In the Media

From OA Online, March 22, 2021, by Ruth Campbell

A program to place effective teachers in front of more Ector County ISD students is expanding this coming school year to more campuses.

Executive Director of Talent Development Ashley Osborne said 10 campuses are going to be added to the Opportunity Culture arsenal. The district currently has eight Opportunity Culture campuses.

The ECISD website says Opportunity Culture is “an innovative approach to staffing that multiplies the impact of highly effective teachers, thereby improving student performance.” No longer available online.

From The Hill, March 13, 2021, by Thomas Toch and Lynn Olson

From The 74, March 10, 2021, by Lynn Olson

The coronavirus crisis is prompting schools and districts to embrace innovative staffing and scheduling strategies that are extending the reach of great teachers, leveraging co-teaching models in new ways and providing more support for students and educators. Read more…

From Future Ed, February 3, 2021, by Lynn Olson

Amid the profound disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, some schools and districts have responded with highly innovative staffing and scheduling strategies. They are extending the reach of great teachers, leveraging co-teaching models and teacher teams in new ways, and creating more flexible student groupings and more student-centric classrooms—all with the goal of playing to teachers’ strengths, better serving students, and providing more support for educators.

A new report from FutureEd and EducationCounsel, Teaching Innovation: New School Staffing Strategies Inspired by the Pandemic, explores these new staffing strategies, the conditions that enabled them, how educators have overcome barriers to the innovations, and what it would take to sustain and scale them post-pandemic.

From The Evening Times, February 1, 2021

 As part of its commitment to implement Opportunity Culture in schools across the state, the Arkansas Department of Education is supporting its third cohort of school districts this year joining the national initiative to extend the reach of excellent teachers and their teams, for more pay, within regular school budgets. The school districts of Brinkley, Crossett, Earle and Osceola will begin implementing Opportunity Culture roles in the 2021–22 school year. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) committed to spreading Opportunity Culture in its Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan; Arkansas districts already using Opportunity Culture roles are North Little Rock, Forrest City, Gentry and Lincoln Consolidated. Read more (article behind paywall)…

From Ed Surge, December 30, 2020, by Scott Muri

Previously the superintendent of Spring Branch ISD, Scott Muri became the superintendent of Ector County ISD in spring 2019. He implemented Opportunity Culture in both districts.

Educators around the globe knew this school year would be like nothing we had ever experienced. In the face of a worldwide pandemic, how do school districts properly balance the well-founded fears of staff and families with the equally well-founded evidence that children need schools to learn and to grow academically, socially and emotionally? A health crisis running headlong into an education crisis: Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. Read the full article…

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…