Lee Kappes Email & Phone Number

At The Danielson Group, an organization committed to advancing the principles of the Framework for Teaching and empowering teachers in their practice to elevate student learning and development, I rely on my 18 years as a classroom teacher and a career that cuts across practice and policy at all levels of the education sector to support this mission. As CEO of The Danielson Group, I oversee the organization’s strategy, growth, and operations and manage the leadership team.

As Manager Director, I managed the design, development, and implementation of The Danielson Group’s strategic plan and ensured accountable and effective delivery of new product offerings, new service models, and longer-term partnerships and engagements. An integral responsibility of this role was to partner with the Executive Director to influence the strategic direction of the organization and build upon our strengths to maintain a culture of excellence within the Danielson Group and in relationships with our partners.

In this role as a Director of The Danielson Group, I oversaw the development of the organization’s programmatic strategy and direction, created new offerings, developed new service models and longer-term partnerships. Additionally, I managed and participated in the day-to-day operations and training services, ensuring successful delivery of content and supportive relations with partners.

As Assistant Director, I collaborated with the Director and other members of the Aspen Education Program team to develop a practice agenda, goals, and timelines for expanding the program’s work exploring the relationships between standards, instructional practices, assessments, accountability, human capital strategies and the improvement of teaching and learning. A key accomplishment and responsibility of this role was my involvement with the Urban District Leadership Network to create professional learning opportunities and events in collaboration with the Director and the program’s lead consultants.

As a leader at Portland Public Schools, a PK-12 urban school district with more than 44,000 students in 81 schools, I was committed to providing rigorous, high-quality academic learning experiences that are inclusive and joyful. In this role, I supervised Program Administrators and 100+ Teachers on Special Assignment to support principals and teachers in advancing the achievement of all students, provided systemic leadership for the design and implementation of core curriculum, assessments and instructional practices, supported greater integration of special education and second language services in general education programs, and collaborated with district, regional, and school leaders.

As the Founder and Managing Partner of an instructional leadership and practice organization, I led important work to support educators to do the following: design and support school network creation and practices, support senior leadership in the design and implementation of effective, visionary, and data-driven improvement plans for increasing student performance, and created and provided professional learning opportunities to meet the needs of varied audiences (teachers, coaches, school and district leaders). This work allowed me to engage in a variety of projects ranging from single school support to large scale projects to implement instructional strategies nationwide.

As an educator at Ridgewood Public Schools, a PK-12 school district committed to a tradition of excellence and innovation, in partnership with the community, to provide a rich and challenging learning environment, I held many roles to support teacher and student achievement. I began my time as a classroom teacher (K-8) and, as I grew to support different areas of academic and instructional development, I functioned as a Program Coordinator to design a portfolio based assessment system for K-2 classrooms and Teacher on Special Assignment creating and implemented a three year teacher induction program based on the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996). I was also the President of the Ridgewood Education Association.