An Arizona native, Dr. Gayle Galligan has been a teacher of the gifted, a staff development trainer, a mentor to teachers and administrators, a McREL Balanced leadership developer for administrators, a principal of a Title 1 K-8 school before moving to the district level. She is currently the Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in the Deer Valley Unified School District and oversees all areas that impact students PreK-12. During her leadership as a principal, her school was awarded the Arizona A Plus School of Excellence award. In addition, she and her school were part of the Beat the Odds organization for continuous improvement in lower socioeconomic schools. Dr. Galligan has been named NCTM Mathematics Teacher of the Year, DVUSD Teacher of the Year as well as Administrator of the Year. In her role as Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum, she and her team have been instrumental in the roll out of the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards, AzMERIT and associated alignment of curriculum and assessments.