Our Mission
Our mission is to deliver professional development that equips teachers with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively engage and challenge all learners, with a particular focus on gifted and talented students. We are committed to helping education stakeholders design, develop, and implement gifted programming at the district, building, and classroom levels.
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WE OFFER:
- District Consultation
- Professional Learning
- Teacher Support & Resources
- Parent Resources
HOW WE CAN HELP:
- Gifted Program Development
- Developing Gifted Services
- Webinars
- Workshops
- Teacher In-service Training
- Conference Presentations
- Administrator Consultation
- Parent Information Nights
Who We Are
Karen Brown
Karen Brown is the director of Gifted Services for Paradise Valley Unified Schools in Phoenix, Arizona. She served previously as the Gifted and Accelerated Learning director at Scottsdale Unified School District. In her role, she works with K-12 administrators, teachers, parents, and students to ensure that the instructional practices and materials utilized provide the appropriate challenge for all students.
As a National Board Certified educator, she has taught as a gifted cluster teacher, a gifted specialist, a twice-exceptional teacher, and the Gifted Program Mentor.
Karen teaches in the Gifted Education Masters’ Program at ASU and consults throughout the country. She was the recipient of the 2018 NAGC Specialist’s and Masters’ Award, co-recipient of the 2013 NAGC Professional Network Award, and the 2013 AAGT Gifted Teacher of the Year. Karen is currently the NAGC Professional Learning Network Chair. She has co-authored two books, Differentiated Lessons for Every Learner and A Teacher’s Guide to Flexible Grouping and Collaborative Learning, winner of the 2019 NAGC Book of the Year Award.
Areas of Expertise
- Differentiation strategies
- Depth of Knowledge
- Depth and Complexity: Continuum of Complexity
- Flexible Grouping techniques
- Social/Emotional
- Twice Exceptional Learners
- Cluster Grouping
ElizaBeth Warner
ElizaBeth Warner, M.Ed, NBCT, is the Gifted Program Mentor for the Paradise Valley School District in Phoenix, Arizona. In this role, Warner guides and encourages teachers who teach in gifted programs from preschool through high school. She provides leadership with curriculum implementation, instructional strategies, and professional learning.
Her passion is inquiry-driven instruction, creative problem-solving, and inspiring teachers and students to embrace a journey of life-long learning. Warner is an ed-tech enthusiast known for utilizing technology that empowers student engagement and voice.
Warner teaches in the Gifted Education Masters’ Program at ASU. She also serves as a Khan Academy Ambassador and is a Google Certified Educator. She has presented at the National Association of Gifted Conference, Supporting the Needs of the Gifted (SENG), and the Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented conferences.
Areas of Expertise:
- Empowering learners by cultivating a climate of inquiry, critical thinking, and creativity
- Building Gifted Resource Sites and products for program promotion
- Problem-solving & critical-thinking strategies
- Promoting student voice with original projects
- Digital differentiation with the Google Workspace Educational Suite
- Implementing & differentiating with Khan Academy
- Classroom discourse and questioning strategies
- Motivating Twice-Exceptional Students
- Supporting the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Learners
- Cross-curricular and blended learning design
- Communication and program promotion using Smore and Canva