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Big changes in Ector County ISD: Resident teachers are getting paid-here’s why

From Your Basin, by Ric Dorsey, November 18, 2025

Opportunity Culture is a program that solves the teacher shortage and improves student performance through the collaboration of advanced educators partnering with teacher residents. They can grow as educators, get paid for their residency, and improve the quality of the curriculum they are teaching.

One principal at an Ector County elementary school says their students’ success is always the number one priority.

“Opportunity culture is a redesign of the traditional school setting. Where you have these excellent, talented, successful teachers that coach, support, and plan with their peer teachers, our goal is that kids get that high-quality instruction every day”

Teachers report that the sense of community and collaboration has helped them grow as educators.

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Redesigning school staffing for student success

From The Education Gadfly Show, October 22, 2025

In Episode #991 of The Education Gadfly Show, Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact, joins the hosts Michael J. Petrilli, David Griffith, and Adam Tyner to discuss how redesigning school staffing—through models like Opportunity Culture®—can boost both teacher retention and student success. Listen to the episode here.

Midland ISD’s Opportunity Culture empowers teachers and elevates student success

By Midland Times, October 10, 2025

Opportunity Culture is making significant changes within the Midland Independent School District (ISD) by emphasizing teacher development and improved student outcomes.

According to a Meta post, this innovative model empowers educators to advance into leadership roles such as Master Team Reach Teachers (MTRTs) and Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs). These positions enable them to share their expertise, mentor colleagues, and reach more students with high-quality instruction. The teacher-leaders play a crucial role in enhancing instruction across campuses. By coaching and supporting their teams, they build capacity within the district, creating a ripple effect of excellence that benefits both educators and learners. The result is a collaborative culture where continuous learning and professional development drive student achievement.

“Being a part of Opportunity Culture has shaped me into a better learner and leader, challenging me to step outside my comfort zone and discover strengths I didn’t know I had,” said Michaela Arrott-Rodriguez, a fourth-grade math MCL at Burnett Elementary. “I love the challenges, the friendships, and the constant opportunities to grow. What I cherish most is the sense of belonging and support—being part of a team where we inspire and uplift each other every day has made this journey truly meaningful.”

The post noted that through Opportunity Culture, Midland ISD continues to invest in its educators—recognizing that when teachers are supported, inspired, and given room to lead, students thrive. This commitment to growth and collaboration exemplifies the district’s mission to enhance student experience and develop staff.

Superintendent Reflects on First 100 Days: “Listening, Learning, and Leading Greene County Forward”

From Neuse News, Matt Lococo, October 7, 2025

[Excerpt] Dr. McNeill is candid about the challenges facing the district, particularly the need to strengthen academic outcomes and close post-pandemic learning gaps. To address these issues, Greene County Schools is partnering with Public Impact and Opportunity Culture and collaborating with NCDPI on abbreviated school-level needs assessments.

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Q&A with Dr. Scott Muri: System Redesign, Strategic Staffing, and the Next Frontier for K–12

From Whiteboard Advisors, by Hillary Rinaldi, October 10, 2025

As superintendent emeritus of Ector County ISD (Odessa, TX), Dr. Scott Muri led a district-wide turnaround—weaving talent strategies, outcomes-based tutoring, and tight execution to deliver measurable gains. Last month, Dr. Muri testified before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee to share more about the effort. 

This week, we caught up with Dr. Muri to reflect on his tenure as superintendent, how AI should reshape systems (not just tools), and why agility is the new non-negotiable for districts. We touched on ECISD’s continued, rapid progress, “braiding” multiple operational strategies to improve outcomes, system-wide project management discipline, and investing in teachers through expanded roles, stackable compensation, and robust training pipelines.

Read the full interview…

How to keep teachers: Provide a complete package

From District Administration, by Dr. Stephanie Howard, September 12, 2025

District leaders say they want to keep great teachers. But how often do actions match the promise?

Too often, districts spend far more time doing what it takes to recruit teachers than to retain, equip and empower them. To retain teachers, they need a complete package of preparation, support, career growth and compensation—and now we know how to do just this.

Our profession has operated on a revolving-door mentality—a person leaves and we hire a person to replace them—instead of thinking about how we can build on the expertise we already have and using our best talent to impact more people.

With these teams, leaders and teachers can earn more by extending their reach to more students, and we make sure the extra pay is sustainable by reallocating regular budgets.

Advanced paraprofessionals and paid, yearlong teacher residents focus on leading small-group tutoring, providing meaningful support to their teams and creating a clear path into teaching—where they feel set up for success from day one.

The good news is that this complete package of educator support leads to powerful results for students. In Midland ISD, we have seen this firsthand since resetting our Opportunity Culture staffing model; 18 of 22 schools saw learning gains. One school went from a state-assigned “D” letter grade to a B, increasing by 25 points; many others went up by at least 12 points.

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ECISD seeing results from Opportunity Culture

From Odessa American, by Ruth Campbell, September 12, 2025

In the six years since it introduced Opportunity Culture, Ector County ISD now has 25 campuses in the initiative. Opportunity Culture, according to the ECISD website, is an innovative approach to staffing that multiplies the impact of highly effective teachers, improving student performance.

“Opportunity Culture also enhances efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified instructors by offering career advancement opportunities, sustainable higher pay, and on-the-job professional development and support,” the site says.

The district refers to groups of schools using Opportunity Culture as cohorts. Talent Development Director Mayra Leyva said the district added two new campuses this year. Adding campuses depends on the school and whether there is a need. That excludes specialized high schools like Odessa Collegiate Academy, OCTECHS and New Tech Odessa. Through the work that Leyva and her predecessor Susan Hendricks have done, they have tightened up their accountability and expectations, Executive Director of Talent Development Scott Rudes said.

“That has led to a renewed focus on not just student outcomes but teacher effectiveness. The purpose of having a multi-classroom leader on the team is to increase teacher effectiveness. We now have systems that have been put in place over the last year that have really renewed our focus on those outcomes,” Rudes said.

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A classroom staffing model is improving outcomes for teachers and students

From EdNC, by Sergio Osnaya-Prieto, July 31, 2025

What would happen if schools changed the way they staffed a classroom? What if instead of the traditional method — one teacher leading a classroom — a whole team of teachers were available to support students?

Teacher-led teams are yielding “top-tier results nationally,” according to a press release from Public Impact, the Chapel Hill-based research firm that designed this Opportunity Culture model. More than a decade’s worth of data reveal the model produces additional student learning growth, better educator satisfaction rates, lower turnover and vacancy rates, and growing pay supplements.

“Teacher-led teams are essential to scaling excellent teaching to all students,” said Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact and founder of the Opportunity Culture initiative. “Over 12 years, 10,000 educators in urban, rural, and suburban schools have used their voices to help us get this right for their students.”

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Multi-Classroom Leaders help to improve MISD student success

From First Alert 7, by Rachel Fortunato, February 12, 2025

MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) – Over the past few years, MISD has been teaching its teachers how to be Multi-Classroom Leaders otherwise known as MCLs. The district says teachers that have become Multi-Classroom Leaders have led to student success overall. The program allows teachers to serve as coaches and mentors for other teachers and train them in proven instructional techniques.

“What a great way to help other teachers,” said Emily Terry, an MCL and 6th Grade Math Teacher for Midland ISD.

Read the full story here…