Opportunity Culture Teachers 2021–22
737 Multi-Classroom Leaders
1,182 Total Teachers Earn More for Extending Reach
3,351 More Teachers Receive On-The-Job Development on Teams
Opportunity Culture Teaching Roles
Some Opportunity Culture roles are reserved for teachers with a track record of high-growth student learning, including multi-classroom leader and master team reach teacher. Most team reach teacher roles and those of team teacher are held by teachers with a typical range of prior effectiveness.
Team teachers and team reach teachers, on average, move student learning growth up 27 percentile points after joining an MCL’s team, according to independent researchers.
Before 2017–18, schools designing Opportunity Culture used a variety of roles to extend teachers’ reach. All schools designing Opportunity Culture implementation plans since 2018 use Multi-Classroom Leadership, embedding other roles within multi-classroom leaders’ small teams.
Multi-Classroom Leader
737
Team Reach Teacher
445*
*all, including Master TRTs and others
Team Teacher
3,351
Reach Associate
183
Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs)
Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs) are teachers with a record of high-growth student learning who lead a small subject or grade teaching team, for much higher pay, within regular school budgets. They continue to teach some portion of the time, in various ways. MCLs lead lesson planning, data analysis, and instructional changes through coaching, co-teaching, modeling, and collaborating with their team teachers. They take accountability for the learning outcomes of all the students the team serves. Multi-Classroom Leadership creates a strong environment of support, collaboration, and on-the-job professional learning for teachers; this also provides districts with an internal leadership development pipeline.
Team Reach Teachers (TRTs)
Some or all of the teachers on a multi-classroom leader’s team may be Team Reach Teachers (TRTs) who directly teach more students than usual, typically without raising instructional group sizes, under the guidance of the MCL, and with the support of paraprofessional “reach associates.” Master Team Reach Teachers (MTRTs), who also have a track record of high-growth student learning, assist MCLs with team leadership.
(In schools that joined the Opportunity Culture initiative before 2018–19, some reach-extending teachers work on a team led by an MCL, while others teach independently; since that time, all work on MCL teams.)
Team Teachers
Team Teachers work on a team led by an MCL, receiving intensive support from the MCL and working collaboratively as a team to review student progress and adjust instruction to ensure high-progress learning for every student. Each team teacher is accountable to the MCL for their contributions to the learning outcomes of each student, with specific goals and measures dependent on the role each plays.
Reach Associates and Residents
Opportunity Culture teaching teams also include reach associates and teacher residents. Reach Associates are advanced paraprofessionals who support MCL teams and tutor students in small groups. MCLs give heavy guidance on lessons, student groups, and classroom management. Residents in modified reach associate roles also tutor, and they learn the full teaching role while earning pay and benefits.
schools