For a decade, the Opportunity Culture® initiative has been advancing a vision in which teacher-lead teams are the conduit for high quality instructional materials and methods (HQIMM). Teacher leaders need guidance and support to bring this vision to life with the teams. Read our brief deck on this topic, and look for more in 2025.
Public Impact
District of the Year: Ector County ISD
From K-12 Dive, by Anna Merod, November 27, 2024
Five years ago, Texas’ Ector County Independent School District was significantly underperforming, said Scott Muri, the district’s superintendent emeritus. Today, it’s a different story.
When Muri joined as the district’s superintendent in 2019, he said, students were “struggling academically in school,” and “all the metrics were heading in the wrong direction.” That same year, the Texas Education Agency gave Ector County ISD an F accountability rating.
But now, Ector County ISD, with about 34,000 students, is on the upswing. Signs point to significantly improved student achievement, and the district earned its first-ever B rating from TEA in 2022, the most recent year rated. …
Tutoring is not the only effective strategy that Muri says has helped shape students’ rising success. Strategic staffing through the district’s Opportunity Culture program has significantly influenced student growth, too, he said.
In this program, the district’s most effective teachers instruct half-time and then coach and mentor other educators the rest of the day. Ector County ISD’s program launched over four years ago in partnership with Public Impact, a staffing organization based in North Carolina, Muri said.
November 2024 Newsletter: Are You All-In on Small Groups for Student Success?
In our latest newsletter, hear from the superintendent, a principal, and educators from Winchester Public Schools about how Opportunity Culture® teaching teams combine with a focus on small-group instruction to make a difference in student learning and school culture. Plus you’ll find the latest professional learning opportunities, webinars, tools, social media highlights, news, and more! Read the November 2024 newsletter here.
How Small-Group Instruction Improves Teacher Effectiveness
Team Reach Teacher™ Brian Tavenner of Daniel Morgan Middle School in Winchester, Virginia, says pulling four or five kids at a time into small groups allows him to work with more kids and be more effective with his time.
Why Small-Group Instruction is Worth the Effort
Working with kids in small groups takes more time and effort, but it allows you to see what they truly know and don’t know, says Team Reach Teacher™ Brian Tavenner of Daniel Morgan Middle School in Winchester, Virginia.
#15. How Small Groups Led to Big Middle School Math Growth
Math Team Reach Teacher™ Brian Tavenner discusses his wholehearted belief in the power of extensive small-group instruction to improve all students’ outcomes and the difference it makes in how he works with student learning data. He delves into reflections and how small groups work in his middle school classes, with 50 students split in half through Reach Associate™ support.
#14. Becoming a Student Growth State Leader: Lessons from Winchester
For the 2023–24 school year, Winchester Public Schools had student learning growth results to celebrate: Their seventh-grade math students were number 1 in the state for learning growth; fourth-grade math was in the top 10, and eighth-grade math was in the top 12. All three of these grades had 100 percent of their students reached by Multi-Classroom Leader® teaching teams. And across the district, 15 teams are now reaching 100 percent of students in a subject or grade, with nine teams students’ making high growth.
#13. A Superintendent’s View: Go All-In with Opportunity Culture® Teams, Small-Group
Viewing Opportunity Culture® implementation as a single, cost-neutral solution for multiple issues—student outcomes and educator career paths and satisfaction—Winchester Public Schools Superintendent Jason van Heukelum discusses why the district “jumped all in” and how that’s working out, with strong learning growth results.
Educators get first-hand look at ECISD Opportunity Culture
From Odessa American, by Ruth Campbell, November 7, 2024
Now in its fifth year of implementing Opportunity Culture, Ector County ISD got some visitors from across the state and country Thursday to see how it’s done.
Educators from Florida and Fort Worth and officials from the Texas Education Agency and Public Impact, which deploys the Opportunity Culture initiative, were in town.
The Opportunity Culture model multiplies the impact of highly effective teachers, thereby improving student performance. It also enhances efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified instructors by offering career advancement opportunities, sustainable higher pay, and on-the-job professional development and support, a news release said.
Click here for information on attending upcoming site visits to districts using Opportunity Culture® models.
MISD welcomes visitors to highlight strategic staffing initiative
From Odessa American, November 7, 2024
The visit included campus tours, observing classrooms at South Elementary and Alamo Junior High, and interacting with Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs). MCLs are high-performing teachers who are selected to lead and coach groups of teachers to train them on instructional strategies and ongoing mentorship. Aside from the leadership opportunities, MCLs also earn financial stipends of up to $17,000 per year.
Visitors also had the opportunity to learn how the Opportunity Culture model can be implemented in their own districts. Topics of discussion included training and selection of MCLs, instructional support, and strategic staffing all designed to improve student outcomes.
Click here for information on attending upcoming site visits to districts using Opportunity Culture® models.