How We Help Policy Leaders

Grant competitions
We advise state leaders on parameters for creating grant competitions that award multiyear technical assistance to districts to design and implement Opportunity Culture models.

Design cohorts
We help state leaders construct and facilitate design cohorts so that multiple districts/CMOs can engage in Opportunity Culture design work simultaneously in a centralized location.

Policies for initial pilots and later scale
We advise policy leaders at all levels on existing policies that would hinder Opportunity Culture design in pilot districts and optimal policies to put in place as districts and states scale up Opportunity Culture implementation. See our policy resources for general guidance.

The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) named its commitment to growing Opportunity Culture districts in the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan. ADE funded a single district to pilot Opportunity Culture implementation in 2017-18; ADE now offers centralized design assistance to annual cohorts of new districts implementing Opportunity Culture models. Read Leading Opportunity Culture at the State Level to learn more.

In 2016, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Teacher Compensation Models and Advanced Teaching Roles Pilot to award 10 districts of varying size multi-year grants to fund technical assistance as they design and implement career ladders for teachers. Many of the districts awarded grants have worked with Public Impact to design and implement Opportunity Culture models. In 2020, the state shifted the pilot to a program with recurring funds, giving more districts a chance to receive temporary support to establish Advanced Teaching Roles.

In response to the pandemic, the Opportunity Culture initiative has been recognized by numerous policymakers and education advocates as an effective strategy for Covid recovery. Read our blog post, Who Suggests Opportunity Culture Models as Covid Recovery Strategy?, to learn more.

Our policy brief, Opportunity Anew: How Excellent Educators Can Lift Up Their Colleagues, Students, and the Nation in the Wake of Covid-19, recommends how federal policy can bring critical, effective instructional and emotional supports to millions of teachers and their students—for a price tag the country can not only afford, but sustain long-term.

State policymakers will find much room for leadership in five policy categories in our Seizing Opportunity at the Top II Policy Brief and Checklist. 

See how policy can boost student outcomes when schools combine digital instruction with great in-person teaching in A Better Blend: A Vision for Boosting Student Outcomes with Digital Learning.

Learn how state and district leaders can go beyond the requirements of ESSA to achieve a culture of excellence in ESSA: New Law, New Opportunity

The Whole Package: 12 Factors of High-Impact Teacher-Leader Roles offers a quick list of the common pitfalls of designing “teacher leadership” roles, and a chart of the 12 essential factors for creating high-quality, lasting teacher-leader roles.

Federal policymakers can see how to play a critical role in expanding students’ access to excellent teaching in Giving Every Student Access to Excellent Teachers: A Vision for Focusing Federal Investments in Education.

Multi-school leaders (MSLs) are excellent principals with a record of high-growth student learning who lead a small group of two to eight related or closely located schools for more pay, funded within the budgets of their schools. Our tools aid district piloting of this concept.