Tammy Pawloski has served since 2004 as the director of The Francis Marion University Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty (www.fmucenterofexcellence.org), and the content of this presentation is based on more than 18 years of research and practice conducted in schools that serve students who arrive with limited resources. Pawloski has facilitated more than 1,900 presentations across the nation, including keynote addresses and plenary sessions at national and state conferences, as well as sustained school-level projects that focus on implementation of specific actionable steps grounded by the science of learning. Pawloski is a noted expert because of her breadth of knowledge; however what resonates most with teachers and school leaders is her ability to deliver an uncommon combination of research, practice, and compelling stories from the field that both empower and challenge.