By Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan C. Hassel, co-presidents, Public Impact® The latest NAEP scores are no surprise, despite educators' hard work to support students, but this is not just an educational crisis; it’s an economic one. Education outcomes determine students’...
student learning growth
Teach Plus Report Highlights New Mexico School Using Opportunity Culture® Roles
In a new report this summer, Teach Plus took a look at innovation in New Mexico districts, and highlighted a Carlsbad Municipal Schools middle school seeing success with student growth from its Opportunity Culture® teaching teams! Read what P.R. Leyva Middle School...
Keeping Advanced Roles Alive and Thriving: Vance County’s Experience
Before Vance County Schools began designing its Opportunity Culture® staffing models in 2017–18, the district struggled with teacher turnover and higher pay supplements offered by nearby districts. Based in Henderson, N.C., the district began implementing the models in three elementary schools the following year to serve as “incubators of innovation” before expanding into four more schools…
“Reflect to Prep” Webinar: Using This Year’s Results to Plan Ahead for the Next School Year
How do great educators pause to review the hits and misses of the current year to set themselves up for planning and launching the next year? In the first of our three-part, quick-tips series, excellent teaching team leaders will share how they both do this themselves...
New Opportunity Culture® Audio: Making the Most of Opportunity Culture® Innovations
By Public Impact, September 14, 2022
Since Superintendent Scott Muri, a finalist for state superintendent of the year in Texas, brought Opportunity Culture models to Ector County Independent School District in 2019, the district has seen significant improvement in student learning and teacher recruitment.
New Opportunity Culture® Audio: N.C. Principal Shares Communication Strategies
By Public Impact, July 15, 2022
Julie Shields has been principal of Bearfield Primary School in Hertford County, North Carolina, since 2003. Just before Covid hit, her school began Opportunity Culture implementation to improve academic outcomes for students and enhance the caring atmosphere of the school.
#2. Teacher-Assistant Partnership Helps Students Grow
Angela Caldwell, an Opportunity Culture expanded-impact kindergarten teacher in Guilford County, North Carolina, and her teaching assistant, Lora Terry, speak with Public Impact about their teaching partnership and the impact they see small-group tutoring making on student learning growth.
Teacher-Assistant Partnership Helps Students Grow
By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, March 28, 2022
In August 2021, Angela Caldwell, an Opportunity Culture expanded-impact kindergarten teacher at Montlieu Academy of Technology in Guilford County, North Carolina, found herself unexpectedly on her own with a classroom of 22 students, after her teaching assistant left just as the school year began.
So she felt relief that fall when interviewing Lora Terry, who had worked for many years in day care settings. The two clicked, Caldwell said, with Terry making it very clear what she would need to do the job of an assistant well—clear expectations, communication, and clarification. Read More…
Muri: ECISD making progress
From Odessa American Online, March 20, 2022, by Ruth Campbell
While Ector County ISD may not be at the level it would like, Superintendent Scott Muri says good things are happening in the district.
In his State of the District address earlier in March, Muri said kindergarten readiness has increased by 13 percentage points, SAT scores were above the state level and there was a 7 percent increase this year over last in college, career and military readiness. This is a factor in state accountability standards.
He noted that the 84.7 percent graduation rate is the highest in 20 years. Read More…
In Mineral Wells, Texas, Opportunity Culture® Brings Academic Gains, Discipline Reductions
By Sharon Kebschull Barrett, May 15, 2020
Part 3 of 3
At Travis Elementary in Mineral Wells Independent School District in Texas, “we have made some big strides over the past three years, and I 100 percent directly credit that to Opportunity Culture,” Principal David Wells said.
In student learning gains, Wells cites the number of students reaching the “passing standard” of the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness). He also looks at the performance gap between his school, with about 80 percent of students classified as low-income, and the Texas state average. Read more…