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Welcome to this edition of the Opportunity Culture® Newsletter! Opportunity Culture® portal subscribers receive these newsletters automatically as part of their district’s portal benefits (log in here). Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Join our mailing list here! |
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Resuming Results After a Setback: Study Finds Positive MCL™ Effects in Midland ISD
Congratulations to Midland Independent School District, which recently got the results of a study of its Opportunity Culture® implementation conducted by a Texas Tech University researcher. Among the findings, as presented to the district’s board:
The Multi-Classroom Leader® effect holds up over time—these team leaders “continue to be effective as the program matures rather than fading after the launch year.” Students directly taught by an MCL™ educator gain an extra two to six months of learning in every year studied in math and in three of the four years in reading. The study looked at the 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25 school years.
Those gains were largest in grades 3–5 (an extra six months in math and four in reading), and economically disadvantaged students gained as much as other students. Additionally, the gains came through growth, not through stronger students being assigned to these educators.
Just taking on the role led to more gains: These teachers were already producing high-growth learning before taking the role, but they added even more reading growth after becoming an MCL™ educator.
The gains go beyond the students taught directly by the team leaders, and they grow over time: Campus-wide reading gains of four months in the first year of using Opportunity Culture® design grew to seven months by the third year.
And teachers on MCL™ teams showed higher value-added, with the gains persisting the following year.
Midland benefitted from a rapid reset by an experienced leader, as we previously documented. Before adopting Opportunity Culture® design, the 27 implementing Midland campuses had results that tracked comparable campuses in other Texas districts. After implementation, they outpaced the others, except in 2023—when Midland experienced repeat, rapid superintendent turnover. |
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Then, the current superintendent, Stephanie Howard, took over and instituted an Opportunity Culture® “reset.” Howard previously served as deputy superintendent in Ector County ISD, which also uses Opportunity Culture® design and led large-to-midsize districts nationally in persistent student learning growth through covid. Listen to our podcast about her leadership team’s reset, and read more from Superintendent Howard in her District Administration op-ed How to keep teachers: Provide a complete package. |
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After leadership turnover, or other disruptions eroding design standards, rapid reset is cost-efficient and avoids lost years of student learning and expensive, extensive redesign. Not all districts needing a reset after leadership turnover will have a superintendent with Dr. Howard’s prior experience. However, all can use the annually updated, data-driven design tools in the Opportunity Culture® portal, alone or coupled with concise Public Impact® coaching. |
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SPECIAL EDUCATION
Refreshed Design for SPED MCL™ Teams
As schools face ongoing shortages of special education teachers, and as nearly all teachers interact with students receiving some form of SPED services, how can Opportunity Culture® teams help deliver excellent instruction? We’re pleased to share a fully updated vision for SPED MCL™ teams that we first developed a decade ago.
Opportunity Culture® design has always been based on its five principles, and now also uses more detailed certification standards, which can be applied to SPED roles as well. The new design options allow for: |
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Excellent instructional leadership: Excellent SPED teachers in the MCL™ role can increase the instructional skill of licensed SPED/EC teachers and general education teachers, through strong, differentiated lessons, practice, observation and coaching, and data-driven lesson improvement.
Increased direct reach: SPED teachers can reach more students with more paraprofessional help, for higher pay, and/or they can guide other teachers who reach more students or play assisting leadership roles.
More tutoring: Increased 1:1 and small-group time, built into daily schedules, boosts learning. Having all teaching teams take this approach reduces stigma and supports all students, including those with identified SPED needs.
Multiple pipelines: New designs enable training more SPED teachers on the job—those already attending SPED licensure courses as teachers, teachers not previously considering a SPED path, and residents and apprentices.
With roles for team leaders in one school or across several, and multiple team roles for inclusion and self-contained classrooms, the guide shows how systems can adapt design to meet their needs.
We will be designing these roles with schools this year and will continue updating materials based on what we learn. Contact us if you want help reaching more students with excellent SPED teaching, or portal subscribers can use the design guidance on their own.
Find the full guide with design details in the Tools room of the Opportunity Culture® portal. |
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OPPORTUNITY CULTURE® EXPANSION
Our Staffing & Instructional Design Continues to Grow!
Great news for students and educators: With funding for more than 40 new school systems to begin their design phase this year, Opportunity Culture® staffing and instructional design continues to grow. Thanks to the tens of thousands of educators who have worked within these designs—teaching, leading, and collaborating for excellent learning results!
