Opportunity Culture

Opportunity Culture News & Views

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New Publications: How Strong District Opportunity Culture Leadership Helped Pave the Way for Low-Performing Schools to Succeed

By Public Impact, April 11, 2023

When Dr. Tina Lupton and Dr. Timisha Barnes-Jones joined the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Opportunity Culture implementation was happening in the midst of Covid. Lupton, the executive director of professional learning, and Barnes-Jones, the area superintendent for a network of 15 transformation schools, used their experience in other Opportunity Culture districts to help the schools make some adjustments. By the following year, three of those Opportunity Culture schools came off North Carolina’s “low-performing” list; nine of the 11 schools implementing Opportunity Culture models either met or exceeded the bar set by the state for expected student learning growth—results they attribute in part to these models.

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New Opportunity Culture Audio: Public Impact Module Helps Schools Create a Tutoring Culture

By Public Impact, April 11, 2023

Former Multi-Classroom Leader Okema Owens Simpson led the development of Public Impact’s on-demand module, Building a Scalable, Sustainable Tutoring Culture for All. In this podcast, Simpson provides an overview of the Multi-Classroom Leader role and the power of small-group, in-school tutoring through MCL teams, as a preview for watching the module and understanding our SIMPLE framework for building a tutoring culture. Listen here.

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Building a Tutoring Culture: On-Demand Module Live

By Public Impact, March 29, 2023

What is a scalable, sustainable tutoring culture, and how can schools build it? In our new on-demand module, we show how Opportunity Culture schools can create a tutoring culture when those in Multi-Classroom Leader roles guide their teams to maximize the impact of small-group teaching and tutoring for all students, with all available adults.

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How Opportunity Culture Models Aim to Increase Teacher Diversity

By Public Impact, March 10, 2023

As recent reports have highlighted, public schools face an ongoing need to increase educator diversity. Students of color make up more than 50 percent of public school enrollment, FutureEd reported, but 79 percent of the teaching force is white. How can Opportunity Culture models help?

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Opportunity Culture Models Bring a Team Approach to the Science of Reading

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, February 13, 2023

In North Carolina, a newfound focus on the science of reading led to the mandated use of the professional learning program LETRS, or Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. Making the shift from “balanced literacy” to instruction based on the science of reading takes significant time and training—adding strain on Covid-weary teachers, as Education Week reported.

With their team-based approach, Opportunity Culture schools can ease some of that stress. Opportunity Culture schools place teachers with proven records of student growth in Multi-Classroom Leader (MCL) roles, leading small teams of teachers and paraprofessionals. Read more…

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Kids Need Tutoring. Few Kids Get Tutoring. Opportunity Culture Models Can Help. 

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, February 10, 2023

Despite a steady national drumbeat about the power of high-dosage tutoring to help students rebound from the dramatic post-Covid learning dip, the National Center for Education Statistics reported on Wednesday that such tutoring reaches only about one in 10 students. Although 37 percent of schools reported that they offer high-dosage tutoring—that is, at least a half-hour of one-on-one or small-group instruction three times a week with a trained educator—not even a third of students in those schools receive the tutoring. Read more…

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