Robert Crowe
Chief Executive Officer
Bob is one of the co-founders of Elevated Achievement Group, a professional learning company dedicated to helping educators develop student ownership at all grade levels and at all types of schools. His work at Elevated Achievement led him to co-write the books, Developing Student Ownership, a practical guide for educators to motivate students to own their own learning, and Developing Instructional Leadership, a comprehensive and functional guide for principals to create a culture of ownership in their schools. His belief in and focus on student ownership is reflective of his years of experience in the professional development world.
Bob began his tenure in education as a bilingual teacher in Southern California in the early ‘90s, when he worked with English learners at all proficiency levels. He then began working directly with teachers and was an instructional coach for a national professional development company. He has worked extensively across the United States supporting district administrators, school administrators, teachers, students, and parents at the elementary, middle, and high school levels to implement standards-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment. It was during these eighteen years as an instructional coach that he saw the value in motivating students to own their learning. He put some of this thinking into practice when he was the lead author on an intensive reading/writing program that supported older students two or more years below grade level. For the past few years, he has helped develop accountability measures that support the implementation of systemic change in those schools and districts that truly want to become student-centered—by focusing on those practices that lead to student ownership.
As Chief Executive Officer, his duties include working directly with clients to facilitate professional learning opportunities that best support elevated achievement such as modeling, mentoring, co-planning, co-teaching, observational feedback, and reflection on professional growth. He also assists clients in identifying specific focus areas of growth using Elevated Achievement’s Strategic Learning Practices and Learning Framework.
Jane Kennedy
Chief Financial Officer
Jane is co-author of the books, Developing Student Ownership and Developing Instructional Leadership, as well as co-founder of Elevated Achievement Group. She founded this professional learning company with the express desire to focus on supporting educators as she feels they need to be supported—with a collaborative approach instead of a top-down approach. This desire to work cooperatively and collaboratively with teachers, coaches, and administrators stems from her varied experiences over the past twenty-five years in education.
Jane began her career in 1991 on the East Coast as a self-contained classroom teacher in a diverse school setting with a majority of her students receiving Title I support. This initial experience infused Jane with a passion for educational equity that has influenced her subsequent career focus. This focus led her to begin consulting work with a national textbook publisher where she supported adults at all levels in the educational system. This work included support for all types of districts—urban, suburban, and rural—as they implemented the latest curriculum, managing a team that worked directly with administrators and teachers, and developing processes that successfully supported the implementation of research-based reform. She has taken these skills and has developed processes that support the implementation of research-based reforms that focus on increasing student ownership.
As Chief Financial Officer, Jane not only looks after the business aspects of Elevated Achievement Group but also understands educational funding at the federal, state, district, and school levels. Her work includes the development and delivery of professional learning support for clients as they begin identifying strengths and gaps in current practice. Her work focuses on improving student learning and understanding the necessary actions of adults in the system to ensure academic success occurs for all students.
Lesley Fields
Director of Production
Lesley joined Elevated Achievement Group because she believes all children deserve the chance to own their learning and all educators deserve robust support to empower their students’ ownership. Her philosophy of student and educator empowerment evolved through twenty years in public education, professional development, and educational publishing.
After deciding at age five to be a teacher, Lesley achieved that goal in 1998 and spent the next eight years working as a public school teacher in Texas. Lesley then channeled her passion for education into a Masters’ degree from the University of Texas. During this time, she discovered that she was also adept at supporting students and teachers through curriculum development and professional development. She worked as an editor at various levels producing education materials at national educational publishing companies, including Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt. This experience afforded her opportunities to bring real-world classroom experience to both content and professional development for Pre-K–12 teachers across the country.
Lesley works with teachers through modeling, mentoring, co-planning, co-teaching, observational feedback, and reflection opportunities that empower them to increase their students’ ownership. As the Director of Production, Lesley ensures the high quality of Elevated Achievement’s materials to which our clients have grown accustomed.
Marilyn M. Saucedo, Ed.D.
