Public Impact

October 10, 2024, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Fifteen North Carolina school systems, including the state’s five largest districts—Wake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford, Winston-Salem-Forsyth, and Cumberland—are leading the first wave of schools nationally to receive Certified Opportunity Culture Schools™ status. 

The schools earning this designation have implemented innovative models that extend the reach of excellent teachers and the small teams they lead to more students, for more pay, within regular school budgets. Certified schools have taken steps toward meeting standards correlated with student learning growth.

Third-party studies, including one focused on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), have shown that Opportunity Culture^® models boost student learning an extra half-year annually, on average. Recent data support these findings.

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October 1, 2024, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Showing their commitment to reaching all students with excellent teaching, consistently, and all educators with excellent, paid career opportunities, 366 schools in eight states have been awarded the new Certified Opportunity Culture School™ designation. Districts using Opportunity Culture^® strategic staffing designs implement innovative models that extend the reach of excellent teachers and the small teams they lead to more students, for more pay, within regular school budgets.

Third-party studies have shown that Opportunity Culture models boost student learning an extra half-year annually, on average. They retain effective teachers and pay many team positions more, giving educators support, collaboration and career opportunities. The latest annual, anonymous survey of educators in all schools using Opportunity Culture models shows nearly unanimous support for their school’s implementation, with 99% of educators in the Multi-Classroom Leader® role and 91% of educators in all Opportunity Culture roles agreeing that they want it to continue in their school.

With Opportunity Culture certification and validation, schools and districts can attract applicants looking for support and career paths, and reassure parents, their community, state and funders that they are using models that increase student learning. Certification levels convey strength of implementation in key areas, including selectivity of Opportunity Culture roles, student access to instruction led by Opportunity Culture teams, incorporation of small-group, high-dosage tutoring into staffing plans and financial sustainability of staffing plans.

The newly certified schools are all at the “provisional” level reflecting their 2023–24 school year, and they can attain higher certification levels for the current school year and beyond. Twenty-eight districts total in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia now have certified schools.

Read the full press release here…