District leaders: Nearly all of the funded slots have been filled; if you lead a school system interested in design, contact us, and we will try to match you with one of the remaining slots.
Funders and state leaders: If you want to reach students with more learning growth and teachers with far more support and pay, contact us, and we will start matching you with interested districts and charter organizations.
Public Impact® partners with districts and charter organizations in all phases of instructional materials adoption. A significant majority of sites using Opportunity Culture® design use their teacher-led teams to implement high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) that have a green rating on EdReports.org. This saves teachers time for lesson practice and data-driven differentiation to help more students make high-growth learning. |
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New Mexico Wins TSL Grant for Staffing & Instructional Design |
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Congratulations to the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), which won a $12 million federal TSL grant (Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program) to help high-need schools address teacher shortages by using Opportunity Culture® staffing and instructional design and integrating pre-service candidates. The grant supports PED’s New Mexico Aspiring to Rewarding Careers (NM ARC) initiative. Public Impact® is honored to serve NM ARC and the students and educators of New Mexico! |
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As more sign on, eight sites are already launching design this year as one of the two cohorts under this grant, which will include both traditional districts and charter school organizations.
Public Impact®, which founded the Opportunity Culture® initiative, will collaborate with PED and Prepared To Teach in this grant, with Basis evaluating the effort. |
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"This grant is a tremendous boost for New Mexico's educators." |
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“This grant is a tremendous boost for New Mexico's educators,” said PED Educator Pathways Bureau Manager Denise Beutel. “Through NM ARC, we are rewarding our best teachers for their leadership while giving new teachers the daily mentorship they need to thrive. This is a direct investment in the success of our students.”
Several New Mexico districts already use OC® design or will begin implementation next year; Carlsbad Municipal Schools was the first, with state-leading results in reading and math using Multi-Classroom Leader® teams, including Desert Willow Elementary, which posted the highest growth in the state in the literacy proficiency rate among medium-size schools, and PR Leyva Middle, with the fourth-highest growth in the math proficiency rate among large schools and the 17th-highest in literacy. |
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Desert Willow posted the highest growth in the state in the literacy proficiency rate among medium-size schools after beginning to use MCL™ teams. |
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Welcome to New Oklahoma Districts! |
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The second cohort among 16 Oklahoma districts to receive funded assistance for design and launch of Opportunity Culture® design is getting underway. Sites small and large are planning staffing and instructional designs to attract, retain, and support educators and help them excel and improve student learning outcomes. A final two of the 16 available slots are about to be filled; Public Impact® is keeping a waitlist for districts and charter organizations interested in joining later.
Thanks to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, and other leaders for their partnership in sharing this opportunity with school systems and informing Public Impact® about state instructional, staffing, and other priorities. We’re honored to collaborate with the many community members who have demonstrated passion for serving their state. |
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More expansion news coming soon! |
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TEACHER VOICE OPPORTUNITY
E4E National Teacher Leader Council |
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Our friends at Educators for Excellence, or E4E, are recruiting for their third National Teacher Leader Council cohort, running from January 2027 to December 2028, and asked us to invite Opportunity Culture® educators to consider applying. |
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This is a paid leadership council for PreK–12 public school teachers to shape E4E’s policy strategy, elevate the classroom perspective in national education conversations, and advocate directly to decision-makers.
Note: This is separate from the Opportunity Culture® Fellows program, now about to begin its eighth cohort.
We are delighted to support E4E and its efforts to empower teacher-leaders!
E4E also conducts a national survey, and Public Impact® includes its question about whether teachers would recommend the teaching profession to others in the annual Opportunity Culture® Survey of thousands of educators.
In our most recent surveys, teachers in Opportunity Culture® roles were nearly three times more likely than the teachers in E4E’s national survey to strongly recommend the profession to others (meaning a ranking of 9 or 10 out of 10), and 10 percentage points more likely (a ranking of 5 to 10 out of 10) to recommend the profession—79% in our surveys vs. 69% in E4E’s.
At 84%, those in the Multi-Classroom Leader® role were 15 percentage points more likely to recommend the profession (the 5–10 rating).
