Work with Dr. Karen Brown
Professional Learning Opportunities Designed to Strengthen Instruction and Support Student Success
Effective professional learning should do more than provide teachers with information and should translate into meaningful changes in instructional practice and improved learning experiences for students.
Dr. Karen Brown provides educational consulting and professional learning services designed to work collaboratively with teachers, instructional coaches, interventionists, mentors, and school and district leaders. Drawing on her experience as a classroom teacher, school interventionist, mentor, educational researcher, and teacher consultant, Dr. Brown helps educators strengthen their instructional practices through engaging, practical, and research-informed professional learning.
Whether you are an individual teacher looking for personalized coaching or a school or district leader seeking professional learning for your instructional team, Dr. Brown can design learning experiences around your educators’ specific needs, goals, and students.
Professional Learning Opportunities
Dr. Brown provides professional learning and consulting in the following areas:
- Individual Teacher Coaching
- Mathematics Instruction and Intervention
- Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
- Teacher Mentoring Programs
- Instructional Coaching and Modeling
- School- and District-Wide Professional Learning
- Student Academic Interventions
- Analyzing Student Work and Using Data to Inform Instruction
- Small-Group and Differentiated Instruction
Professional learning opportunities may be provided through workshops, courses, institutes, coaching, collaborative planning, instructional modeling, consultation, and virtual or on-site professional learning experiences.
Individual Teacher Coaching
Personalized Support for Teachers Who Want to Strengthen Their Instruction
Are you looking for personalized support to help you become a more effective and confident mathematics teacher?
Dr. Brown provides individualized coaching designed to help teachers strengthen their instructional practices and develop engaging mathematics learning experiences that meet the needs of diverse learners.
Coaching can focus on areas such as:
- Planning engaging and purposeful mathematics lessons
- Strengthening whole-class mathematics instruction
- Differentiating instruction to meet diverse student needs
- Developing effective small-group instruction
- Supporting students who need additional academic intervention
- Using questioning and mathematical discourse to deepen student thinking
- Analyzing student work to identify instructional needs
- Connecting instruction to grade-level learning standards
- Developing strategies to increase student engagement and mathematical thinking
- Reflecting on instructional practices and identifying opportunities for growth
Rather than providing a one-size-fits-all approach, Dr. Brown collaborates with each teacher to identify goals, examine current instructional practices, and develop practical strategies that can be implemented in the classroom.
Looking for individualized teaching support?
[Learn More About Individual Teacher Coaching]
School- and District-Wide Professional Learning
Build Instructional Capacity Across Your School or District
Professional learning is most powerful when educators have opportunities to learn, collaborate, apply new practices, reflect, and continue growing together.
Dr. Brown works with school and district leaders to develop professional learning experiences aligned with their instructional goals and the needs of their educators.
Professional learning can be designed for:
- Professional Learning Communities
- Classroom teachers
- Grade-level team
- Literacy and Mathmatics Teams
- Interventionists
- Instructional coaches
- Teacher mentors
- New teachers
- School leadership teams
- District instructional teams
Professional learning may include a single workshop or be designed as a multi-session professional learning experience that provides educators with continued support as they implement new instructional practices.
Areas of School- and District-Wide Support
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
Develop collaborative structures that help teachers work together to examine instruction, analyze student learning, and determine next steps that can positively influence teacher sense of self-efficacy and student success.
Teacher Mentoring Programs
Strengthen mentoring practices that support new and developing teachers as they build instructional knowledge, confidence, and professional self-efficacy.
Instructional Interventions
Support teachers and interventionists in designing and implementing effective academic interventions that address student learning needs.
Mathematics Instruction
Strengthen classroom mathematics instruction through engaging, differentiated, and purposeful learning experiences.
Instructional Coaching and Modeling
Provide educators with opportunities to observe effective instructional practices, practice new strategies, receive feedback, and reflect on their implementation.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
From Collaboration to Meaningful Instructional Change
Do you want to develop Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that move beyond meetings and become a meaningful part of your school’s instructional culture?
Dr. Brown draws on her doctoral research on Professional Learning Communities, as well as her experiences as an educator and active facilitator in collaborative PLCs, to support schools and districts in developing purposeful and collaborative PLCs , and focused on improving teaching and student learning.
Professional learning can support educators throughout the PLC process—from launching and structuring PLCs to analyzing student learning and determining instructional next steps.
PLC Professional Learning Experiences
Introduction
Understanding the purpose and essential characteristics of effective PLCs.
Structure
Designing PLC structures, routines, and collaborative processes that work for your educators.
Launching
Establishing PLCs with clear expectations, goals, and a shared commitment to improving instruction.
Collaboration
Developing productive conversations that encourage educators to examine instructional practices and learn effective strategies from one another.
Analysis
Examining student work and learning evidence to identify strengths, needs, and instructional next steps.
Instructional Development
Translating PLC conversations into practical instructional strategies teachers can implement in their classrooms.
Sustaining the Work
Supporting school and district leaders as they build systems that help PLCs remain focused, purposeful, and connected to student learning.
PLC Consultation Can Include:
- PLC workshops and institutes
- PLC launch support
- PLC meeting structures and protocols
- Collaborative planning
- Student work analysis
- Data-informed instructional conversations
- Teacher reflection and goal setting
- Instructional strategy development
- Coaching for PLC facilitators and leaders
Dr. Brown’s goal is to help schools develop PLCs that are not simply another meeting on the calendar, but a professional learning structure that supports educators in improving their practice and responding to student learning needs.
