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.
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.
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.
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.
From Accesswire, April 14, 2022
DALLAS, Texas—Uplift Education is thrilled to announce that they have joined the growing, national Opportunity Culture movement to reach all students with excellent teaching, to help students meet their academic goals and leap ahead. Uplift has partnered with Tarleton State University, Public Impact, and US PREP to design and implement innovative roles that provide powerful support for all educators in a select group of Tarrant County schools. Funding for the initial design planning and implementation is provided in part by grants from the Fort Worth Education Partnership and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Read More…
From Odessa American Online, March 20, 2022, by Ruth Campbell
While Ector County ISD may not be at the level it would like, Superintendent Scott Muri says good things are happening in the district.
In his State of the District address earlier in March, Muri said kindergarten readiness has increased by 13 percentage points, SAT scores were above the state level and there was a 7 percent increase this year over last in college, career and military readiness. This is a factor in state accountability standards.
He noted that the 84.7 percent graduation rate is the highest in 20 years. Read More…
From EdNC, March 16, 2022 by Mebane Rash
“Students in high-poverty schools are about half as likely to have access to highly effective teachers, compared to students in low-poverty schools,” said Johanna Anderson, executive director of The Belk Foundation, at a recent convening of their board of directors and education stakeholders.
This is not a new data point, but strategies are emerging to address it given vacancies in local labor markets for those working in schools and districts, and an initiative to redesign teacher licensure, support, advancement, and pay structures in North Carolina. Read More…
From News West 9, March 11, 2022, by Francisco Soto
ODESSA, Texas — Shortages is something we are hearing about too often these days, and it’s not just food.
On Thursday, the Texas Education Agency announced the creation of the Teacher Vacancy Task Force. The goal is to help address staffing challenges facing Texas public schools.
NewsWest 9 spoke to Scott Muri, Superintendent for Ector County Independent School District. He said the area has been struggling with teacher shortages for several years even before the state started experiencing the same thing. Read more…
From Northern Kentucky Tribune, February 21, 2022, by Jan Hillard
Every year our schools face the persistent problem of teachers deciding not to return to their schools. Over half a million teachers leave or change schools each year. Schools that serve lower income students often see turnover rates that are 50% greater than other schools. In addition, non-retention rates are 70% greater for math and science teachers.
High turnover rates present significant costs for schools. Nationally, the problem of teacher non-retention costs upwards of $8.5 billion each year. The Learning Policy Institute estimates that teacher turnover costs school districts $20-30,000 for every teacher who leaves the district. Non-retention, coupled with the cost of new recruitment, can total 150% of a departing teacher’s salary.
Read more…
From CNET, February 14, 2022 by Antonio Ruiz Camacho
The pandemic may be the last straw for a profession mired in stagnant pay, compounding demands and endemic burnout. The situation has some asking if the field of teaching needs a reset.
It took just a simple question for Andria Nelson to grasp how different the world of education was from everything else. Nelson had quit her teaching job just months into the 2020-21 school year and taken a job as a communications specialist for a transportation company. Her innocent request—seeking someone to cover for her so she could go to the bathroom—raised some amused eyebrows around the office. Read more…