Opportunity Culture Q&A

Each school is developing its own unique campus design and then evaluating its campus budget (and staffing) to find money for these positions. The district is not giving the schools any additional dollars for Opportunity Culture, meaning the design is sustainable for the long-term because it is fully funded at the campus level. 

No. Any teacher at any school can apply for one of these positions at any other school, as can teachers from outside of ECISD. District administrators will create the criteria and conduct two screenings of candidates for the O.C. positions. Principals will do the hiring from the pool of approved candidates.

A typical day for an MCL is teaching their students in the morning then working with their team colleagues, on their campus, in the afternoon. The MCL gets significantly higher compensation for taking on that additional responsibility of co-teaching, coaching, etc. MCLs are responsible for coaching and support, not evaluations of their team members.

Yes, MCL training will begin this summer and be ongoing to help prepare for the responsibilities of leading a team. The proven success of O.C. comes from the results seen when teachers are part of a team and given daily support.

Each Opportunity Culture school has its own design team charged with creating an effective design to meet their needs. We have seen teams formed by subject, or grade level or multiple grade levels. It can also be outside of core subject areas. Those are decisions made by the campus team.

That decision will depend on the campus’s individual O.C. design with support from central administration. We are looking for ways to get more coaches for our teachers, not fewer. Additionally, these are different roles. An instructional coach is assigned to assist the teachers at a particular school; and MCL is a classroom teacher who chooses to lead a team and take on the extra responsibilities that go with it. An MCL works a regular teacher contract (187 days) with no extra days.