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Multi-classroom leaders find unique niche

May 22, 2022

From OA Online, May 22, 2022

Interested in making a larger impact, Karen Vicory at Wilson & Young Medal of Honor Middle School and Sydney Garcia at Pease Elementary made the leap from classroom teachers to multi-classroom leaders. The position, through Opportunity Culture, gives them a chance to teach in the classroom and mentor their peers.

Ector County ISD Executive Director for Talent Development Ashley Osborne said the district has 49 MCLs at 17 elementary, middle and high school campuses. Campuses perform a redesign of their Opportunity Culture plan every year where they can determine the structure of Opportunity Culture based on campus need, data and context. “Next year, we are looking to add around 20 additional MCLs. Additionally, we will have 20 campuses utilizing the Opportunity Culture model,” Osborne said in an email.

Two Keys to Success for Opportunity Culture® Leaders

May 19, 2022

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, May 19, 2022

Opportunity Culture planning and implementation success involves a host of factors, such as strong initial school designs and rigorous selection, accountability, and monitoring processes, but over and over, district leaders repeat two themes that can’t be ignored: the importance of building relationships and maintaining fidelity to the model.

Those themes came up again in April, when two Texas Opportunity Culture districts hosted education leaders interested in using Opportunity Culture designs and teacher residencies in their schools—the first in-person site visit since pre-Covid days. The daylong visit to Midland and Ector County Independent School Districts (ISDs) included an overview of Opportunity Culture implementation, visits to multiple schools to see and hear about the educator roles in action, and a panel discussion with the districts’ Opportunity Culture leaders.

Focusing on Quality, from the Selection Process On: An Opportunity Culture® Director Reflects

May 18, 2022

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, May 18, 2022

When we heard that Anne Claire Tejtel Nornhold, who leads the Opportunity Culture work in Baltimore City Public Schools, would move out of that role this spring, we knew we wanted to capture her reflections on what worked well and advice for other district Opportunity Culture directors.

As Baltimore City’s Opportunity Culture lead, Nornhold focuses on identifying schools that want to use Opportunity Culture staffing models and helping each school design the Opportunity Culture implementation that best fits the school. She oversees the candidate pool that schools draw from to fill their new roles, and the development of the accountability framework for those roles.

#4. Advice from an Opportunity Culture® Director

May 18, 2022

As Anne Claire Tejtel Nornhold, who leads the Opportunity Culture work in Baltimore City Public Schools, prepared to move out of that role in spring 2022, she spoke with Public Impact about what worked well and her advice for other district Opportunity Culture directors. Listen to her reflections in our latest Opportunity Culture Audio piece, with her advice on focusing on a strong selection and accountability process, support for multi-classroom leaders, and having high-quality district-level Opportunity Culture support.

Uplift Education Joins National Initiative, Opportunity Culture®, to Reach Students with Excellent Teaching

April 14, 2022

From Accesswire, April 14, 2022

DALLAS, Texas—Uplift Education is thrilled to announce that they have joined the growing, national Opportunity Culture movement to reach all students with excellent teaching, to help students meet their academic goals and leap ahead. Uplift has partnered with Tarleton State University, Public Impact, and US PREP to design and implement innovative roles that provide powerful support for all educators in a select group of Tarrant County schools. Funding for the initial design planning and implementation is provided in part by grants from the Fort Worth Education Partnership and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Read More…

How Opportunity Culture® Redesigns Help Address Teacher Shortages

April 7, 2022

By Public Impact, April 7, 2022

What if you could improve student outcomes even in a time of rising teacher shortages?

Many schools and districts report feeling stuck on the hamster wheel of trying to fill all their open positions. This struggle has been worsening for years. According to one report, the share of schools that tried to fill a vacancy but couldn’t tripled from 2011 to 2016, from 3.1 percent to 9.4 percent, and the share of schools that reported that it was “very difficult” to fill a vacancy nearly doubled, from 19.7 percent to 36.2 percent. Those vacancies directly harm students’ learning.

What could take weary principals out of chronic emergency hiring mode? A chance to rethink staffing to give students excellent instruction using the number of adults a school has. Read More…

#3. How Opportunity Culture® Redesigns Help Address Teacher Shortages

April 7, 2022

What if you could improve student outcomes even in a time of rising teacher shortages? Many schools and districts report feeling stuck on the hamster wheel of trying to fill all their open positions—a struggle that has been worsening for years. Listen to this recording of our post about the solution that could take principals out of chronic emergency hiring mode, and how two principals have used that solution.

#2. Teacher-Assistant Partnership Helps Students Grow

March 29, 2022

Angela Caldwell, an Opportunity Culture expanded-impact kindergarten teacher in Guilford County, North Carolina, and her teaching assistant, Lora Terry, speak with Public Impact about their teaching partnership and the impact they see small-group tutoring making on student learning growth.

Teacher-Assistant Partnership Helps Students Grow

March 29, 2022

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, March 28, 2022

In August 2021, Angela Caldwell, an Opportunity Culture expanded-impact kindergarten teacher at Montlieu Academy of Technology in Guilford County, North Carolina, found herself unexpectedly on her own with a classroom of 22 students, after her teaching assistant left just as the school year began.

So she felt relief that fall when interviewing Lora Terry, who had worked for many years in day care settings. The two clicked, Caldwell said, with Terry making it very clear what she would need to do the job of an assistant well—clear expectations, communication, and clarification. Read More…

Muri: ECISD making progress

March 20, 2022

From Odessa American Online, March 20, 2022, by Ruth Campbell

While Ector County ISD may not be at the level it would like, Superintendent Scott Muri says good things are happening in the district.

In his State of the District address earlier in March, Muri said kindergarten readiness has increased by 13 percentage points, SAT scores were above the state level and there was a 7 percent increase this year over last in college, career and military readiness. This is a factor in state accountability standards.

He noted that the 84.7 percent graduation rate is the highest in 20 years. Read More…