Opportunity Culture Voices on Video

What Could You Do in an Opportunity Culture? (Intro)

What could you do in an Opportunity Culture, and why do educators like it? Hear their thoughts in this brief video.

What Does a Multi-Classroom Leader Do?

Learn about the unique role of Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs)—educators who provide intensive support and development to small teaching teams, for more pay, within regular budgets.

With Opportunity Culture, Teaching
is a Team Effort

Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs) describe the collaborative relationships formed in an Opportunity Culture, making teaching a supportive, true team effort.

Opportunity Culture Gets Results

Principals and superintendents describe some of the positive impacts of Opportunity Culture on student achievement and school culture.

Why Choose an Opportunity Culture?

Teachers, principals, and superintendents describe the impact Opportunity Culture has made in their schools’ student and teacher growth.

What Does a Multi-Classroom Leader Do?—Extended Version

Learn more about the unique role of Multi-Classroom Leaders, or MCLs.

How Opportunity Culture Helps Schools Retain Teachers

Because of Multi-Classroom Leadership, Principal Jeremy Baugh says, his school has been able to dramatically reduce high teacher turnover rates.

How Opportunity Culture Lives Up to Its Five Principles

Opportunity Culture has done what it says, benefitting students and teachers, Principal Jeremy Baugh says.

Providing Greater Teacher Support Through an Opportunity Culture

Through greater teacher support, student learning grows in an Opportunity Culture, Principal Arthur Hinton says.

Combining Multi-Classroom Leadership and Subject Specialization

Danielle Bellar describes her role as a Multi-Classroom Leader, leading a team of three subject-specializing teachers for 75 5th-graders in Charlotte, N.C.

What Could You Do in an Opportunity Culture? (2016)

Watch what Opportunity Culture educators have to say about their roles as Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs), blended-learning teachers, and subject-specializing teachers.

What Could You Do in an Opportunity Culture? (2015)

Teachers and staff in Opportunity Culture school districts discuss how new teacher-leader roles offer teachers “the best of both worlds,” allowing them to work directly with teachers and students.

Recruiting in an Opportunity Culture

District leaders and principals from Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Project L.I.F.T. schools share thoughts on how an Opportunity Culture is attracting teachers to previously hard-to-staff schools.

The Buzz is Opportunity Culture

Principal Carnetta Thomas of L.B. Yancey Elementary in Vance County, N.C. discusses how Opportunity Culture provides teachers with the support they need.

Best of Both Worlds

Casey Jackson, a Multi-Classroom Leader at Aycock Elementary School in Vance County, N.C., explains why she likes her Opportunity Culture role.

I Wish Every School Had Opportunity Culture

Multi-Classroom Leader Casey Jackson explains why she wishes every teacher and student could experience Opportunity Culture.

The MCL Role is a Great Role

Multi-Classroom Leader Sydney Mboob of Druid Hills Academy in Charlotte, N.C., discusses why she loves her MCL role.

Building Space for Collaborative Instruction

See how one school’s room designs, including moveable walls, has made collaboration even easier for Multi-Classroom Leader teams in this Midland, Texas, school.

From Action Plan to Teacher of the Year—in One Year

Multi-Classroom Leader Stacie Bunn and Kenyatta Davenport, an expanded-impact teacher on Bunn’s teaching team, discuss Davenport’s journey to teaching excellence.

Teacher Support in an Opportunity Culture

Hear how the genuine, on-the-job, consistent support from Multi-Classroom Leaders (MCLs) sets an Opportunity Culture apart.

I Want To Be Like Karen

First-year teacher Emily Angles, from Cabarrus County, N.C., tells why she wants to be like Karen von Klahr, her Opportunity Culture Multi-Classroom Leader.

Connect Opportunity Culture Work to Mission and Vision

Beth Thompson, a principal in Charlotte, N.C., before becoming the district’s assistant superintendent, explains the importance of regularly reminding school staff of the “why” behind the work they do..

What Does Opportunity Culture Mean to You?

Opportunity Culture helps provide support and opportunities through havingMulti-Classroom Leaders, students at North Edgecombe High School in Tarboro, N.C., say.

How Has Opportunity Culture Changed Your School?

Students at North Edgecombe High School in Tarboro, N.C., say Opportunity Culture help them develop deeper connections with their teachers and clearer visions for their futures.

How Does Having a Multi-Classroom Leader Help You?

