Dawn is a 48-year-old female teacher in a middle/upperclass suburb. She teaches 5th–8th grade band and travels between two elementary schools and one middle school.Dawn’s teaching career has been defined by constant change and a diversity of experience. Before arriving at her current position where she has been for 5 years, shetaught middle school and high school band in three states, applied instrument lessons at the college level,performed in professional orchestras, and took time off from teaching to stay home with her children. Recent data show that around 1/3 of students in the district were eligible for free/reduced price lunch, and the town’s median household income was around $30,000. For two years, Dawn’s schools had been on the “focus schools” state list, signifying a large achievement gap between the bottom 30% and top 30% of students.