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    The upcoming school year presents local education agencies (LEAs) and schools with an opportunity to think strategically about how staff across the system are deployed to accelerate learning, support social and emotional wellness, and ensure connectedness to school for all students. To support school entities with strategic staff deployment, PDE partnered with TNTP (formerly known as The New Teacher Project) and American Institutes for Research to develop:

    Leveraing a Multi-Classroom Teaching Model to Accelerate Student Learning

    As LEAs plan for SY 2020-21, the health, fiscal and logistical challenges related to COVID-19 may require alternative strategies for assigning educators to best meet students' needs. Schools can mitigate some of these challenges through a multi-classroom teacher staffing model. Three education policy and research organizations have proposed the Opportunity Culture model as particularly useful for school reopening during COVID-19.1

    Overview of the Opportunity Culture model

    In Opportunity Culture, schools assign a teacher with specific skills in lesson planning and facilitation as multi-classroom leaders. In the "team reach" model, these leaders rotate among classrooms to teach whole-group lessons. They form a team and share students with other teachers, who do not rotate among classrooms and focus on small-group instruction. The multi-classroom leaders support the other teachers by leading group tasks and providing feedback. The table below summarizes the roles of educators in the "team reach" model, which can be particularly applicable to shifting among remote and in-person learning contexts during school reopening.2

    Members of a Multi-Classroom Staffing Team3

     1 multi-classroom leader
    (Working in person or remotely)    		2 to 8 "Team Reach" teachers
    (Working in person or remotely)    		Team Reach associate(s) (optional)
    Skills
    • Teacher with subject-matter expertise
    • Highly effective at lesson planning & facilitation of learning
    • Teachers who are effective at connecting with students, facilitating small groups, and providing social-emotional support
    • Paraprofessionals who are effective at facilitating small groups
    Roles
    • Plan whole-group lessons
    • Rotate among classrooms to lead instruction for whole groups & sometimes work with small groups
    • Leads team in tasks such as student data analysis

    • Primarily work with smaller groups of students to further develop learning based on multi-classroom leader's instruction
    • Provide individualized support
    • Work with small groups or individual students
    • Provide noninstructional support as needed

    A study of Opportunity Culture classrooms serving 15,000 students found that students performed better in math in each of seven statistical models, with a statistically significant difference compared to control classrooms in the same school. Students in multi-classroom staffing models also performed better in reading in six of seven statistical models.4 In a 2018 study of various multi-classroom models deployed through blended learning, school staff reported academic and social-emotional benefits to students.[1] Ninety percent of schools using Opportunity Culture are Title I schools—and the model has proven successful with students in poverty.5

    Implementing Multi-Classroom Staffing Models in SY 2020-21 and Beyond

    Multi-classroom leader and/or "team reach" educators can work in person or remotely, depending on local needs. The staffing strategy an LEA chooses may depend on which teachers need to work remotely due to being medically at risk and/or having an at-risk family member.6

    Example assignments of an English Language Arts (ELA) teacher team for a school that alternates in-person and remote days

     Multi-classroom leader"Team Reach" teachers
    Example 1
    • On remote days, leads whole-group writing instruction
    • On in-person days, works with individuals and small groups to review and refine drafts of a writing assignment
    Example 2
    • Spends a half day leading whole-group writing instruction in person
    • On remote days, works with individuals and small groups virtually to review and refine drafts of a writing assignment

    ​Opportunity Culture is intended to be planned over several months. To ​​help plan and implement the model in a shorter time, LEA leaders can consult existing Opportunity Culture resources such as:

    A multi-classroom staffing strategy can address challenges that school reopening may pose, including:

    • Some or all students and teachers working remotely: This model can accommodate part-time remote learning as well as medically at-risk students and staff who need to participate remotely full-time.7 Remote learning over videoconference is more effective for small groups of students. Due to its extensive use of small-group learning, this multi-classroom model can adapt to remote or blended learning relatively easily and effectively.8
    • Coverage for teachers who need to take leave for illness or to care for an ill family member: When using this model, leaders should identify who would take over the content-expert role if that educator needs to take leave.9 When such a situation occurs, the existing team—and perhaps other teachers with subject-matter knowledge—can collaborate to fill the role of a colleague on leave.10
    • Diverse academic needs within the same class/school, following diverse learning experiences in Spring 2020: School systems that have implemented multi-classroom models along with blended learning found that students had more opportunities for self-paced and individualized instruction. Educators were better able to determine the academic needs of individual students.11 These features would be especially relevant as students return to school following highly varied levels of engagement in and academic growth during remote learning in Spring 2020. Doing more small-group instruction can differentiate for "unfinished" learning from Spring 2020, based on the skills and knowledge that students did or did not develop in the spring.12
    • Concerns about limiting in-person exposure to multiple educators and student groupings: Schools can assign educator roles to minimize in-person exposure among students and educators. As an example, a small group of middle-school students could have one STEM and one humanities "team reach" teacher—who alternate working with the students in person—while multi-classroom lead teachers provide remote instruction on specific subjects. The "team reach" teachers can also support remote instruction from teachers of art, library, music, physical education, etc.
    • Smaller number of staff due to furloughs and/or hiring freezes: Multi-classroom teams typically teach at least 33 percent more students than they would through traditional teacher assignment.13 Teams can include paraprofessionals supplementing the work of multi-classroom and "team reach" teachers.14 Three meta-analyses found that paraprofessionals were as effective as teachers at tutoring individual students or small groups.15

    Selecting and Training Multi-Classroom Team Members

    Schools that intend to effectively use the Opportunity Culture model in the long-term should take sufficient time to plan and to adopt all principles of the model (PDF), including differentiated compensation for leaders and training to increase their capacity. For SY 2020-21, schools can adapt the model for the short-term.

