In the Media

From Odessa Living Magazine, Winter 2021, by Avery Pullin

When Dr. Scott Muri was hired by Ector County ISD, it wasn’t just his knowledge of student learning he brought with him. He also knew how to develop teachers. One vital tool he implemented at ECISD was a new initiative: Opportunity Culture.

Though grants were given to kickstart Opportunity Culture, it is now a fully sustainable, self-funded program that allows the district to utilize their best teachers to train other teachers on their team. These teachers, known as multi-classroom leaders (MCLs), go through a rigorous interview process both with the district and with campus administration. They must show their knowledge of teaching students, coaching colleagues, and analyzing data. Read more…

From Getting Smart, January 11, 2022, by Tom Vander Ark

It’s hard to see trends in a crisis. And now layered crises–pandemic, climate, racial reckoning, economic inequity, geopolitical tension–is the new normal. We’re living through a jumble of unexpected events that thwart pattern recognition. Most schools are starting 2022 in person but with a disappointing COVID surge and renewed questions about how to best safeguard students, teachers, and communities. After two years of pandemic education, fatigue is the overwhelming experience of many educators. Read more…

From National Affairs, Winter 2022, by Frederick M. Hess

Until March 2020, American schooling looked much like it had in 1920. Despite new technologies, ever-increasing outlays, and wave after wave of reform, the rhythms and routines of America’s schools were little changed. Students set out from their homes to school in the early morning, sat in front of a teacher in primary school or a series of teachers in secondary school, sporadically used the latest technologies, and then headed home. Dress codes, popular pedagogies, the number of adults in the building, and the technology may have changed, but what students and teachers actually do had not. Read more…

From OA Online, December 16, 2021

Ector County ISD has announced three new schools that will be joining Opportunity Culture for the 2022-2023 school year. These three schools will collaborate with Public Impact and ECISD Talent Development this spring to undergo the school design process. The 2022-2023 Opportunity Culture Cohort C campuses are Cavazos Elementary, San Jacinto Elementary, and Buddy West Elementary. Read more…

From KWTX, December 7, 2021, by Katie Aupperle

Texas Education Agency Commissioner of Education Mike Morath visited Kendrick Elementary in the Waco Independent School District on Tuesday during his tour of schools across the state in an effort to observe teachers and students, review their progress and witness, firsthand, the impacts of the pandemic. Read more…

From Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, December 3, 2021, by Meghan Ensell

The country experienced a “hangover” from the last workforce-oriented push in education, which focused on teacher evaluation and within that, far too much on ridding schools of the least effective teachers, says Bryan Hassel, co-president of Public Impact, an education policy and management consulting firm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Read more…

From Baltimore City Public Schools, December 2, 2021

Collaboration, encouragement, guidance, and support are pivotal for growth. When educators collaborate, students benefit. Two years ago, City Schools launched Opportunity Culture to help educators do just that. Since then, this unique program has expanded exponentially — from three Opportunity Culture Schools in 2019 to 20 this school year, now impacting 7,000 City Schools students supported by the collaboration of more than 150 educators. And several more City Schools principals are currently exploring bringing this program to their schools. Read more…