Opportunity Culture® Models in Rural and Small Districts
Examples from the field
Opportunity Culture® staffing models, with their unique mix of design guardrails and flexibility based on extensive research and data, show strong learning results in districts of all sizes and types.
But some entities, including Title I schools and schools in small towns and rural districts, face extra challenges. They often struggle to fill educator jobs—and especially to attract and keep staff who have achieved high-growth learning results.
Schools like these using Opportunity Culture® (OC®) design have defied odds to substantially improve learning and boost educator job satisfaction—within limited budgets. Learn more from their stories below!
“A force multiplier in the rural context. … We were struggling to find teachers, and this model removed that conversation.”
—2020 NC Superintendent of the Year Anthony Jackson, on using OC® design in two rural districts he has led.
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District Recruitment Videos
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“It’s a no-brainer—have teachers who’ve been successful help other teachers become successful. That makes sense to us.”
—2022 NC Superintendent of the Year Valerie Bridges, on using OC® design in Edgecombe County Public Schools
OC® Teams Support District Initiatives
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It’s remarkable to see the growth in the teachers and the way that they approach the work, the way they’re committed to the work… you feel it across the campus.”
—Jesse Unkel, Louisiana Department of Education’s Literacy Coherence Specialist
Districts Getting Results
READ:
Strengthening School Staffing
Strengthening Instruction
Student Voices
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“I feel like the teachers really care about us and really want to see us to be great.”
—Student, North Edgecombe High School
OC® Teams in Times of Stress
READ:
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Analysis: Mentors, Team Teaching, 7-Week Class Cycles 12 Months a Year — Some School Innovations in Staffing and Scheduling During COVID-19 (The Hechinger Report)
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When Learning Went Home, Newly Named Multi-Classroom Leaders Jumped In (blog)
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In Lincoln, Arkansas, Multi-Classroom Leaders Guide the Way on At-Home Learning (blog)
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Consistency and Care: Confronting COVID-19 in a Rural School Community (EdNC)