Putting Data In Its Place: How Strong Teaching Teams Use Data To Achieve Student Growth

by | March 18, 2020

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett; first published by EducationNC, March 18, 2020

Can deep dives into large flows of student learning data actually lower teacher stress? Successful multi-classroom leaders, who lead small teaching teams in data analysis, say yes. When schools focus on small teams led by highly successful teachers, they help address the concerns North Carolina teachers expressed in a recent EdNC.org survey about professional development on using data and about having time to analyze and use data.

In the survey, to which 822 self-selected teachers responded, teachers generally expressed confidence in their ability to use data to improve instruction, and said using it is important. But only about half agreed that their school or district provides enough professional development about using data (56%) and accessing data (58.8%), and only half agreed that their school or district’s professional development is useful for learning about data use (50.1%).

That’s a huge missed opportunity, and one that schools using Opportunity Culture® models — centered on Multi-Classroom Leadership — directly address. Multi-classroom leaders, or MCLs, are teachers with a record of strong student growth who provide intensive, job-embedded guidance and support to teachers that focuses on what they and their students need right now to succeed. Read more…

Note: Public Impact® and Opportunity Culture® are registered trademarks; Multi-Classroom Leader®, MCL™, and Multi-Classroom Leadership™ are trademarked terms, registration pending.

Keep Reading

Congratulating All Certified Schools

It's a Certified Opportunity Culture School® bonanza! Congratulations to the 38 systems and more than 460 schools that received Certified Opportunity Culture School® status for 2025–26. Getting certified isn’t a box-checking exercise in compliance; it’s a top way for...

3 Key Steps for State Policymakers: Our New Journal Article

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...

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

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...