Instructional Coach
Marilyn is a leadership-oriented professional educator with 16 years of experience as a classroom teacher, as well as 16 years as a school site and district administrator. Her belief that every child deserves to receive whatever support is needed to develop academically grew during this time and has become the driving force behind her work and her core values.
The child of immigrants, Marilyn was instilled from an early age with a clear understanding of the importance of a strong education for future success. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Clemson University and her doctorate from Brandman University. While she began her teaching career in South Carolina, she subsequently moved to California in the ‘80s where her first assignment was working as a classroom teacher with students new to the United States. During her tenure as a classroom teacher, Marilyn taught English as a Second Language, Spanish, World History, and Math in both bilingual and in mainstream classroom settings. A strong coach and trainer who can develop strategic, innovative and caring leaders, practitioners, and scholars, she has demonstrated the ability to work with a variety of partners and stakeholders. As a school and district administrator, Marilyn has worked directly with district and school site administrators, teachers, students, and parents to build capacity for learning through collaborative partnerships.
Marilyn is a member of the Elevated Achievement Group team as an instructional coach where she provides support to teachers, coaches, and administrators in their work of developing student ownership of their own learning. Her duties includes working with teachers and administrators through coaching, modeling, mentoring, co-planning, observational feedback, and reflection. She also gathers data for the comprehensive analysis during an academic climate review of a classroom, school, or district.
Sandra Lee, Ed.D.
Instructional Coach
Sandra believes all children have the right to an educational environment where they can grow mentally, emotionally, and socially. It is her passion to support students and educators to meet their full potential by providing a safe environment where students are invited to share their ideas and take risks. At the core, she believes in the power of instructional leadership and joining alongside teachers to learn, grow, and grapple as a team toward common goals.
Growing up as an English Language Learner with a single parent, she brings a unique perspective on education as she had to navigate the world of education with many odds against her. At a young age, Sandra knew she wanted to be in education. Sandra has her Bachelor degree in the study of Child Development and Adolescence, a Master’s Degree in the Science of Reading, and her Doctorate from California State University, Fullerton with her dissertation focus on the writing process. She has served as a teacher in lower-income communities, instructional coach, school principal, as Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, and as an Adjunct Professor at California State University, Los Angeles.
Sandra is a member of the Elevated Achievement team as an Instructional Coach where she provides support to teachers, coaches, and administrators in their work of developing student ownership of their learning. Her duties include working with teachers and administrators through coaching, modeling, mentoring, co-planning, observational feedback, and reflection. She also gathers data for the comprehensive analysis during an academic climate review of a classroom, school, or district.
Frances Weissenberger
Instructional Coach
Frances views collaborative school environments as the key to creating successful teachers and students. Her educational experiences have afforded her the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of people to meet the common goal of increasing student achievement and well-being. Mrs. Weissenberger’s educational philosophy is based on her uncompromising belief that all students can learn, given a positive learning environment, strong and knowledgeable leadership, a committed and focused educational team, an encouraging community, and a supportive family.
Frances has over 35 years of experience. She majored in Child Development at Mount Saint Mary’s and received a Reading Specialist Credential from the University of California, Los Angeles. She also received a Master’s Degree and Administrative Credential in Educational Leadership from California State, Northridge. She began her educational career as a teacher in LAUSD. She also served as an Elementary Literacy Specialist, Elementary Literacy Content Expert, and was a Professional Development Reading Institute trainer and BTSA Cohort Facilitator. Frances then served as principal of Hamilton Elementary in Pasadena Unified and Quail Summit Elementary in Walnut Valley Unified.
Frances is a member of the Elevated Achievement team as an Instructional Coach where she provides support to teachers, coaches, and administrators in their work of developing student ownership of their learning. Her duties include working with administrators through coaching, modeling, mentoring, co-planning, observational feedback, and reflection. She also gathers data for the comprehensive analysis during an academic climate review of a classroom, school, or district.
External expertise is often the catalyst that teachers need during the interpretation process to shift the conversation from blaming others to thinking about what they can change.
Can you imagine building an environment full of motivated, engaged, and eager students who own their learning?
We can.
