Gray Matter Consulting specializes in small and rural school district consulting in data analysis, educational leadership, educational technology, educational reform, employee discipline, professional development, curriculum implementation, teacher/principal evaluations, interim administrator, hearing officer, and performance reviews. Our staff focuses on assisting in developing and implementation of strategic plans focused on the alignment of instruction, curriculum, and assessment to allow teachers to target student learning needs. We coach Superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and district leadership in the execution of their duties within a normal workweek.Consultant assignments have included the Arizona State Impact Aid Association Executive Director since August 2014, Superintendent Mentor, working with ADE and Grand Canyon University, consultant to Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy, grants management consultant, human resource consultant, and counselor consultant to Grand Canyon Unified School District #4, grants management consultant to Peach Springs Unified School District #8, superintendent mentor consultant to Pinon Unified School District #4.

On Wednesday, April 29, 2020, the Lake Powell Chronicle published an article entitled, “PUSD names new Superintendent.” The article describes my introduction to the Page community. Thirty-seven years in public education as a teacher, counselor, middle and high school principal leadership consultant, and superintendent, 18 years in the same district. The article goes on to read, “Wallen specializes in turnaround work. Working with D and F schools and making them B schools and turning C schools into A schools. That’s what interested Wallen in PUSD. I saw Page Middle School was a D school, and Desert View was an F school and I knew I could raise them to B schools. Our goal as a district is to get straight Bs across the Board. I’ve put in all these years to learn all these instructional methods. Now I want to implement it. Wallen’s goal is to have all Page schools performing at a B level by spring 2021.”In the article, I identified four focus areas to transition to B schools:Incorporate Project Elevate into more programs.AVID permeates everything the schools do Beyond Textbooks will drive teaching and standards, and influence curriculum and instruction.A District-wide cultural shift, meaning start thinking like A students, A schools.The article goes on to quote Robert Candelaria, PUSD Board President, who “said the Board is very excited to have Wallen come abroad. The Board was and continues to be, impressed with the vast knowledge that Mr. Wallen brings to the job. During our interview process, his passion for student learners was obvious, which has led to a great approach for an instructional leader. This coupled with his vast experience will be a big asset to PUSD’s striving for higher academic achievement.”

Turn around Principal to be more exact. Goal is to take my credentials, experience, and tenacity to turn around an "F" school to an "A" school. What a challenge? Well, my target was to increase achievement by being a visible leader who tightened the reigns on student and staff behavior, increasing academic rigor, and infusing technology into the classroom. I started the project by identifying and confronting structures and systems that derived students of equitable educational opportunities. Teaching bell to bell, daily lesson design based on standard mastery and active engagement, defects of traditional grading on student motivation and effort, literacy on a daily basis, quarterly assessments, weekly formative assessments, and...remembering daily that we are teaching students as well as curriculum. Most challenging was creating a culture where the classroom teacher, classroom learning, and classroom success was the direct responsibility of the teacher. Introduced ZAP, Zeros Aren't Permitted, zeros are fifty, and other strategies to limit the impact of grading practices on at-risk students. Create and enforce a culture of learning on a daily basis by providing continuous feedback to students on their performance. My focus was to give stability while transforming past practice. Keeping a higher purpose, becoming an "A" school, like the north star, identifying and reinforcing short term successes, and celebrating students successes.

Assumed duties as Executive Director in July. Supervised all Academy operations in accordance with Board policies. Provided leadership in overall strategic and operational responsibilities for execution of the Academy mission and general administration of all instructional, business, and other operations of the Academy. Supervised employees of the Academy, led the development of educational program improvement, fostered a culture of positively engaged learnings, and served as a strong advocate for FALA's core values by providing a transformative educational experience through developing leadership and cultivating academic excellence in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Worked closely with developing the Board of Directors, creating stability and establishing a standard for governance.

Pinon Unified School District is a remote public school district located within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. PUSD #4 encompasses 2000 square miles with bus routes operating 2,123 miles per day with approximately 1800 miles of dirt roads. The district was under a corrective action plan with the Auditor General of the State of Arizona, the elementary school was entering NCLB Restructing Year 1 and has an Arizona Department of Education installed Principal and six ATLAS/Mentor teachers, the middle school is frozen in corrective action as a result of making AYP, and the high school is entering Corrective Action having failed to respond to any initiatives of NCLB. The district overspent its budget by $400,000 the previous year, the business department is a failure, the Governing Board is split and failing to move the district forward. Successfully provided leadership to the Governing Board in the development and implementation of a quality school district. The educational program is heavily infused with technology supporting instructional strategies using GLAD, Guided Language Acquisition and Development. My job as Superintendent was to stabilize the district’s operations, remove the district from corrective action with the Auditor General, develop and implement a school based budget, build a strong state and federal grants program, bring order and structure to daily activities, organize the Governing Board into an effective governance team, and lead the schools to make AYP. The business office reorganized to meet the requirements of the USFR, Arizona’s accounting standards, the budget has been adopted and meets the needs of students, the Auditor General has audited the district and recommended to the Arizona State Department of Education a clean audit. Pinon Unified has received the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Association of School Business Officials International 2010 - 2013.

Provide instruction to practicing teachers in the classroom. Courses directly impact instruction in the classroom so that a student can improve their classroom practice the next day. Taught classes in educational leadership, principalship, school finance, school law, ESL, and school reform.

• Responsible for grant writing, monitoring, evaluating Reading First Grants, conduct needs assessment, design professional development, and evaluate outcomes to assist school districts to meet AYP. Responsible for overall operations of organization, scheduling projects, and securing clients.

Entered the middle school with the "No Child Left Behind" movement. Lead the Middle School to being the standards movement, scientifically based teaching, and data driven decision making. The staff and students were successful in making AYP the second year of my principalship. PLC's and great students were the driving force being student success.

• Pinon Unified School District is a remote district located within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. PUSD #4 encompasses 2000 square miles with bus routes operating 2,123 miles per day with approximately 1800 miles on dirt roads. During my tenure as Superintendent, I have provided leadership to the Governing Board in the development and implementation of a quality school district. The district has grown from a student population of 600 students in 1993 to 1,645 students in 2002. The educational program is focused on mastery of state standards supported by a district quarterly assessment program. The educational program is heavily infused with technology supporting instructional strategies using GLAD, Guided Language Acquisition and Development.• The Governing Board is involved in a comprehensive $20,000,000 building program with completion of a 20,000 square foot edition to Pinon Middle School, replacement of Pinon Elementary School (K-5), completion of a $4,000,000 football stadium, soccer field, and baseball field, and completion of a $2,400,000 teacherage expansion. The Governing Board recently authorized $200,000 of technology funding to install an overhead projection device in each middle school classroom bringing the latest technology to impact student achievement.• Provided leadership to the Governing Board in the development and implementation of a comprehensive standards based curriculum centered on curriculum aligned to the standards, instructional strategies aligned to the standards, and a teacher evaluation system designed to ensure teachers are teaching the standards. Seventy percent of the students are experiencing yearly academic progress, but not enough growth to place district students on an even level with off-reservation schools. During the 2002 school year, PUSD #4 will implement a quarterly assessment program using on-line assessment to provide quick and understandable achievement results to teachers and parents.