Opportunity To Succeed

Hello,

I recently listened to an episode of Olivia Wall’s podcast, Schoolultions, featuring John Hattie, the author of Visible Learning and other works on high-leverage practices. During their conversation, Hattie said something that struck me deeply: the professionalism of educators and how often it’s diminished by others, including by educators themselves.

He shared an exercise he often uses when presenting. Hattie shows audiences literacy rates from 100 years ago compared to today. A century ago, only 14% of the population was literate. Today, that number is 86%. Then he asks a simple question:

“What caused the increase in literacy over the past 100 years?”

Audience members typically respond with answers like changes in curriculum, new technologies, or updated standards. None of those are correct.

Teachers are the reason literacy rates rose.  Teachers created the conditions for this transformation.  Teachers increased literacy.

Hattie’s point is simple but profound: educators deserve credit, yet even educators do not recognize their impact. Every day, teachers do extraordinary work that changes lives, communities, and the trajectory of our society. 

Hattie’s comments reminded me of Robert Marzano’s What Works in Schools, which popularized the concept of a guaranteed and viable curriculum, or the concept that every student should have equitable access to what’s taught, and that what’s taught must be realistic, given the available time.

Marzano identified the number one reason students fail to learn. It isn’t poverty. It isn’t motivation. It isn’t even ability. It’s a lack of the opportunity to learn.

That phrase, opportunity to learn (OTL), gets at the heart of both professionalism and expertise in teaching. Too often, teachers are asked to teach an impossible number of standards in a limited amount of time. They prioritize, deciding what’s “nice to know” versus “need to know.” The problem is that what one teacher cuts, another might keep, and that independent, subjective process impacts a student’s OTL.

Ideally, teachers would have reasonable timeframes with a reasonable number of standards to teach. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. To put this in perspective: students spend about 180 days in school each year, for a little over five hours a day. But after transitions, announcements, and other interruptions, teachers have closer to four real hours for instruction. Over thirteen years of schooling, that’s roughly 9,000 hours of actual teaching time. Yet, to teach everything today’s standards expect—roughly 200 major goals and 3,000 benchmarks—teachers would need more than 15,000 hours. That’s nearly ten additional years of school. In other words, teachers are being asked to fit 22 years of learning into 13 years of time. And somehow, they still make it work.

Given these realities, to really ensure students have a solid OTL, requires something more than individual effort. It demands collaboration and coherence where teachers work together to decide what matters most, ensuring that every student, in every classroom, has access to the essential knowledge and skills they need.

Not to guild a lily, but when teachers are given too many standards and not enough time to teach them, and when they are not given proper time to collaborate around the curricular priorities, students are denied the OTL. This isn’t a teacher problem; it’s a systemic problem of overload, but it reinforces Hattie’s point: teachers are the ones making daily instructional decisions that either create or constrain opportunity. Their expertise isn’t just about content knowledge or pedagogy; it’s about professional judgment.

Every time teachers decide what to teach, how to teach it, and when to adjust, they are exercising expert judgment in the service of equity. Moreover, when teachers collaborate to align those decisions to ensure that what students learn doesn’t depend on who their teacher happens to be, they elevate opportunity for every learner.

Let’s look at Hattie’s stats again. The literacy rate went from 14% to 86%. Why? Teachers created opportunities for students to learn.

But if we want students to do even better, then we have to create better systems for teachers to succeed. Opportunity to learn doesn’t start with students; it starts with the adults who guide them. Teachers need the time, space, and support to do what they do best: design meaningful learning experiences. That means creating a system that respects their professionalism, one with a manageable number of standards, guaranteed collaboration time, competitive pay, and ongoing opportunities for growth. When teachers are supported as learners and collaborators, they, in turn, create classrooms where students thrive.

Teachers create learners. And when we create systems that honor and empower teachers, we create the conditions where everyone—students and educators alike—can truly learn.

~Heather

P.S. This week, I’m catching Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger’s book, The Leader Lab. It’s a practical, research-based guide that transforms the way we think about leadership. Luna and Renninger, co-founders of LifeLabs Learning, distill what they’ve taught to over 200,000 managers into actionable, high-impact habits that help leaders coach better, communicate clearly, and create cultures where people feel seen and valued.

What I love about this book is how quickly it moves from insight to action. It’s not theory; it’s a playbook for leaders who want to grow faster and lead smarter. Whether you’re a new manager or a seasoned administrator, The Leader Lab offers the tools to strengthen engagement, foster belonging, and spark innovation on any team.

P.P.S. Please remember to...

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