Leann Pickerill, EdD, has 17 years of experience in education. Leann began her career in western Kentucky at Holiday Elementary School in Hopkinsville, KY. She taught grades K/1, 1, 4 & 5 while at Holiday. During her time in Christian County, she also served as a Gifted and Talented Enrichment Specialist and Instructional Supervisor. As a part of her Enrichment Specialist position, Leann participated in a gifted and talented certification cohort where teachers from every school in the district worked toward gifted and talented certification. During this period, Leann also served on the State Advisory Council for Gifted and Talented Education where she became interested in gifted policy and statewide initiatives. After leaving Christian County, Leann served as the state consultant for gifted education in Kentucky. Leann helped with management of Kentucky’s Jacob K. Javits Grant focused on identification and support of Primary Talent Pool students in Jefferson County. Leann also taught gifted coursework at the University of Louisville to support certifications during the Javits Grant award period. Leann, completed her doctoral degree at Murray State University, and focused her dissertation work on underrepresentation of students of low socio-economic status in gifted and talented programs in Kentucky. She analyzed the data for each of the 173 school districts in the state to determine where equitable identification practices were occurring and how to replicate those identification practices in local school districts. Currently, Leann teaches 3rd grade at Paris Elementary School in Paris, KY. She also serves as the gifted coordinator for the district. Leann, with support from her district leadership, developed and leads a certification cohort of teachers that will soon complete their Gifted Endorsement program through Georgetown College. Leann teaches all coursework for the certification coursework, and has implemented practices identified through her research to better identify students in the district. To learn more about her research, visit: https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=etd.