Opportunity Culture® Educator Roles
Schools transform roles, pay, budget usage, and schedules for high-growth student learning while increasing teacher collaboration, teamwork, and small-group teaching and tutoring.
ROLES
Schools using Opportunity Culture® staffing and instructional design create a culture of collaboration and support for high-quality instruction, with shared accountability for student outcomes, increased planning time during the school day, higher pay, and career paths that let teachers advance without leaving the classroom.
Multi-Classroom Leader® Role
The Multi-Classroom Leadership™ role forms one of the three pillars of Opportunity Culture® design, along with Team Reach™ roles and a tutoring culture.
“MCL™” educators are teachers with a record of producing multiple years of high-growth student learning, compared with others in the same state or nationally, who lead a small, collaborative teaching team while continuing to teach part of the time, for higher pay. They provide strong instructional leadership for the team and lead the creation of a tutoring culture.
They have autonomy and authority to fully lead and guide their team’s practice in all areas that affect instructional quality and outcomes.
They don’t hold back on guiding teachers, providing team teacher coaching and feedback and leading student data analysis and planning.
They are responsible for planning and implementing with the team high-standards lessons and alignments aligned with the curriculum—pushing for the adoption of high-quality instructional materials and methods if necessary—and ensuring that lessons are differentiated so that all students get both the prerequisite knowledge they need and make progress beyond the standards.
They lead the team in analyzing student learning data and adjusting instruction accordingly for whole-class instruction, small-group tutoring, and individual work.
With that authority, they have “skin in the game”—they are accountable for the learning outcomes of all the students on the team.
They continue to teach students directly in a class of their own and/or by co-teaching, modeling instruction in other classrooms, and leading small groups. They may be “full release”—meaning they have no classroom of record, so they can lead a slightly larger team—or “partial release,” in which they still lead their own classroom for part of the day, but have the support of advanced paraprofessionals to leave the classroom to lead the team.
They have schedules with protected time during the school day to make it all doable.
They earn an extra 20 percent, on average—and some earn far more.
Schools reaching 100% of students with MCL™ teams are three times as likely to make schoolwide high growth as schools without the models.
Districts may also use the remotely located Multi-Classroom Leader® role, in which a teacher with a record of high-growth student learning and leadership competencies chooses to lead some, or potentially all, team members located in schools where the team leader does not work in person. This team leader may be based in a different school in the same district, in another district, or at home or another location. Learn more in the links below.
Watch
The videos below present real-world examples of the this role:
Learn More
Check out these resources for more about the this role:
- Listen: When Districts Share Staff, Students and Teachers Win—hear from Opportunity Culture® Audio about how two North Carolina districts a three-hour drive apart collaborated on the remotely located MCL™ role.
- Vignette: Days in the Life: The Work of a Successful Multi-Classroom Leader®
- Blog: “What Is My Job, Anyway?” Teacher Hindsight From a Multi-Classroom Leader®
- Blog: From Action Plan to Teacher of the Year—in One Year (see also: One Teacher’s Message for Secretary Cardona)
- News: Multi-Classroom Leaders Find Unique Niche
- Audio: Making the Most of Opportunity Culture® Innovations
[This] is literally like my dream job.
—K-8 Team Leader
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Team Reach Teacher™/Model Team Reach Teacher™ Role*
Team Reach roles form one of the three pillars of Opportunity Culture® design, along with Multi-Classroom Leadership™ roles and a tutoring culture.
In the Team Reach Teacher™ role, educators reach more students than is standard and/or take on an adult leadership responsibility, for higher pay.
They can reach more students directly by teaching significantly more students than standard, by taking on students from an unfilled classroom vacancy or shifting class size across a team, and/or they could provide release time for one or more MCL™ educators to observe and coach team teachers.
They may extend reach through the adult leadership responsibility of guiding and directing a Reach Associate™ paraprofessional, teacher assistant, or regular student teacher, or by providing other adult leadership, such as running PLC logistics.
In this role, they support the building of a tutoring culture through increased small-group tutoring and teaching time.
They have schedules with protected time during the school day to make this doable.
They are paid more, funded sustainably within regular, recurring budgets.
In the Model Team Reach Teacher™ role, educators who have a record of producing at least one year of high-growth student learning teach significantly more students than standard and coach a teacher or resident, for higher pay.
They may teach more students directly by taking on students from an unfilled classroom vacancy or shifting class size across a team, or providing release time for one or more MCL™ educators to observe and coach team teachers.
They may also extend provide other adult leadership, such as running PLC logistics, within the confines of planning and instructional time.
In this role, they support the building of a tutoring culture through increased small-group tutoring and teaching time.
