funded way to connect teacher evaluation with career opportunities. This guide will help education leaders align evaluation and its uses with an Opportunity Culture and similar school models and career paths—successfully and at a low cost.
Recruiting for Hard-to-Staff Schools
In an article for School Administrator magazine, Sharon Kebschull Barrett, senior editor at Public Impact, examines how districts can attract rock star teachers, especially to hard-to-staff schools and subjects. Four districts that implemented the Opportunity Culture model have found a way to keep great teachers in the classroom and reach more students, offering leadership opportunities, on-the-job training and higher pay.
Opportunity Culture® Implementation
This brief shares the lessons that Public Impact and our partners have learned from our work with these schools in their early stages of Opportunity Culture implementation. It summarizes nine overarching lessons, offers our solutions for assistance providers, schools, and districts, and gives examples of actions that Public Impact, our partners, and some schools and districts have taken.
Teacher and Staff Selection Toolkit
This four-step Selection Action Planner for Districts and related tools guide district, school, and charter management organization leaders in selecting teachers and staff members for Opportunity Culture roles, which require new behaviors and skills.