Opportunity Culture

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Why Continue to Be a Multi-Classroom Leader? My Daughter

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, February 13, 2020

Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Multi-Classroom Leader Cherelle Sanders spoke on Wednesday night at the “Recognizing Top Talent: National Voices on Identifying and Retaining NC’s Best Teachers” panel discussion hosted by the Belk Foundation.

Watch the short video of her powerful talk–why having multi-classroom leaders matters, and the incredible student learning growth her team of brand-new teachers achieved last year.

For a Strong Opportunity Culture, Include Support from the Top

By Margaret High and Sharon Kebschull Barrett, February 11, 2020

Whenever the Public Impact team interviews Opportunity Culture educators, one word comes up again and again: support. With multi-classroom leaders (MCLs) at the core, support flows up and down—up from MCLs serving as an instructional leadership team for their principals, down from MCLs to their teaching teams, and even sideways, with MCLs forming a supportive team for one another.

That schoolwide support becomes even more powerful when backed up by strong, vocal support from a superintendent and central office.

Voices from Edgecombe: How Opportunity Culture Affects an N.C. District

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, January 16, 2020

I’ve had the privilege over several visits last year to Edgecombe County Public Schools to interview Opportunity Culture educators in many roles, from the superintendent to a beginning teacher. Located in a rural county an hour east of Raleigh, North Carolina, Edgecombe schools face challenges in recruiting and retaining great educators who have many large-city options nearby.

But the enthusiasm, commitment, and all-in-this-together spirit of Edgecombe wins visitors over quickly, and even after long days of interviews, my colleague Beverley Tyndall and I leave feeling rejuvenated.

With Leandro Report, Hope for North Carolina’s Students

By Public Impact, December 11, 2019

As educators, legislators, business leaders, and others gathered for a summit on building a sorely needed pipeline of teachers of color for North Carolina, the long-awaited Leandro report hit the wires. Ordered by Judge David Lee, the report from WestEd spells out how the state can meet its constitutional obligation to provide a “sound, basic” education for every North Carolina child.

At Public Impact, we’re grateful for the work of so many who got the case to this point: for the judges who kept pressing to meet students’ needs; the lawyers and many state and local leaders who, often behind the scenes, fought for justice through this case; the numerous researchers who dug deep to find the best solutions; and the educators included in their research.

Suspending student suspensions: How teaching teams created calm classrooms

By Philip Steffes; first published by EducationNC, December 5, 2019

How can kids learn when they’re not in the classroom? That’s the issue I confronted when I arrived at Albemarle Road Elementary in Charlotte four years ago. Despite teachers who truly cared about their students, we had far too many suspensions. And students were struggling. When I first came here, 95% of our teachers had been in the red — not meeting student growth targets — in literacy for multiple years.

Vance County Schools’ Jackson Named N.C. Superintendent of the Year

By Margaret High, November 22, 2019

Congratulations to Vance County Schools Superintendent Anthony Jackson, named the 2020 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year! Jackson, who has led Vance County Schools since 2015, brought Opportunity Culture to the district in 2016–17.

“Dr. Tony Jackson has developed a culture of innovation and excellence at Vance County Schools,” Jack Hoke, executive director of the North Carolina School Superintendent’s Association, said at the awards ceremony Tuesday night.

Three Guilford County Educators Recognized by National Organization as Leaders in their Schools

From Guilford County Schools, June 11, 2019

One principal and two teachers were recognized for their outstanding leadership in the Opportunity Culture program by being inducted into the fifth class of Public Impact’s Opportunity Culture Fellows. Public Impact’s goal is to improve education for all students by finding, developing, and expanding the impact of outstanding educators.

Educators Receive Fellowship

From Rocky Mount Telegram, June 5, 2019, by Amelia Harper

Two teachers and one principal from Edgecombe County Public Schools have been selected to become Opportunity Culture Fellows for the coming year. Casandra Cherry, a multi-classroom leader at Phillips Middle School; Amy Pearce, a multi-classroom leader at North Edgecombe High School, and Jenny O’Meara, principal of Phillips Middle School, have been selected for this honor.

First look: Remotely Located Teacher Leadership

From EdNC, May, 8, 2019, by Sharon Kebschull Barrett

This semester, the College Board and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) joined with Public Impact’s Opportunity Culture initiative to test the remotely located Multi-Classroom Leadership model: An excellent NCSSM teacher would lead a small team of teachers spread across rural North Carolina districts, which often lack enough teachers who are prepared to ensure student success in advanced classes.

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