Public Impact® committed to four bottom-line measures two decades ago: reaching large number of students, measuring results primarily in student learning growth, creating strong professional relationships and satisfaction for educators, and ensuring financial...
Public Impact
September 2026 Newsletter: Essentials for State Scale, New Data and Actionable Insights, New Fellowship
We’ve spent the past few months tallying up exciting data about schools using Opportunity Culture® design—and here’s the bottom line: Following data-driven design standards—and giving educators access to how-to tools in an online portal—led to surges in schools’ and systems’ use of design elements correlated with high-growth learning outcomes, such as tutoring, along with nation-leading educator satisfaction. Get a quick glance in a short, interactive flipbook—perfect for sharing! Also read about our new Opportunity Culture® Fellows cohort; training for Multi-Classroom Leader® educators to serve students with disabilities and learning difference; essentials for state leaders to scale up staffing and instructional design; plus the latest events, tools, and news, all in the September 2026 edition of our newsletter!
Ross Elementary School becomes first in nation to earn certification
By Odessa American, August 5, 2026
Five years ago, Ector County ISD took the leap to adopt Opportunity Culture staffing and instructional design, an initiative from Public Impact designed to extend the reach and impact of the most effective teachers on a campus. This year Ross Elementary took that to the next level by becoming the first school in the nation to earn Level 3 Certified Opportunity Culture School status. The historic milestone reflects the school’s intentional efforts to create an environment where innovation and teamwork could thrive.
“This achievement is an incredible honor,” said new Ross Elementary Principal Amanda Anderson who served as principal intern at the school last year. “It reflects the dedication and commitment of the educators who have poured their hearts into serving Ross students.”
“We congratulate Ross Elementary on being the first in the nation to reach Level 3,” Public Impact Co-President Bryan C. Hassel said in a news release. “Ross has shown how to make this team staffing and instructional design, with higher pay and accountability for student results, become simply the way a school does things — a great example for other schools around the country.”
New Staffing Models Put Strong Teachers Out Front
From The 74, by Greg Toppo, July 29, 2026
In Carlsbad, N.M., a tiny district in the southeastern corner of the state, nine of its 12 schools have turned teacher assignments upside-down, inviting their best teachers to coach a team of colleagues, model lessons and take direct responsibility for the achievement of every student the team serves.
In exchange, each teacher-leader earns substantially more — without leaving the classroom.
The idea grew out of an emerging staffing model called Opportunity Culture, now in its fourth year in the Carlsbad Municipal School District. It’s reshaping how schools there and elsewhere deploy teachers. …
Read the full article here and learn more about Opportunity Culture® models in Carlsbad here.
Opportunity Culture® Staffing and Instructional Design
This report briefly details the why, what, and how of Opportunity Culture® staffing and instructional design, including its benefits, roles, and results. It explains how the process for receiving Certified Opportunity Culture School® status supports schools in...
State of the Opportunity Culture® Initiative: Summer 2026
As the Opportunity Culture® initiative, the nation’s largest and most successful school staffing and instructional design effort, closed out the 2025–26 school year, Public Impact® published this report on the progress toward goals for the initiative and insights from...
“Ideas I didn’t think of:” Becoming the First Oklahoma District Using Opportunity Culture® Design
When a state’s schools have never used Opportunity Culture® staffing design before, what motivates superintendents to bring it to their districts? Hear from Hulbert Public Schools Superintendent Jolyn Choate about why she signed up to be part of the first design cohort in Oklahoma, taking advantage of a funding opportunity that covers the costs of the design and early implementation process. We spoke with Choate just before Hulbert’s first two educators to take on the Multi-Classroom Leader® role began two days of professional learning to prepare for teaching team leadership at Hulbert Elementary, the first of the district’s three schools to implement the role.
Rethinking Teaching: New Ways to Staff America’s Schools
From Bipartisan Policy Center, July 8, 2026, by Adam Johnston
Why America’s One-Teacher Classroom Needs to Change
American classrooms in 2026, in which one teacher instructs 20 to 30 students, are strikingly similar to those from 100 years ago. Most teachers, like a century ago, have two main pathways to advance in their profession. The first option is remaining in the classroom, incrementally increasing their paycheck over decades. The second is to leave the classroom either for administrative roles in schools or to enter a new field entirely. However, there is a third option: Strategic staffing models allow teachers to grow in their careers without leaving the classroom. This explainer outlines what it means to rethink teaching through effective strategic staffing models and which organizations are leading this work.
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Public Impact released a report in 2009 calling for a new approach to teacher staffing where the most effective teachers could reach more students through redesigned roles. They named the approach Opportunity Culture and officially launched the model in 2013.
Key components of Opportunity Culture are: differentiated teacher roles and pay, expanded reach of effective teachers, and small-group tutoring. By the end of 2025, more than 1,150 schools were using this approach, most of which were eligible for Title I funds that serve low-income communities. A study examining 44 Opportunity Culture schools showed student performance improved across math courses. After implementing Opportunity Culture, the teacher vacancy rate decreased 17 percentage points in Ector County, TX, schools while Desert Willow Elementary School in New Mexico posted state-leading literacy proficiency results.
Next-Level TAs: How a Coveted Role Helps Students Succeed
It’s a winning formula: school paraprofessional + tutoring culture focus + support and training + pay supplement = a highly coveted role.
How do schools and students both win when districts begin using the Opportunity Culture® Reach Associate™ role? This audio version of our short publication “Next-Level TAs” explains, with input from district leaders and those who have taken the RA™ role.
From the district perspective: “It really helps to build our pipeline when there aren’t a lot of people out there just begging to become teachers,” and the RA™ perspective: “I’m more hands-on….It’s helping the children get to the next level and succeed.”
May 2026 Newsletter: Teachers In, Teachers Out? Responding to Retention Crisis
Hear how education advocates in Pennsylvania and Mississippi are responding to teacher retention crises in their states, plus check out our podcast on how one rural school district solved a teaching vacancy by sharing a remotely-located team leader with another district. Plus, we shine a spotlight on a district recognized as a “Louisiana Literacy Leader”, congratulate the latest districts with certified schools, and unveil the theme for summer professional learning! All this and more in the May 2026 newsletter!