Teacher and Staff Perceptions, Spring 2018

97% of MCLs would like Opportunity Culture to continue in their schools

97% of MCLs agree that pay opportunities in their school are better than they would be without Opportunity Culture

92% of MCLs agree that Opportunity Culture has improved teacher effectiveness in their schools

92% of MCLs report a positive impact on staff collaboration resulting from Opportunity Culture

90% of MCLs report a positive impact on student achievement resulting from Opportunity Culture

94% of educators in all OC roles agree that teachers are held to high professional standards for delivering instruction

  

 

Teacher and Staff Perception Survey Detail

In early 2018, teachers and staff in Opportunity Culture (OC) roles across the country answered a series of questions about their schools and their jobs. The questions focused on respondents’ perceptions of their school, their role, and the impact of OC. The survey also invited respondents to identify potential improvements.

For each question, teachers and staff in OC roles indicated their level of agreement with a series of statements about Opportunity Culture, selecting from “Strongly Disagree,” “Disagree,” “Agree,” “Strongly Agree.” 1,748 teachers and staff in OC roles in 96 schools responded to the survey, for a response rate of 55 percent.

For each question, the figures below show two bars: (1) the percentage of staff in all OC roles (multi-classroom leaders [MCLs], team reach teachers [TRTs], teachers on MCL teams, and reach associates who support OC teams) who agreed or strongly agreed with the statement; and (2) the percentage of MCLs who agreed or strongly agreed.

Figure 1. Percentage of Teachers and Staff in OC Roles Who Agreed or Strongly Agreed

Note: “OC roles” include: MCLs, team reach teachers, teachers on MCL teams, and reach associates (advanced paraprofessionals or aspiring teachers who support OC teams).

*Questions are from the New Teacher Center’s Teaching Conditions Survey, which had their origin in the Office of the Governor, North Carolina (2002–2009).

Figure 2. Role-Specific Questions: Percentage of Teachers and Staff in OC Roles Who Agreed or Strongly Agreed

Observations:

Overall: Opportunity Culture is popular with teachers and MCLs. Ninety-seven percent of MCLs (a consistent figure) and 87 percent of all teachers and staff (a substantial increase over the prior year) in OC roles surveyed would like Opportunity Culture to continue in their schools next year. In addition, teachers believe that they will have the opportunity to reach more students if they are successful (92–96% depending on OC role). Most respondents report that OC has had a positive impact on staff collaboration (79–92%), student achievement (74–90%) and school culture (72–87%), and has improved teacher effectiveness (76–92%) (ranges vary by respondents’ OC role). More than 85 percent of teachers in any role agree or strongly agree that supports translate into instructional improvements, teachers receive feedback that can help them improve, teachers are held to high professional standards, excellent teachers have opportunities to lead peers, and faculty and staff have a shared vision.

Common challenges: Across OC districts, staff in all roles would benefit from more communication about the progress of Opportunity Culture implementation in their schools. Similarly, respondents from most sites indicated the need for more adequate planning time, particularly for non-MCL staff. All respondents would benefit from better information about how pay supplements are sustainably funded. Public Impact is releasing new communication support materials in 2019.

Where there was variation among districts: Satisfaction with the adequacy of planning time, increased pay, communication, and clarity on leadership opportunities varied among districts. Though we do not show district-level data here, Public Impact shares survey results with individual districts and identifies the areas in which their results were markedly better or worse than other OC schools nationally. We also provide recommendations for improvements.

Where there was variation among roles: Overall, MCLs were more positive about OC compared with other teachers and staff in OC roles. OC teachers not in MCL roles were less likely than MCLs to agree that Opportunity Culture has had a positive impact on staff culture (72% positive) or fit the school’s mission and vision (74% positive), that excellent teachers have more influence than others over school practices (71% positive), and that Opportunity Culture has improved student achievement (74% positive). Public Impact continues to publish free materials to help principals and MCLs lead instruction and school culture more effectively, based on the latest research and experience. In addition, Public Impact has created a new, low-cost web portal that will allow districts, principals and MCLs to gauge their effectiveness supporting all teachers’ success with all students.

Figure 3. Sites Participating in Opportunity Culture Survey

Site
Big Spring Independent School District, TX
Cabarrus County Schools, NC
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, NC
Edgecombe County Public Schools, NC
Fulton County Schools, GA
Indianapolis Public Schools, IN
Project L.I.F.T. Charlotte, NC
Mineral Wells Independent School District, TX
Nadaburg Unified School District, AZ
North Little Rock School District, AR
Phoenix Elementary School District, AZ
South San Antonio Independent School District, TX
Syracuse City School District, NY
Spring Branch Independent School District, TX
Vance County School District, NC
Wilson Elementary School District, AZ