Ector County ISD has announced three new schools that will be joining Opportunity Culture for the 2022-2023 school year. These three schools will collaborate with Public Impact and ECISD Talent Development this spring to undergo the school design process. The 2022-2023 Opportunity Culture Cohort C campuses are Cavazos Elementary, San Jacinto Elementary, and Buddy West Elementary.
Through the collaboration of ECISD, Public Impact, and the University of Texas Permian Basin, Opportunity Culture campuses restructure to extend the reach of excellent teachers to more students. Through the employment of teacher residents, who are UTPB education students, the highly effective teacher, known as the Multi-Classroom Leader, is provided release time to provide on-the-job learning for other team members.
In order to be selected into ECISD’s Cohort C of Opportunity Culture, campuses had to meet the following criteria:
- Leader readiness — Principals that lead this work on campus must have the ability to think innovatively about staffing and classroom composition. Opportunity Culture campuses afford schools the chance to reach more students with effective teachers but often times must strategically schedule classes to accomplish this.
- School need — Schools that have traditionally struggled with staffing are considered a prime candidate for the innovative staffing models Opportunity Culture employs.
- Student performance — Areas of the district that would receive the biggest impact by increasing the time students learn from effective teachers are priority.
Opportunity Culture is a self-funded initiative and utilizes innovative staffing models that are budget neutral. Each role within Opportunity Culture undergoes a rigorous selection process in which candidates must apply and provide evidence of effective teaching ability as well as positive historical data. In return, those who are hired to fulfill an Opportunity Culture role receive additional compensation for extra responsibilities and added accountability.
Opportunity Culture is an integral part of Ector County ISD’s strategic plan, The Future is Now. By implementing the tenets of Opportunity Culture, ECISD explicitly focuses on recruitment and retention, job-embedded professional learning, pipeline development, and strategic staffing.
