From KXXV, December 3, 2020, by Garrett Hottle
Greater Waco will be utilizing a $2.2 million grant over three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve the teacher workforce and the pipeline of qualified teachers in McLennan County.
An Opportunity Culture grant will fund a creative staffing model with a focus on supporting sustainable and affordable residencies for candidates at both the La Vega and Waco ISD school districts. Read the full article…
From Cumberland County Schools, December 1, 2020
To provide all students with excellent teaching and to help students close achievement gaps and leap ahead, our schools are creating an Opportunity Culture for their teachers and students. Opportunity Culture models enable schools to reach every student with excellent teachers and their teams—consistently—while paying teachers more for their extra responsibilities, and helping all educators improve on the job and work collaboratively. All pay supplements are funded through reallocations of existing budgets–no temporary grants. Read the full press release…
From Midland Independent School District, November 30, 2020
From Forbes, November 19, 2020, by Tom Vander Ark
The rapid global shift to hybrid and remote learning—with lots of versions and variability—provoked renewed interest in new school models. And, compared to 20 years ago, the invention opportunity is enhanced by the science of learning, broad agreement on the importance of success skills, and better tools.
An innovative approach to the organization of staffing and time comes from schools in the Opportunity Culture network. They share a system of multi-classroom leadership that provides both a talent development ladder and better support for junior teachers. Read the full article…
From AEI, October 8, 2020, by Nat Malkus
As schools confront massive budget shortfalls in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it is critical that they examine how they might use existing funding more efficiently. On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus talks with Bryan Hassel about how districts might rethink their staffing models in a way that will increase students’ access to excellent teachers and create opportunities for advancement within the teaching profession, all without spending more money. Byran is the co-president of Public Impact and a contributor to the newly released volume, Getting the Most Bang for the Education Buck. Listen to the podcast…
From EdNC, October 7, 2020, by Beth Clifford, David Gilmore, Cole Smith, Preston Faulk and Molly Osborne
Since the COVID-19 pandemic upended life as we knew it in March, North Carolina school districts have had to rethink how they deliver education. After transitioning online in the spring, districts could choose between a hybrid model with limited face-to-face instruction (plan B) and 100% virtual instruction (plan C) for the start of the 2020-21 school year this fall. Read the full article…
From Education Dive, September 28, 2020, by Kara Arundel
Overnight, it seemed, some teachers’ roles changed from being leaders in their classrooms to including broader responsibilities as mentors and coaches to other teachers, curriculum designers, technology facilitators, data coaches and assessment designers. What if that were the norm, asks the AIR paper.
One approach suggested by AIR, and developed by consulting group Public Impact, is the Opportunity Culture initiative. In this structure, an experienced and effective teacher leads a small, collaborative team of teachers in the same grade or subject. The multi-classroom leaders use student data to help the team of teachers prepare for instruction, evaluate each student’s educational progress and make adjustments where needed. Read the article…
From News West9, September 22, 2020, by Rachel Ripp
Teachers have a lot on their plates this year, more than ever. But some of them here in the Basin have signed up for a brand new teaching landscape plus more students to teach or co-workers to coach. These teachers are involved in what’s called “Opportunity Culture” at ECISD and MISD.
“We also saw this as a way to keep good teachers in the classroom. I think a lot of teachers get tempted at a point to say I want to go into administration or I want to try and be a principal or I want to do something else other than teach and they’re great teachers. We don’t want to lose that. We want to keep them here, and by paying them what they’re worth I think that that helps keep them in the classroom,” Chris Hightower, MISD Opportunity Culture director said. Read more…
From The Colorado Sun, August 19, 2020, by Amy Anderson & Michele Morenz
The transition to remote learning cannot fall solely on teachers’ plates, nor should we hold on tight to a classroom-oriented model with one teacher for every 30-plus students. What if we thought creatively about our education workforce? How might we re-design instructional and student supports to align the expertise and talents of educators more purposefully around learners? Academic staff could focus on select families to provide individualized support for struggling students. Teaching assistants could maintain adult/learner relationships with weekly check-ins. Teachers could design new ways to instruct students across schools that are better suited for remote learning. Public Impact’s Opportunity Culture initiative offers some interesting models along these lines in response to COVID-19.
From Education Week, August 5, 2020, by Catherine Gewertz
One teacher-leadership model is sparking increased interest as schools grapple with how best to support students. It’s called the Multi-Classroom Leadership model, and it was designed by the education advocacy group Public Impact to help excellent teachers reach more students. More than 200 schools in 10 states use it, according to Bryan Hassel, Public Impact’s co-president, and he’s been getting “a lot of calls” from districts asking for details since the model was highlighted as promising in a couple of recent papers on school reopening. Read more…