From KMID News, November 18, 2025
Television news segment from Odessa, Texas highlighting the Opportunity Culture® initiative in Ector County Independent School District.
Public Impact
So You Got High Learning Growth—Now What?
As learning growth results continue to come in across the U.S. for the 2024–25 year, educators in many high-growth schools may find their celebrations tinged with an edge of dread. They and their students worked so hard for their results—but what now?
Many organizations, not just schools, find sustaining high performance just as hard as achieving it. In schools, the challenges include:
Vacancies Plummet, Student Results Rocket in Carlsbad, New Mexico: Superintendent Gerry Washburn
When Carlsbad Municipal Schools Superintendent Gerry Washburn joined the district, it was facing high teacher vacancies and low student success—and a lot of low morale. A chance conversation with Ector County, Texas, Superintendent Scott Muri showed Washburn a new option—Opportunity Culture® school redesign. With inclusive leadership and a determination to get design and implementation of new staffing roles right, plus a strong district team and principals, Washburn saw schools begin to soar and lead the state: “I’ve been stunned at the acceleration that we’re seeing.”
Redesigning school staffing for student success
From The Education Gadfly Show, October 22, 2025
In Episode #991 of The Education Gadfly Show, Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact, joins the hosts Michael J. Petrilli, David Griffith, and Adam Tyner to discuss how redesigning school staffing—through models like Opportunity Culture®—can boost both teacher retention and student success. Listen to the episode here.
Midland ISD’s Opportunity Culture empowers teachers and elevates student success
By Midland Times, October 10, 2025
Opportunity Culture is making significant changes within the Midland Independent School District (ISD) by emphasizing teacher development and improved student outcomes.
According to a Meta post, this innovative model empowers educators to advance into leadership roles such as Master Team Reach Teachers (MTRTs) and Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs). These positions enable them to share their expertise, mentor colleagues, and reach more students with high-quality instruction. The teacher-leaders play a crucial role in enhancing instruction across campuses. By coaching and supporting their teams, they build capacity within the district, creating a ripple effect of excellence that benefits both educators and learners. The result is a collaborative culture where continuous learning and professional development drive student achievement.
“Being a part of Opportunity Culture has shaped me into a better learner and leader, challenging me to step outside my comfort zone and discover strengths I didn’t know I had,” said Michaela Arrott-Rodriguez, a fourth-grade math MCL at Burnett Elementary. “I love the challenges, the friendships, and the constant opportunities to grow. What I cherish most is the sense of belonging and support—being part of a team where we inspire and uplift each other every day has made this journey truly meaningful.”
The post noted that through Opportunity Culture, Midland ISD continues to invest in its educators—recognizing that when teachers are supported, inspired, and given room to lead, students thrive. This commitment to growth and collaboration exemplifies the district’s mission to enhance student experience and develop staff.
October 2025 Newsletter: With MCL™ Teams, Up to 3X Rate of High-Growth Learning
North Carolina schools with Certified Opportunity Culture School® status were two to three times more likely to exceed learning growth expectations than schools not using Opportunity Culture® staffing design—learn more in our latest newsletter. Plus, read our blog about Opportunity Culture® staffing models being discussed in the U.S. Senate; listen to a conversation with the Greene County, N.C., superintendent on our podcast; and check out an op-ed from the superintendent of Midland ISD in Texas. All this and more in the October 2025 newsletter!
Superintendent Reflects on First 100 Days: “Listening, Learning, and Leading Greene County Forward”
From Neuse News, Matt Lococo, October 7, 2025
[Excerpt] Dr. McNeill is candid about the challenges facing the district, particularly the need to strengthen academic outcomes and close post-pandemic learning gaps. To address these issues, Greene County Schools is partnering with Public Impact and Opportunity Culture and collaborating with NCDPI on abbreviated school-level needs assessments.
Q&A with Dr. Scott Muri: System Redesign, Strategic Staffing, and the Next Frontier for K–12
From Whiteboard Advisors, by Hillary Rinaldi, October 10, 2025
As superintendent emeritus of Ector County ISD (Odessa, TX), Dr. Scott Muri led a district-wide turnaround—weaving talent strategies, outcomes-based tutoring, and tight execution to deliver measurable gains. Last month, Dr. Muri testified before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee to share more about the effort.
This week, we caught up with Dr. Muri to reflect on his tenure as superintendent, how AI should reshape systems (not just tools), and why agility is the new non-negotiable for districts. We touched on ECISD’s continued, rapid progress, “braiding” multiple operational strategies to improve outcomes, system-wide project management discipline, and investing in teachers through expanded roles, stackable compensation, and robust training pipelines.
North Carolina Data: Up To 3X More Learning Growth in Schools Using Opportunity Culture Staffing Designs
October 1, 2025, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—In 2024–25, hundreds of North Carolina schools with Certified Opportunity Culture School® status were two to three times more likely to exceed learning growth expectations than schools not using these designs, data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction shows.
Opportunity Culture staffing design affects both instruction and human resources by extending the reach of excellent teaching to more students, for more pay, within regular budgets. Schools create Multi-Classroom Leader® teaching teams, which are led by a teacher with a record of high-growth student learning. A team of teachers and administrators at each school determines the exact team design, and schools vary significantly in their design, curricula, and instruction. Schools can receive certification from Public Impact, which created the Opportunity Culture initiative, by following a set of design standards correlated with student learning growth.
Of all 258 certified schools, 48% exceeded growth targets, compared with 25% of all schools in the state without Multi-Classroom Leader (MCL™) teams.
Of the 222 Title I schools with certification, 43% exceeded growth targets, compared with 21% of Title I schools without the teams.
The certified schools were also significantly less likely to fall short of growth targets than comparable schools in the state. Although Title I schools using these teams without certification were also more likely to exceed growth targets and less likely to fall short, the magnitude of differences was far larger for certified schools.
Choosing to Use Opportunity Culture® Design, on Fast Timeline
In the first of an occasional “Superintendents Speak” series, Superintendent Rodney McNeill of Greene County and Superintendent Rodney Peterson of Person County discuss why they chose to use Opportunity Culture® models in their districts, and why they elected to have their districts go through a fast-track design workshop together in the spring, to be able to begin using Multi-Classroom Leader® teaching teams in the fall. Both districts feel the pressure of nearby, larger districts—and districts already using Opportunity Culture® models—that are able to pay teachers more.