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Opportunity Culture® News and Views

3 Key Steps for State Policymakers: Our New Journal Article

by | May 11, 2026

Nationally, hundreds of Title I schools using Opportunity Culture® staffing design were two to three times more likely to achieve high-growth learning in 2024–25 than Title I schools in the same states not using these designs–outcomes exceeding other national strategic staffing efforts. What would it take for school systems everywhere to see the same results?

A big part of the answer lies in the hands of state policymakers. In the latest issue of State Education Standard, the journal of the National Association of State Boards of Education, Sharon Kebschull Barrett and Bryan C. Hassel of Public Impact® provide three key steps policymakers should take to support all of their districts in redesigning for student success and educator satisfaction.

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Can Districts Miles Apart Share Staff Successfully—And Why Would They?

by | April 10, 2026

We think of school districts in a steady competition for teacher talent–but what happens when they collaborate to share staff instead?

Listen to our latest Opportunity Culture® Audio podcast to hear how two North Carolina districts, hours apart, worked together when one district needed, but couldn’t find, a high school math teaching team leader with a record of producing high-growth learning.

Listen: In Mississippi, Responding to a Teacher Retention Crisis

by | March 27, 2026

State-level action and support is key to getting excellent teaching to many more students fast–and kids can’t wait. They need better learning, and for that, they need well-supported, well-paid teachers. As the leaders of Mississippi First and Teach Plus highlight in their reports, The Weight They Carry: Life as a Teacher in Mississippi and Reimagining School Staffing: Recommendations from Teach Plus MS Policy Fellows, Mississippi faces not a generic “teacher shortage” but a specific teacher retention crisis.

In our latest audio piece, Angela Bass, executive director of Mississippi First, Grace Braezeale, the director of research and K-12 policy who wrote Mississippi First’s report, Sanford Johnson, executive director of Teach Plus Mississippi, and Policy Fellow Sharon Buckhanan share what they hear from teachers throughout the state about the conditions leading to burnout and to great teachers leaving the profession altogether—and their hopes for how things could change for teachers, students, and parents if schools start using Opportunity Culture® teaching teams, proven to increase student learning and provide job-embedded, in-depth support for teachers.

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New Research Shows 2–3X Schoolwide High-Growth Learning Nationally with Opportunity Culture® Design

by | March 24, 2026

In October 2025, Public Impact® reported on North Carolina high-growth results for schools; now, we’re pleased to share new findings from national data: Schools using updated Opportunity Culture® staffing design standards achieved, on average, two to three times the rate of schoolwide high-growth learning of other schools in the same states in 2024–25.

In addition, new third-party research in one district found a full extra half-year of learning in reading and more than an extra third of a year in math for students between 2020 and 2024. Prior third-party research on three districts found more than an extra half-year of learning in math.

The staffing designs create teaching teams that reached over 275,000 students and 10,500 teachers in 2025–26 alone and are expanding in 18 states.

“Educators continue to help students learn far more in roles designed to support excellent instruction,” said Bryan C. Hassel, co-president of Public Impact®, which founded the Opportunity Culture® initiative. “We see variation based on adherence to design standards associated with stronger learning, and potentially due to other factors like curriculum focus. Most important, students are learning while educators are earning more.”

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Breaking Through on Teacher Support: Pennsylvania, Mississippi Groups Call for State Action on Staffing Redesign

by | March 3, 2026

What would it take for states to listen to educators and support the talented people they already have in their schools? In Pennsylvania and Mississippi, two nonprofits recently sang the same tune: Support teachers and students through proven staffing redesign. Teach Plus PA and Mississippi First have issued calls to action by their states and districts that set an example for the nation.

Like them, we believe in the talented teachers schools already have, and in the power of staffing redesign to dramatically improve school for both students and teachers.

But in both states—and throughout the country—details matter deeply. States should not provide funding for a “let all flowers bloom” approach. Students and teachers need staffing design with a track record of success, state monitoring of design fidelity, and continuous improvement using data to maintain strong outcomes.

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“A Great Solution”: Opportunity Culture® Design on Future of Education Podcast

by | March 2, 2026

“Asking teachers to be superheroes and be all things to all students is an insane job description,” writes Michael Horn. After having Bryan Hassel and Ashley Williams of Public Impact on his Future of Education podcast to talk about Opportunity Culture® staffing design, Horn wrote, “The work Bryan and Ashley are doing speaks to a great solution—that also makes the job of teaching more motivating and viable.”

In Scaling the Transformation of the Traditional Teaching Model, Hassel and Williams discuss the power of teaching teams. In a LinkedIn post, Horn said the conversation left him with several takeaways, including that:

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Using Title I and II Funds to Support School Design that Boosts Student Learning

by | February 26, 2026

The U.S. Department of Education recently released guidance encouraging states and school systems to use Title II and Title I funding (“Title funding”) to redesign schools for stronger learning and educator satisfaction using “strategic staffing.”

Opportunity Culture® school designs are proven, evidence-based staffing designs that boost student learning by 2–13 months each school year—while increasing teacher satisfaction and reducing vacancies and turnover. Educators earn more long-term—within recurring budgets.

These staffing designs, created with teachers, have been rigorously researched and meticulously improved over nearly 15 years, using data about features that work best for students and educators. Dozens of options for small teaching teams led by excellent teachers offer schools design flexibility within data-based guardrails—to maximize learning while adjusting details to fit each school’s needs. Teams may include teacher residencies and apprenticeships as well as specialized roles, such as a special education team leader.