At John Kerr Elementary in Winchester, Virginia, teaching team leader Brandi Shirley (left) and Reach Associate™ Debra James lead small-group instruction. In October, Winchester Public Schools Superintendent Jason van Heukelum got good news from the latest Virginia...
What’s Happening
Opportunity Culture® News and Views
N.C. Districts—Including 5 Largest—Lead Nation in New Certification
Did you know that all of the five largest school districts in North Carolina use Opportunity Culture® strategic staffing models? With 10 other North Carolina school systems, these districts—Wake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford, Winston-Salem-Forsyth, and Cumberland—are also leading the first wave of schools nationally to receive Certified Opportunity Culture School™ status. Read more…
366 Schools in 8 States Receive Certified Status
We are excited to announce that 366 schools in 28 districts in eight states have been awarded the new "Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Provisional Level, 2023–24" designation! Showing their commitment to reaching all students with excellent teaching,...
Teach Plus Report Highlights New Mexico School Using Opportunity Culture® Roles
In a new report this summer, Teach Plus took a look at innovation in New Mexico districts, and highlighted a Carlsbad Municipal Schools middle school seeing success with student growth from its Opportunity Culture® teaching teams! Read what P.R. Leyva Middle School...
New on EdNC.org from Public Impact: Creating a Tutoring Culture
Educators and policymakers continue to worry about permanent learning shortfalls post-Covid—both for individual students and the societal implications, including to the U.S. economy. In North Carolina, efforts to spread high-dosage tutoring help, but still reach a fraction of students. But North Carolina districts and schools using strategic staffing models point the way to getting students the amount of tutoring proven to dramatically increase learning—during school, within regular budgets, for all students, and with even more tutoring time for the students furthest behind.
Free Webinar: Three Keys to Getting Every Educator a Coach
In schools using Opportunity Culture® staffing models, small teaching teams aim to provide every educator with a great coach—the team leader. What can administrators do to support these teacher-leaders in their new coaching roles? Join us June 27 for a free webinar to learn about three keys to achieving widespread but personalized coaching and a platform to support it.
Because Kids Can’t Wait: Expanding Access to Opportunity Culture® Design
At Public Impact®, we feel the “kids can’t wait” urgency—we know all kids deserve the learning results that our Opportunity Culture® strategic staffing models have been proven to produce. So we are taking steps to make our support for school systems more accessible. With a new online platform and certification process, schools and districts can spread the results to many more students and educators…
Because Kids Can’t Wait: Use Proven Teaching Teams Throughout Schools and Districts
With a decade of successful implementation behind us, here’s one thing we know: Opportunity Culture®strategic staffing is long past the pilot phase. Studies show the power of Opportunity Culture®roles and teaching teams, along with our own continual data tracking. That research and data focuses us on a key to success for 2024–25: reaching all students with Multi-Classroom Leadership™ teams…
Because Kids Can’t Wait: Follow 5 Crucial Strategic Staffing Principles
We’re closing out our celebration of the first decade of the Opportunity Culture® initiative—going from a few pioneering schools and districts to the nearly 200,000 students who will be reached next year by excellent teaching. We rejoice over the student learning growth seen so far, the $57.9 million in extra pay that has gone to educators, and the teacher support and collaboration that has been a hallmark of this initiative since day 1…
Keeping Advanced Roles Alive and Thriving: Vance County’s Experience
Before Vance County Schools began designing its Opportunity Culture® staffing models in 2017–18, the district struggled with teacher turnover and higher pay supplements offered by nearby districts. Based in Henderson, N.C., the district began implementing the models in three elementary schools the following year to serve as “incubators of innovation” before expanding into four more schools…