The Opportunity Culture® Results
Strong student learning growth and educator satisfaction with higher educator pay
Our Opportunity Culture® models boast 10 years of student learning growth and educator-pleasing results:
Student learning growth:
An extra half-year, every year
Educator satisfaction:
Surveys show educators love their small teams led by teachers with a record of high-growth learning—and the higher pay and support they receive
Cost-effective:
Invest once to make the transition to new roles, get long-term payoff in student growth, teacher recruitment and retention
Build-your-own teacher pipeline:
Paid, full-time, yearlong residencies for aspiring teachers
School and district certification:
Demonstrating instructional system strength to attract applicants and families looking for excellent schools
I definitely say, “It’s something that any district should do.”
—North Carolina superintendent
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Schools Get Results
Students gain an extra half-year of learning each year, on average, when an educator in the Multi-Classroom Leader® role with prior high growth leads a teaching team with a variety of team role options. The odds of a teacher helping students make high-growth learning more than double when on these teams.
The teams also make it possible to create a tutoring culture, giving all students access to more small-group teaching and tutoring during the school day to further boost learning.
Educators express strong satisfaction with their roles
99% of educators in the Multi-Classroom Leader® role would like these roles to continue in their schools, according to survey results.
Percentage of educators in all Opportunity Culture® roles who:
- Want these roles to continue in their schools 91%
- Agree that the supports provided translate into improved instructional practice 92%
- Agree that teachers receive feedback that can help them improve teaching 93%
- Agree that teachers are held to high professional standards for delivering instruction 96%
As the annual update of statistics on the data dashboard shows:
Students 2024–25
estimated will be reached by excellent teachers and their teams in 2024–25
Teachers 2024–25
had advanced roles or received on-the-job development on these teams in 2023–24
Total $ Extra Pay
went to Opportunity Culture® educators since 2013; $20.9M in 2023–24
Everyone Benefits
Districts and schools using these models also describe the improvement they see in educator recruitment and retention since beginning implementation, and improving educator pipelines through advanced paraprofessional and teacher resident roles.
When students learn more, they can ultimately get better jobs and earn more. Using McKinsey’s method for calculation,* students in classrooms using these team models will earn over $100,000 more in their careers, on average.
* McKinsey & Co. (2009). The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools; or see our more conservative estimate applied to one state
Students earning more boosts local economies fast. The more schools that adopt the models, the bigger the local boost.
And the more schools statewide using these models, the bigger the boost to the state’s economy. Again using McKinsey’s math, in an average state, implementing these models statewide would add $6 billion to $10 billion to the economy over 16 years, if three-fourths of schools make the transition rapidly. Increased tax revenues could be used to pay teachers more and meet other priorities.
Data Dashboard
See more about the effect of these models in action, including all certified schools.
Third-Party Research
Learn what third-party studies show about student outcomes.
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We saw an improvement in their outcomes immediately last year in terms of growth of students…and we saw an increase in the number of teachers who outperform the state in terms of growth of students.
—North Carolina superintendent
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