Resources

One of the Center on School Turnaround’s four domains for rapid school improvement is talent development, which involves strategies and actions intended to identify, select, place, retain, and sustain personnel, especially teachers and school-level leaders.

An opportunity culture can support talent development in the four domains framework. In an opportunity culture, school design is based on a tiered teaching structure within a content area or across one or more grade levels in a school. The approach is intended to increase teacher leadership and expand the instructional impact of teachers who are recognized for the strength of their instructional practice.

This brief summarizes the information presented during two online thought leadership forums that addressed using an opportunity culture to develop talent. The forums featured presentations from Bryan Hassel, Co-President of Public Impact, and Denise Watts, who leads Project LIFT (Leadership & Investment for Transformation), a philanthropic initiative that is implementing an opportunity culture program in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Recommendations for local and state education agencies interested in further exploration are included.