[Learn More About PLC Consulting]
Teaching Interventions
Supporting Teachers in Meeting the Needs of Students Who Need More
When students are not yet demonstrating mastery of grade-level skills and standards, educators need more than additional worksheets. They need effective instructional strategies, intentional planning, and interventions that respond to what students actually know and need to learn next.
Dr. Brown draws on her experiences as a special and general education teacher and interventionist to consulat and coach classroom teachers and interventionists who support students through academic interventions.
Professional learning for teaching interventions may focus on:
- Identifying student learning needs
- Connecting interventions to grade-level standards
- Planning targeted instruction
- Selecting appropriate instructional strategies
- Differentiating instruction
- Designing small-group learning experiences
- Monitoring student progress
- Analyzing student work
- Adjusting instruction based on student response
- Supporting students in developing conceptual understanding and procedural fluency
Dr. Brown works collaboratively with educators to help them develop intervention practices that are intentional, responsive, engaging, and connected to classroom learning.
School District Mentoring Programs
Supporting New Teachers from the Beginning
New teachers deserve more than a welcome packet and an assigned mentor. They need meaningful opportunities to develop their instructional knowledge, build confidence, reflect on their practice, and feel supported as they navigate the profession.
Dr. Brown provides consultation and professional learning for school districts seeking to strengthen teacher mentoring programs.
Drawing on her doctoral research on teacher mentoring, as well as her experience serving as a teacher mentor, Dr. Brown helps districts consider how mentoring structures can better support new and developing educators.
Professional learning for school mentoring programs can address:
- Developing effective mentor programs
- Defining mentor and mentee roles
- Preparing and supporting teacher mentors
- Building productive mentor-teacher relationships
- Providing instructional feedback
- Supporting teacher reflection
- Developing teacher self-efficacy
- Helping new teachers strengthen instructional practices
- Creating structures for ongoing professional support
- Supporting teacher growth and retention
The goal is to help districts create mentoring experiences in which new teachers feel supported, valued, and equipped to grow as effective educators.
[Learn More About Mentoring Program Consultation]
Workshops, Institutes, and Courses
Dr. Brown offers professional learning experiences that can be customized to meet the needs of your teachers, school, or district.
Professional learning may be offered as:
Workshops
Focused professional learning sessions designed around a specific instructional goal or area of need.
Institutes
More intensive professional learning experiences that allow educators to explore a topic in greater depth and begin applying new practices.
Courses
Multi-session learning experiences designed to provide educators with opportunities to learn, apply, reflect, and receive continued support.
Coaching
Individualized or team-based support that helps educators translate professional learning into classroom practice.
Instructional Modeling
Opportunities for educators to observe instructional practices and discuss the decisions behind effective teaching.
Collaborative Planning
Facilitated opportunities for educators to plan lessons, examine student learning, and develop instructional responses together.
Professional learning is available on-site and virtually and can be designed for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, interventionists, mentors, and school or district leaders.
Mathematics Professional Learning
Engaging. Differentiated. Purposeful.
Dr. Brown specializes in helping educators strengthen mathematics instruction so that students have opportunities to think mathematically, engage meaningfully, and develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
Mathematics professional learning can focus on:
- Effective whole-class mathematics instruction
- Differentiated mathematics instruction
- Small-group guided mathematics instruction
- Independent mathematics learning
- Mathematical discourse
- Student engagement
- Questioning strategies
- Conceptual understanding
- Procedural fluency
- Problem solving
- Analyzing student work
- Mathematics interventions
- Connecting instruction to grade-level standards
- Planning engaging mathematics learning experiences
- Assessing student understanding of mathematics concepts and mastery of standards
Mathematics professional learning experiences for mathmatics instruction can be customized based on the grade levels, instructional priorities, and needs of your educators.
Literacy Professional Learning
Dr. Brown can also provide professional learning designed to strengthen foundational literacy instructional practices and support educators in creating effective learning experiences for students.
Drawing on her experiences as a classroom teacher, interventionist and reading specialist, Dr Brown provides consultation and coaching to assist educators in strengthening literacy instruction so that students have opportunities to develop necessary reading and writing skills, to become confident readers and writers, and to enjoy reading and writing.
Literacy professional learning can focus on:
- Effective whole-class literacy instruction
- Differentiated literacy instruction
- Small-group guided literacy instruction
- Independent literacy learning
- Student engagement
- Questioning strategies
- Conceptual understanding
- Reading fluency
- Reading interferences
- Analyzing student work
- Literacy interventions
- Connecting instruction to grade-level standards
- Planning engaging literacy learning experiences
- Assessing student understanding of literary skills and mastery of standards
Professional learning for literacy instruction can be customized around your school’s or district’s instructional priorities and may include workshops, courses, coaching, modeling, and collaborative planning.
A Professional Learning Partnership, Not Just a Professional Development Session
Every school, district, and educator has different needs.
That’s why Dr. Brown takes a collaborative approach to professional learning.
Rather than beginning with a predetermined presentation, she works with educators and leaders to understand their instructional goals, identify areas of need, and develop professional learning experiences that are relevant to their context.
Professional learning can be designed as a:
One-Time Experience
A focused workshop, keynote, or professional learning session.
Short-Term Learning Series
A series of sessions that allows educators to learn, implement, reflect, and return for additional support.
Long-Term Partnership
Ongoing coaching and consultation designed to support instructional change over time.
Let’s Work Together
Whether you are an individual teacher looking for personalized coaching or a school or district leader seeking professional learning for your educators, Dr. Brown can help you develop a professional learning experience aligned with your goals.
Let’s move professional learning from something teachers attend to something that helps teachers grow.