What’s Happening

Opportunity Culture® News and Views

Reset for Success: Hear From Midland Superintendent in New Audio

When Superintendent Stephanie Howard came to Midland ISD in the Permian Basin of Texas, she knew what success with Opportunity Culture® teaching team models should look like, after working with them in neighboring Ector County ISD as a deputy superintendent. Although Midland ISD was using these teams as well, several Opportunity Culture® fundamentals weren’t being followed.

I talked with Howard and Jessie Garcia, who also worked with the models in Ector County, about how they led Midland through a complete implementation reset—an effort now paying off in learning growth for students, sustainable higher pay for teacher-leaders that can reach six figures, and stronger teacher support and retention. Hear how they did it in our latest audio piece—and don’t miss the bonus “go big or go home” clip from Superintendent Howard!

New Data, Big Results: Opportunity Culture® Roles Outpace Others in Learning Growth

In a year of bleak NAEP outcomes nationwide, the latest data on schools using Opportunity Culture® teaching teams provides hope for scaling up student learning results nationwide.

Both experience with Multi-Classroom Leader® teams and the percentage of students reached by them affected schoolwide outcomes.

Title I schools that had several years of experience with these teams, which can include new educator roles, and reached students schoolwide showed the best growth results—boosting their odds of high-growth learning schoolwide by 83 percent over schools without the roles.

A Sure Fix for NAEP Woes

By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan C. Hassel, co-presidents, Public Impact® The latest NAEP scores are no surprise, despite educators' hard work to support students, but this is not just an educational crisis; it’s an economic one. Education outcomes determine students’...

Opportunity Culture® Design + HQIMM +Training & Coaching

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.