Our surveys show that teachers are even more enthusiastic about working specifically in schools with Opportunity Culture® designs. For a decade, 97–99% of those in the Multi-Classroom Leader® role, and, in recent years, over 90% of those in all Opportunity Culture® roles, have said they want the models to continue in their own schools, according to anonymous survey data with now thousands of respondents annually. We learn from each survey and are grateful for the time educators spend sharing their views on both strengths and opportunities for improvement for the initiative, and for each school and school system. |
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MONTHLY UPDATES
Cheers to Newly Certified Schools! |
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Congratulations to the first schools of 2026–27 to receive Certified Opportunity Culture School® status, and especially to Holabird Academy in Baltimore City Public Schools, the first this year to reach Level 2!
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Higher levels equal more students reached with excellent teaching and increased small-group tutoring, and more educators reached with support and higher pay—all backed by more than a dozen years of data.
So far, schools in Alamance-Burlington (NC), Baltimore City (MD), Cumberland County (NC), Hulbert (OK), and Person County (NC) districts have received provisional or Level 1 certification. See the full list of certified schools at all levels, and if your school isn’t on the list yet, begin the easy process through your portal account. Check out this resource, which walks users through the certification process step by step.
Last year, over 460 schools received certification—that’s 460+ schools committed to designing and implementing Opportunity Culture® staffing and instructional design based on standards that are closely linked with high student learning growth results and providing transparency about their schools.
Interested in learning more about certification? Email us at certification@publicimpact.com.
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Opportunity Culture® Portal News
New feature: District certification notifications
District administrators can now opt in to receive email notifications whenever one of their schools achieves certification. This optional setting can be enabled directly from your profile page, making it easier to stay informed about certification milestones and celebrate school achievements as they happen.
Enable certification notifications to…
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Receive timely updates when schools in your district achieve certification.
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Stay informed without needing to routinely monitor the portal.
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Gain greater visibility into district-wide certification progress.
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Recognize and celebrate school accomplishments more effectively.
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Strengthen oversight of certification efforts across your schools.
To use this feature, in your personal profile setting in the portal, click Enable Certification Notifications.
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Leadership Coaching News
As the new school year gets underway, we’re excited to share that our coaching for district executives and school leaders has begun with learning walks! These provide the structure we use to support district and school leaders through on-site coaching, to strengthen the operational and instructional conditions that support teacher leadership, and especially the Multi-Classroom Leader® role.
Public Impact® consultants work with leaders to observe implementation in action, build internal observation capacity, calibrate coaching and feedback, and identify opportunities to strengthen instructional leadership practices.
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| LEARN MORE |
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Register for Upcoming PL Session |
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November 18: Free Info Session for Instructional Leaders Lab: Observation and Coaching
Learn more about this three-month professional learning experience for aspiring teacher-leaders, 4:35–5:30 p.m. ET. |
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EVENTS
Upcoming Events
November 5: Free info session—learn more about Opportunity Culture® staffing design in this virtual session from 1 to 1:45 p.m. ET | Register
November 10: See Opportunity Culture® staffing design in action! Join this one-day site visit to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina | Learn More or Register
November 13: Alabama educators—if you’re attending the A+ Alabama Opportunity Summit in Birmingham on November 13, please join Bryan Hassel and Rachel Wilson of Public Impact® for their session, “Bridging Policy and Practice: Redesigning School Roles for Alabama Educator and Student Success.” Learn More
November 18: Free Info Session for Instructional Leaders Lab: Observation and Coaching, 4:35–5:30 p.m. ET | Register
December 3: Free info session—learn more about Opportunity Culture® staffing design in this virtual session from 1 to 1:45 p.m. ET | Register
December 9–10: District-Level staffing design workshop, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. ET | Learn More or Register |
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The following terms are registered trademarks: Opportunity Culture®, Public Impact®, Multi-Classroom Leader®, OC®, and Certified Opportunity Culture School®. We thank sites using Opportunity Culture® models for adhering to trademark usage standards, signaling to the public that they are using data-proven models to dramatically increase student learning and boost teacher satisfaction. |
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To stay up to date on all Opportunity Culture® happenings—new resources, news stories, new Opportunity Culture® districts, and more—follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube—and if you’re posting, use #OpportunityCulture, @OppCulture, or @PublicImpact, and we’ll repost/share your comments! |
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The Public Impact® mission is to improve education dramatically for all students—especially students whose needs have not been well met. We are a team of professionals from many backgrounds, including former teachers and principals. We are researchers, thought leaders, tool builders, and on-the-ground consultants who work with leading education reformers. To learn more, please visit www.publicimpact.com.
The statements made and views expressed in this newsletter are solely the responsibility of Public Impact®.
© 2026 Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® |
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