Students at Hairston Middle School in Greensboro, N.C., appreciate the extra support and encouragement they get from Multi-Classroom Leader Angela Porter, who helps them believe “anything is possible.”

Days in the Life: The Work of a Successful Multi-Classroom Leader

This video follows Multi-Classroom Leader Okema Owens Simpson through several typical days that illustrate the essentials of the MCL role.

Leading Through Co-Teaching a Combined Class

Multi-Classroom Leader Sunil Dutt combines one of his math blocks with that of a new teacher into one large group meeting in the library, so that Dutt can co-teach and model instruction.

Multi-Classroom Leaders Support Teachers and Students

Through Multi-Classroom Leadership, Melissa Wirth can support both teacher and student growth.

Laketha Ebrahim-Blackwell on Being a Multi-Classroom Leader

Laketha Ebrahim-Blackwell, a Multi-Classroom Leader at Petree Elementary in Winston-Salem, N.C. describes what she likes about her MCL role.

Sydney Garcia on Being a Multi-Classroom Leader

Sydney Garcia, a Multi-Classroom Leader at Pease Elementary in Ector County ISD, says the MCL role is “the best of both worlds” allowing her to take on a leadership role while still being in the classroom.

Steven Kennedy on Being a Multi-Classroom Leader

Steven Kennedy describes the support he is able to give new and veteran teachers as a Multi-Classroom Leader (MCL), and how the role has allowed him to stay in education.

Erin Williams on Being a Multi-Classroom Leader

Erin Williams, a Multi-Classroom Leader at James Martin Middle School in Charlotte, N.C., describes how she and her team use data to encourage students to track their own growth toward their learning goals.

Bobby Miles on Being a Multi-Classroom Leader

Bobby Miles explains why his role as a Multi-Classroom Leader is “the best of both worlds”—allowing him to lead a team of teachers while impacting more students in the classroom.

When Teachers Leave Midyear, Multi-Classroom Leadership Keeps Classes Strong

Molly Whelan, a Multi-Classroom Leader at Ranson IB Middle School, joins the school’s principal, Erica Jordan-Thomas, for a conversation about the benefits of the Opportunity Culture MCL role.

Remotely Located Multi-Classroom Leadership Pilot

Maria Hernandez, a math instructor at the North Carolina School of Science and Math, pilots the model through a partnership of her school, the College Board, and Public Impact.

Pioneering Multi-Classroom Leaders

Hear what four pioneering teacher-leaders say about their Multi-Classroom Leader roles and the actions they took to lead their teaching teams.

How Principals Use Multi-Classroom Leadership in School Turnarounds

Three principals discuss how the MCL model enabled them to create and lead a team of teacher-leaders in their schools. Their strategies, though targeted for their low-performing, high-poverty schools, can inspire principals at all types of schools, with all types of students.

On Being a Team Reach Teacher

Team reach teachers work on an MCL’s team, directly teaching more students than usual but typically without raising instructional group sizes.

A “Crucial” Opportunity Culture Role: RAs Provide Small-Group Tutoring

Reach associates help improve student outcomes by providing instructional support under the direction of Multi-Classroom Leaders.

Getting the Most Bang for Our Buck

Multi-Classroom Leader Willonda Cates-Gillespie describes the benefits of having an RA to help her reach more students with small-group tutoring.

Janie Martin on Being a Reach Associate

Janie Martin, a reach associate (RA) at Petree Elementary School in Winston-Salem, N.C. describes why she likes her Opportunity Culture role.

“The Right Decision”: Working in an Opportunity Culture School

Delmonika Vick, a math teacher and former reach associate at North Edgecombe High School in Tarboro, NC, explains why she chose to work in an Opportunity Culture school.

From Reach Associate to Classroom Teacher

Delmonika Vick, a math teacher at North Edgecombe High School in Tarboro, NC, says being a reach associate for two years—a role she loved—prepared her to be a stronger teacher.

Audriana Munoz on Being a Teacher Resident

Audriana Munoz, a teacher resident at Pease Elementary in Ector County ISD, describes how her yearlong paid residency, working under the guidance of a Multi-Classroom Leader, prepared her to enter the teaching profession already feeling like “a second-year teacher.”

More Than a Student Teacher

Alyssa Cool served as a teacher resident for a year in a pilot program for residents at Lew Wallace Elementary in Indianapolis. She gradually took on more responsibilities over the year, ultimately taking over a classroom for a teacher on leave, under the full supervision of her Multi-Classroom Leader.