They have schedules with protected time during the school day to make this doable.
They are paid more, funded sustainably within regular, recurring budgets.
Years of data analysis indicate that schools using Team Reach Teacher™ models are more likely to produce high-growth student learning schoolwide than other schools in the initiative.
Educators in these roles receive ongoing, on-the-job support and guidance, typically as part of a Multi-Classroom Leader® team, and they have the support of advanced paraprofessionals (see below).
This was previously known as the Master Team Reach Teacher™ role.
Watch
Watch the video below to see these educators in action:
[This role] gave me the opportunity to learn and to grow.
—High School Team Reach Teacher™ Educator
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Reach Associate™ Role
Paraprofessionals can serve in the advanced Reach Associate™ role, supporting Opportunity Culture® educators or teaching teams, with a focus on small-group tutoring to support the creation of a tutoring culture.
These paraprofessionals play a variety of roles, but the core role is to provide instructional support, with strong guidance and coaching, usually from a teaching team leader or Team Reach™ educator. Typically, they will tutor small groups or individuals in a learning lab or in a teacher’s classroom.
While directly working with students as much as possible, they collaborate with the team when schedules allow on planning and student data analysis, to strengthen their support in team efforts to build and lead a tutoring culture.
They earn more than the standard paraprofessional pay schedule, funded sustainably within regular, recurring budgets.
Watch
The videos below illustrate the importance of this role:
Learn More
Read (and listen!) to more about this role:
- Read | Next-Level TAs: How a Coveted Role Helps Students Succeed
- Audio | Dramatic Student Growth Follows Focus on Data, Small-Group Tutoring, and Collaboration
- Perspective | How one educator used a paraprofessional role to become a stronger teacher
- Column | Teacher Collaboration Time That Students (Yes, Students) Love
- Column | No More “Zoo Wallace”: Becoming a Welcoming, Successful School
- Blog | Opportunity Culture® Models Bring a Team Approach to the Science of Reading
- Blog | In a Texas Opportunity Culture® District, MCLs and Reach Associates Build Partnerships
It was what I needed to be a part of — the best decision I ever made in my life.
—High School Reach Associate™ Paraprofessional
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Teacher Resident Role
Aspiring teachers serve as yearlong, paid teacher residents on teaching teams. They may be:
Working as a new teacher after obtaining a bachelor’s degree to obtain licensure or a master’s degree—with heavy Multi-Classroom Leader® (MCL™) guidance, and collaborating with a team;
Or serving as a resident during their last year(s) of obtaining a bachelor’s degree*, supporting one or more MCL™ teams as the Reach Associate™ role does.
*Or associate’s degree in programs allowing multiple residency years
In both types, residents tutor small groups—delivering immediate positive learning results; learn to plan, deliver, and improve high-standards, differentiated instruction; and receive observations and feedback from the team leader and other team teachers with prior high-growth results.
All residencies are paid with benefits, widening the talent pipeline for schools, and reducing costs and debt for the next generation of educators. Learn more here.
Watch
See video examples below of teacher residents working in schools using Opportunity Culture® models:
Learn More
For more about the resident role, check out these resources:
It’s a great opportunity. You learn so much and you also have the whole year long.
—Elementary Teacher Resident
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Multi-School Leader™ Role
Excellent principals with a record of high-growth student learning may serve in the Multi-School Leader™ role, leading a small group of two to eight related or closely located schools for more pay, funded within the budgets of their schools. They lead a team of their schools’ principals, guiding each in key elements of instructional and administrative leadership; observe and give feedback; and lead performance data analysis and problem-solving throughout the multi-school team. They are accountable for student learning, teacher satisfaction, and other outcomes in all schools led.
They would typically continue to directly lead at least one school—in some cases two—acting as its senior instructional leader, with the help of an instructional assistant principal or principal resident. They rotate working in person in the schools they lead, connecting personally with teachers, staff, and families. Watch for more details as districts begin to use this role!
The Multi-School Leadership™ model also creates the potential for paid, full-time residencies for aspiring principals—particularly ones who have already led instructional teams in the Multi-Classroom Leader® role.
District Role: Opportunity Culture® Director
Most sites name a director to lead their district’s/CMO’s effort to extend the reach of excellent teachers, principals, and their teams to all students, to support schools in implementing well. The Opportunity Culture® director:
serves as the content expert for the district about the models and manages the design process for the district design team and school design teams, ensuring alignment;
collaborates closely with district leadership and all teams using these models to organize and disseminate information about implementation;
develops the leadership of educators in Opportunity Culture® roles; and
contributes and monitors data about the quality and outcomes of implementation toward the district’s goals, using our online portal.