K-12 Gifted Education Specialist
Polson School District #23
Polson, Montana, United States
Tamara Fisher Alley is K-12 Gifted Education Specialist (teacher/coordinator) for the Polson School District on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. She earned her Masters degree in Gifted Education from the University of Connecticut in 2004. She is Co-Director of Edufest, the northwest’s premiere conference on advanced learning, as well as Past President of the Montana Association for Gifted and Talented Education (Montana AGATE). Tamara’s experiences working with K-12 gifted students appear in "Intelligent Life in the Classroom: Smart Kids and Their Teachers," which she co-authored with Karen Isaacson. The book won the 2007 TAGT Legacy Book Award, as well as a 2008 Learning Magazine Teacher’s Choice Award. Tamara’s writing also appeared for six years with Education Week Teacher where she blogged about gifted education in her “Unwrapping the Gifted” blog. “Unwrapping the Gifted” is now re-animated as a column in NAGC’s Teaching for High Potential. She has presented on gifted-related topics for local, county, tribal, state, regional, national, and international audiences, including teachers, parents, students, administrators, pre-service teachers, and the general public. Tamara was selected as 2001 Polson Teacher of the Year, 2013 Montana AGATE Educator of the Year, and a Finalist for 2024 Montana Teacher of the Year.
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Navigating Difficult Conversations in Gifted Education
Friday, November 14, 2025
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM ET