This brief summarizes and discusses state policies needed to support evaluation and accountability in an Opportunity Culture. A companion practical guide details management and administrative changes at both the state and district levels. Seizing Opportunity at the Top II explains all the policies states should address as more schools implement an OC for teachers and students.
Publications
Evaluation, Accountability, and Professional Development in an Opportunity Culture® Guide
Evaluation is one critical element of an Opportunity Culture, used primarily to guide development and career opportunities. But previous teacher evaluation reforms were built for the one-teacher-one-classroom model, and few districts have provided a robust, sustainably funded way to connect teacher evaluation with career opportunities. This guide will help education leaders align evaluation and its uses with an Opportunity Culture and similar school models and career paths—successfully and at a low cost.
Opportunity Culture® Implementation
This brief shares the lessons that Public Impact and our partners have learned from our work with these schools in their early stages of Opportunity Culture implementation. It summarizes nine overarching lessons, offers our solutions for assistance providers, schools, and districts, and gives examples of actions that Public Impact, our partners, and some schools and districts have taken.
Teacher and Staff Selection Toolkit
This four-step Selection Action Planner for Districts and related tools guide district, school, and charter management organization leaders in selecting teachers and staff members for Opportunity Culture roles, which require new behaviors and skills.
Recruitment Toolkit
Opportunity Culture roles have attracted great teachers across the country, producing strong recruiting results for schools of all kinds. But having great roles is not enough. Early, active recruitment and strong communications are essential to reach great candidates—both within a district and from elsewhere—and encourage them to apply for Opportunity Culture roles. Some Opportunity Culture schools begin active recruitment the prior fall, rather than waiting until spring or summer.
Technology and Rural Education
Ashley Park PreK-8 Case Study
This case study addresses why Ashley Park chose to implement an Opportunity Culture using Multi-Classroom Leadership and blended learning through a Time-Technology Swap, and how the early days of implementation helped the school retain its best teachers.
Ranson IB Middle School Case Study
This case study looks at the early days of Ranson’s implementation of two Opportunity Culture job models—Multi-Classroom Leadership and Time-Technology Swaps—and how an Opportunity Culture improved its recruitment and retention of great teachers.
An Opportunity Culture® for Teaching and Learning
To understand an Opportunity Culture, start here: For excellent teachers and those aspiring to excellence, and for administrative or education policy leaders, this brief provides an overview of how an Opportunity Culture can help teachers have the well-paid, empowered profession they deserve—while helping many more students succeed.
Recruiting in an Opportunity Culture®
What brings excellent teachers in droves to apply for jobs in hard-to-staff schools? Project L.I.F.T. in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District started by offering a complete Opportunity Culture package of career advancement roles, then advertised those roles early, often, and clearly—leading to a strong uptick in both the quantity and quality of applicants for teaching roles at schools that previously saw many positions go unfilled. L.I.F.T. leaders explain how they did it in this brief vignette.