WestEd’s Center on School Turnaround (CST) recently hosted two online forums for state education agency (SEA) officials that focused on talent development, one of CST’s four domains of rapid school improvement. The monthly forums are part of a series designed to help SEAs and regional comprehensive centers in their improvement efforts.

Developed in pairs, each set of forums focus on a key issue related to supporting school turnaround. In the first forum, a recognized expert in the identified area makes a presentation; in the second forum, convened in the following month, a state or local education agency shares their work related to the topic, providing an on-the-ground example.

This brief highlights the March and April 2018 forums, which addressed opportunity culture as a talent development strategy. Bryan Hassel, Co-President of Public Impact, presented at the first forum. The second forum featured Denise Watts, who leads Project LIFT (Leadership & Investment for Transformation), an initiative that is implementing an opportunity culture program in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The brief also offers recommendations for local and state education agencies interested in further exploration.

Visit the Thought Leadership Forum Brief: Talent Development and Opportunity Culture resource page to learn more and download your copy.