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We can rethink training, recruiting, deploying teachers

From Indianapolis Business Journal, August 12, 2022 by Claire Fiddian-Green

Indiana, like the rest of the nation, is grappling with a shortage of teachers. Although shortages are more acute today due to the impact of COVID-19 on labor markets, this challenge has existed for decades. Addressing teacher shortages for the long term will require us to rethink how we train, recruit and deploy teacher talent—and how policymakers can support these efforts. …

One idea is to live-stream lessons so that the same teacher can reach more than one classroom. Another idea is to restructure teacher teams, with some focused on lesson planning and others focused on teaching or tutoring. Public Impact’s Opportunity Culture resources have been used in schools nationwide to help educators revise staffing models. These creative approaches address staffing gaps, while also helping schools retain their highest-performing teachers.

Read the full article…

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Muri: Good news on the teacher front

From OA Online, August 11, 2022

Armed with more than 400 new teachers and a pool of 500 substitutes, Ector County ISD is raring to go for this school year.

Superintendent Scott Muri said teachers from 25 countries are represented in classrooms across the district. He added that there is a member of the Human Capital Department who oversees all of the recruiting, retention and support of those individuals. …

He added that the district has made a “significant investment in our human capital strategy over the last three years.”

“We’ve increased teacher compensation. We provide some incentives for teachers to earn more money. We’re developing the professionalism of teachers in our own organization through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, building the quality and caliber of teachers that we have, providing leadership opportunities for teachers through Opportunity Culture.

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Big Welcome: Community pulls out the stops for new ECISD teachers

From OA Online, August 2, 2022 by Ruth Campbell

Topping off its best recruiting year in more than a decade, Ector County ISD welcomed about 450 new teachers to the district Monday.

The Teacher Welcome Event, held at the Odessa Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, is organized by the Odessa Chamber of Commerce. Vendors, welcome signs, mascots and cheerleaders marked the occasion, along with prize drawings, food and plenty of swag. Superintendent Scott Muri said there were “450-ish” teachers who were either brand new to the district or teachers who have taught elsewhere.

“We’ve had the best recruiting year in over 10 years, so we’ll have a great start to the school year because of that,” Muri said. He said the recruiting success is a result of a combination of factors such as ECISD’s investment in talent, which is part of its strategic plan, pay raises, the Teacher Incentive Allotment and Opportunity Culture.

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It’s Time to Rethink the ‘One Teacher, One Classroom’ Model

From Education Week, July 20, 2022, by Irene Chen & Stephanie Banchero

The last few years have taken a toll on our teachers. The COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing cultural divisions, and the Uvalde, Texas, massacre all weigh heavily. Morale is at an all-time low. Now is the time to rethink the teaching profession.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, some districts are struggling to find teachers. According to federal data collected in January, 44 percent of public schools reported at least one teaching vacancy, and 61 percent identified the pandemic as a cause. Rural and urban districts are having a particularly tough time, especially finding special education and bilingual teachers. Students of color and those from underserved communities are more likely to have uncertified or inexperienced teachers. Read more…

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Education Matters: Advanced Teaching Roles

From Education Matters, July 16, 2022

In this episode of Education Matters, a weekly television show about the state of public education in North Carolina, host Mary Ann Wolf, President and Executive Director of the Public School Forum, interviews Public Impact Co-President Bryan Hassel about the Opportunity Culture initiative and Advanced Teaching Roles. Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR) is a state grant structure designed to help retain and expand the reach of highly effective teachers in North Carolina. Most of the North Carolina districts receiving ATR grants use Opportunity Culture roles.

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A Closer Look at Advanced Teaching Roles in North Carolina: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

From BEST NC, July 15, 2022

This video from BEST NC examines how the Advanced Teaching Roles program has created new opportunities for teacher leadership and educator collaboration in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, resulting in increased student growth. CMS was the first and largest school district to receive Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR) grants. Like most of the North Carolina districts receiving ATR grants, CMS uses Opportunity Culture roles as its framework. Principal Phillip Steffes, featured in the video, is a 2018-19 Opportunity Culture Fellow. He led Opportunity Culture implementation at his previous school, Albemarle Road Elementary. Read what he wrote about the experience here.

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Blackshear chief earns Elementary Principal of the Year

From OA Online, July 11, 2022

When a group of Ector County ISD officials turned up at Blackshear Magnet Elementary School, Principal Valerie Rivera thought the campus had won a grant or someone else was getting an award.

But that person was her. Rivera was recognized with the Elementary Principal of the Year award recently.

In her 28th year with ECISD, she has helmed Blackshear for four years. Rivera started as a bilingual teacher and worked her way up to assistant principal and principal.

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Muri named Region 18 superintendent of the year

From OA Online, June 16, 2022

Ector County ISD has announced that Superintendent of Schools Scott Muri has been selected as the Region 18 Superintendent of the Year.

Muri joined ECISD in 2019, from Spring Branch ISD in Houston. He has 33 years of experience in public education that includes key leadership roles in large districts like Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina and Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as in unique settings such as Walt Disney’s Celebration School in Celebration, Florida.

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CMS joins national Opportunity Culture educational initiative

From The Sentinel-Record, May 22, 2022

Cutter Morning Star School District is implementing Opportunity Culture models in its elementary school this fall as part of the Arkansas Department of Education’s statewide initiative to reach all students with quality, more-personalized teaching.

Superintendent Nancy Anderson said the district was approached by the department during the first year of its rollout and she visited the North Little Rock School District, which was one of the first schools to implement the program.

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Multi-classroom leaders find unique niche

From OA Online, May 22, 2022

Interested in making a larger impact, Karen Vicory at Wilson & Young Medal of Honor Middle School and Sydney Garcia at Pease Elementary made the leap from classroom teachers to multi-classroom leaders. The position, through Opportunity Culture, gives them a chance to teach in the classroom and mentor their peers.

Ector County ISD Executive Director for Talent Development Ashley Osborne said the district has 49 MCLs at 17 elementary, middle and high school campuses. Campuses perform a redesign of their Opportunity Culture plan every year where they can determine the structure of Opportunity Culture based on campus need, data and context. “Next year, we are looking to add around 20 additional MCLs. Additionally, we will have 20 campuses utilizing the Opportunity Culture model,” Osborne said in an email.

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