Elizabeth Egan, M.Ed.

Elizabeth Egan has been an elementary school teacher at Pueblo Gardens K-8 School for the last 13 years.  She has taught grades Kindergarten through Fourth Grade.   Elizabeth has had extensive training through Title 1 Mathematics Projects, NCTM, as well as Math Solutions.  In 2009, Elizabeth was acknowledged to participate in the Talent Transfer Initiative. She is considered a “benchmark” teacher.  Her classroom has an excellent history of performing plus on the AIMS test in mathematics.  She is bilingually certified and has experience in Bilingual Classrooms as well as SEI Designated Classrooms.  She has been trained with the National Multiage Institute and has taught Multiage in a team teaching situation for the last eight years.  She has extensive knowledge and training in teaching second language learners.      She has also worked as a mathematics coach for Tucson Unified School District in planning and implementing professional development workshops.  In addition, Elizabeth has facilitated   “lesson studies” in classrooms with the purpose to model and support quality math instruction.  She has had experience being the AIMS Testing Coordinator.  She assisted in developing and implementing a district-wide math assessment and a rubric system for Tucson Unified School District in addition to developing the mathematics pacing calendar for the third and fourth grades.   Furthermore, she assisted in creating Math Problems of the Day for the Tucson Unified School District’s Schools who were using the “Investigations” Units for first through fourth grades.

Phyllis Burks, MA, MAEd, CELTA

Phyllis Burks has been an educator, trainer, coach and consultant for over 25 years. As a K-5 Math Specialist and trainer, she has worked with teachers, principals, and district personnel to foster change and build math capacity to meet defined achievement goals. As a consultant and coach she aims to build trusted relationships, provide timely feedback and model effective instructional strategies.

While a math coach with the Tucson Unified School District, she has advocated high expectations for both student and teacher learning. She has supported site-level professional development through facilitation of in-service training and grade-level team meetings. In order to monitor the progress of struggling students, she developed assessment tools and established systems to collect, share, analyze and report formative data. Using language development as an integral part of helping students make sense of math, she helped guide Robison Elementary in Tucson from an Underperforming school to Performing Plus.

Working as a consultant with the Washington Elementary School District in Phoenix, AZ, she has supported classroom teachers in effective implementation of high quality standards-based math instruction. She has worked with teachers in the classroom, monitoring instruction, modeling lessons, and team teaching. She has encouraged teachers to reflect on their practice, take risk, and grow professionally. Ms Burks has been a co-director of the Math/Science Partnership Grant with the University of Arizona and has served as a math trainer with the University of Arizona’s SEED Project (Scholarships for Education and Economic Development), a program for visiting teachers from Mexico and Guatemala.

While working on the district Math Initiative (2006 – 2008) she helped draft a new 5-year Math Plan and developed common core monthly math assessments that align with the Investigations curriculum. In collaboration with site-based math teams, she facilitated protocols for evaluating the monthly assessments, and planned interventions to meet student’s mathematical needs. Valuing school/family partnerships to support math learning for students, she developed multiple ways to engage families and create bridges from the classroom to the home that extend and deepen mathematics learning. As Chairman of the 2010 TUSD K-5 Math Textbook Adoption Committee, she expanded her knowledge and understanding of scientifically based math programs and developed protocols for evaluating math programs using NCTM principles, state standards, and the Five Components of Math Proficiency.

Ms. Burks received her BA in math and philosophy from the University of Rochester, an MA in Linguistics from UC Berkeley, K-8 teacher certification from California State University at Sacramento, a Masters in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and certification to teach English as a second language from Cambridge University. She has her administrative credential and is fully endorsed for ESL, Middle School Math, and Early Childhood Education.

Dora Saldamando

Dora Saldamando was selected as a 2010 semi-finalist in the Rodel Foundation of Arizona’s search for exemplary teachers. She has also worked as a mathematics consultant for Marilyn Burns Education Associates and has been a mathematics facilitator and coach for Tucson Unified School District in planning and implementing professional development workshops and at a Summer Mathematics Institute for teachers to ensure successful mathematics instruction across the curriculum.  Furthermore, Dora  has presented and modeled mathematics instruction in classroom settings to assist and support teachers throughout the Tucson Unified School District.  She has presented at math workshops for the Center for the Mathematics Education for Latino Students, Waggoner Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona and at the University of Arizona-College of Education. She has assisted in designing a district-wide math assessments and a rubric system for Tucson Unified School District.  Dora Saldamando has been an elementary school teacher at Pueblo Gardens K-8 School for the last 13 years and has participated as a co-author for Teaching Children Mathematics monthly magazine for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  She was also selected and acknowledged as a “Site Educator for Excellence” by Teacher Feature link in the Northeast Region-Tucson Unified School District.

Karolyn Williams, M.Ed.

Karolyn Williams has been an enthusiastic elementary educator for the last 17 years.  Her experience has been working with minority and low-income students from grades preschool to 4.  She received comprehensive instruction at the National Multiage Institute in Flagstaff and continues team-teaching in a 3rd/4th multiage classroom.  Karolyn was a Rodel Exemplary Teacher Semi-finalist.  Karolyn was selected to participate at DMI (Developing Mathematical Ideas) in Massachusetts and also presented for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Washington D.C.  She co-authored the chapter “Co-teaching: A Powerful Tool in the book: The Math Coach Field Guide.  Karolyn developed math assessments and coordinated a math investigation study for Tucson Unified School District support staff and teachers along with a pacing calendar for implementation.  She organized and assisted in writing math “Problems of the Day” to support district math adoption for grades kindergarten through 5.  Karolyn co-authored Math by the Month for Teaching Children Mathematics Magazine: Published by National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  Her students have achieved an exceptional record of high performance on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards in mathematics.  She continues researching, co-teaching, and exploring student’s mathematical thinking.