    • Selecting multi-classroom leaders: If a school lacks time for a thorough application and selection process for the role, specific criteria can help identify multi-classroom leaders. They should have proven success as a teacher and the ability to monitor the effectiveness of other teachers on their team, even while working remotely.16 If possible, identify leaders who were effective at remote instruction in Spring 2020.17
    • Schools that have the time for an application process can have potential multi-classroom leaders complete performance tasks around coaching or data analysis. 
    • Selecting "team reach" teachers: The other teachers on a team don't need to be new or struggling teachers; the model is intended to help all teachers improve and to create a "coaching culture."18 "Team reach" teachers should be skilled at working with small groups, connecting with students, and providing individualized and social-emotional support.19
    • Selecting paraprofessionals for multi-classroom teams: Identify paraprofessionals who are adept at facilitating small group learning and who are interested in taking on more responsibilities. These may include paraprofessionals in para-to-teacher pipeline programs.20
    • Training: To gain buy-in from participants, communicate early on how multi-classroom leaders were selected, what this model is, and what it is not.21 For example, communicate that it's an approach to enhance student learning and teacher development/collaboration while addressing school reopening challenges during CODIV-19; it's not remediation for underperforming teachers. Cultivate multi-classroom leaders' ability to build relationships with colleagues on their team. Set the expectation that leaders hold regularly scheduled meetings with their team.22 Prepare leaders to share best practices for remote instruction. Ensure that at least one team member can assist others with technology concerns.23 Finally, paraprofessionals may need further training to facilitate small-group learning.24
     

    1 E. Mizrav & L. Lachlan-Haché. (May 2020). Flipping the "Readiness" Paradigm in the Time of Covid-19. American Institutes for Research.; Chiefs for Change & Johns Hopkins School of Education Institute for Education Policy. (May 2020). The return: How shoul​d education leaders prepare for reentry and beyond?

    2 E. Mizrav & L. Lachlan-Haché. (May 2020).

    3 Public Impact (2020). Better t​ogether: Combining multi-classroom leadership with team reach.

    4 Backes, B. & Hansen, M. (2018). Reaching further and learning more? Evaluating Public Impact's Opportunity Culture initiative (PDF). American Institutes for Research and The Brookings Institution. National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research, Working Paper 181.

    5 Public Impact. (May 15, 2020). 3 model options give schools budget-neutral plans, schedules, roles for partial school closures.

    6 Public Impact (May 28, 2020). Multi-clas​sroom leadership with students and teachers in multiple locations.

    7 Public Impact (May 28, 2020). Multi-class​room leadership with students and teachers at home.

    8 Public Impact (May 28, 2020). Multi-classroom leadership with students and teachers in multiple locations.

    9 Public Impact. (April 2020). Recommended district policies for at-home teaching and learning (PDF).

    10 Public Impact (May 28, 2020). Multi-classroom leadership with students and teachers in multiple locations.

    11 The Clayton Christensen Institute & Public Impact (2018). Innovative staffing to personalize learning: How new teaching roles and blended learning help students succeed (PDF).

    12 TNTP. (April 2020). Learning acceleration guide: planning for acceleration in the 2020-2021 school year.

    13 Public Impact (2018). Multi-classroom lea​dership and team reach: Elementary school model.; Center for Research on Education Outcomes. (2015). Online charter school study. Stanford University; Public Impact (May 28, 2020).

    14 Conversation with G. Cooper, Public Impact Senior Consultant, June 8, 2020.

    15 Inns, A. & Slavin, R. E. (2017, August). Effective Reading Programs for Secondary Students. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Research and Reform in Education.; Inns, A., Lake, C., Pellegrini, M., & Slavin, R. (2018). Effective programs for struggling readers: A best-evidence synthesis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.; Pellegrini, M., Inns, A., & Slavin, R. (2018). Effective programs in elementary mathematics: A best-evidence synthesis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.

    16 Conversation with C. Dixon, Public Impact Consultant, & G. Cooper, Public Impact Senior Consultant, June 8, 2020.

    17 Conversation with G. Whitaker, Area Superintendent, Fulton County Schools, GA, June 8, 2020.

    18 Conversation with C. Dixon, Public Impact Consultant, & G. Cooper, Public Impact Senior Consultant, June 8, 2020.

    19 Public Impact (2020). Better together: Combining multi-classr​oom leadership with team reach.

    20 Conversation with C. Dixon, Public Impact Consultant, & G. Cooper, Public Impact Senior Consultant, June 8, 2020.

    21 Conversation with V. Jackson-Dinkins, Senior Coordinator of Opportunity Culture, Indianapolis Public Schools, June 16, 2020.

    22 Conversation with C. Dixon, Public Impact Consultant, & G. Cooper, Public Impact Senior Consultant, June 8, 2020.

    23 Conversation with G. Whitaker, Area Superintendent, Fulton County Schools, GA, June 8, 2020.

    24 Conversation with V. Jackson-Dinkins, V. Jackson-Dinkins, Senior Coordinator of Opportunity Culture, Indianapolis Public Schools, June 16, 2020.