Amy Coventry 

Amy Coventry has been passionately implementing the tenets of culturally responsive teaching since she was first introduced to them at the start of her education career in 1997, where she taught for the Los Angeles Unified School District in the South Central/Watts area. She left LAUSD to teach at Dr. Hollie’s charter school, CLAS, beginning its inaugural year.  She continued to build her knowledge and expertise, and began consulting part-time while teaching in 2006. Now, as a full-time consultant, and building on her graduate degree in school counseling, her specialty is positive classroom management strategies building on the cultural behaviors of traditionally underserved learners. She is a passionate advocate for our children and loves working with teachers to better serve all learners. 

Kim Davies

After growing frustrated with the education system in her hometown of Compton, CA. Kimishawn decided to affect change in her community by becoming a teacher. During her 10-year teaching tenure, she has served as an exemplary educator developing an expertise in teaching math and working as a model for classroom management.  After realizing district mandated programs did not meet the needs of underserved children, she joined the teaching team at CLAS.  She expanded her knowledge base and later helped to develop CLR pedagogy while sharing her math and classroom management skills.  With the help of her B.A. degree in African Studies and her M.A in Education, she’s made numerous contributions to developing CLR pedagogy for both CLAS and CCRTL, serving as the lead second grade teacher for over 4 years.  She now brings her experience and expertise as a consultant for CCRTL.  

Francelia James

Francelia L. James first felt the impact of culture on education at age 6, when she was enrolled into a school where she was the only African American student. Mrs. James has spent over 25 years in both the private and public sectors as an educator. Her passion for student learning led her to Central Los Angeles. She served as an English Department Chair and developed curriculum and literature for struggling readers and writers. In 2002-2004, she was an Academic English Mastery Program (AEMP) facilitator and coordinator in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Francelia became employed as Middle School Advisor for Culture and Language Academy Of Success, (CLAS), in 2007.  She joined the team of consultants at the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning (CCRTL) in 2008. As a consultant, she combines her expertise in culturally responsive pedagogy, communications, and classroom management to support the advancement of academic assess for all students.

Dr. Letitia Johnson-Davis

Dr. Letitia Johnson-Davis has over a decade of experience in the field of education and has taught grades K-5 within both northern and southern California school districts. She has had laudable success in the development, implementation, and training of culturally responsive pedagogy.  Her doctoral research examined this approach as she observed the reading acquisition of first grade African American boys in culturally neutral and culturally responsive classrooms.  Grounded in utilizing this powerful pedagogical model, Dr. Johnson-Davis has earned the confidence and respect of administrators, teachers, and students of the schools and classrooms that she has provided on-going professional development, consultation, collaboration, and coordination of instructional support services for, through her work as an educational consultant with CCRTL. Her specialty area lies with utilizing culturally responsive text in purposeful, academically rigorous ways.

Le'Vada Gray

Le’Vada Gray was inducted into the Academic English Mastery Program (AEMP) early in her teaching career.  She became an AEMP Facilitator, and soon met Dr. Hollie and other student advocates from the Culture and Language Academy of Success (CLAS). Le’Vada soon joined the staff at CLAS as a 5th Grade student advocate and CCRTL as a consultant in 2006.  She works with upper elementary teachers in implementing culturally responsive strategies in reading and mathematics. She also shares her expertise on developing culturally responsive mathematics and science lessons around the country. Le'Vada has also served as a school administrator at a charter school in Los Angeles.  She will continue to build her knowledge in mathematics as a consultant with Scholastic Inc./Math Solutions. Le’Vada earned her Bachelor of Science in Journalism at Northwestern University and Master’s of Science and credential in Educational Administration from National University.   

Lydia McClanahan

Lydia McClanahan has been teaching underserved students in Los Angeles for 17 years. When she began teaching at Crenshaw High School, she recognized that students’ needs were not being met and that she needed a mindset shift in order to help raise student achievement.  She was introduced to CLR and became a facilitator for the Academic English Mastery Program(AEMP) in the Los Angeles Unified School District in  1995. She earned National Board Certification in 2001 and joined the Culture and Language Academy of Success as the middle school English teacher in 2005. Her passion and expertise in CLR and adolescent literacy led her to a consulting position for the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning in 2006. She continues to teach full time at CLAS.

Crescent McGlone

Miguel Mendevil

Sonji Owens 

Sonji Owens is a creative and enthusiatic teacher. She has been employed with the Los Angeles Unified School District for twenty years as an elementary school teacher. She was an AEMP (Academic English Mastery Program) facilitator for several years. She also served as a GSAT(Grade Level Student Achievement Team) teacher for three years.  Sonji has been a consultant for the Center of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning for five years.  She is an expert on developing culturally responsive learning activities and Mainstream English Language Development Make and Take activities. She is the mother of two college students and plans to return to college to complete her Master's degree.

James Riley

Daniel Russell

Kiechelle Russell

Kiechelle Russell was inspired to learn more about Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy (CLR) pedagogy after experiencing difficulty codeswitching as a teen. She moved from South Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley with little guidance on how to adjust to her environment.  As an educator, she joined the Academic English Mastery Program (AEMP) in the Los Angeles Unified School District and was introduced to CLR.  As an AEMP facilitator, she was compelled to join the Culture and Language Academy of Success (CLAS), a charter school started by Dr. Hollie.  She taught second grade for four years at CLAS using CLR strategies.  She took her knowledge on the road as a senior consultant when Dr. Hollie began the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning (CCRTL) to help teachers implement CLR in their daily practice.  Kiechelle holds a B.A. in African Studies and a M.A. in Special Education.

Javier San Ramon

Javier San Román is a fourth-generation Mexican American with strong family roots and ties to the Southwest United States. As a student at the University of Texas at El Paso, his formative experiences in border activism revealed to him the need for a bicultural and bi-cognitive educational process that would prepare students to be critical, capable, and compassionate human beings.  Javier is a veteran educator and has taught at the elementary and secondary level in South Central Los Angeles, as well as Dr. Hollie’s Culture and Language Academy of Success—a national model school for CLR pedagogy. Javier is bilingual and bi-literate; his specialty lies in language acquisition methodology to continually expand and improve the practice of CLR pedagogy for Mexican American, African American, Hawaiian American, and Native American students. Javier currently works as an Instructional Specialist for the Academic English Mastery Program of the Los Angeles Unified School District—a national model program for Standard English Learners. 

Sandra Sklarsh

Sandra Sklarsh is currently the Intervention Coordinator at a school in Watts.  She is attending Azusa Pacific University as she pursues a Doctorate in Education with an emphasis in Educational Leadership.  Her dissertation on Response to Intervention (RtI) commences in the Fall.  Sandra was an assistant principal, and during that time she coordinated all Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), the Student Success Team (SSTs), and the Language Appraisal Team (LAT).  Further, she has been a National Board Certified Teacher for 8 years.  Her Master's in Multicultural Education along with the foundation instilled during her experience with the Academic English Mastery Program in the Los Angeles Unified School District has afforded Sandra the knowledge and skills to apply culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy (CLR) in her daily instruction. Her expertise is in developing a Critical Friends Model and teaching the Latino student.

Yvette Williams

Yvette Williams was inspired and enriched by the knowledge she received at her first LAUSD Academic English Master Program (AEMP) Summer Conference many years ago where Dr. Hollie was one of the speakers.  Being motivated to help instill the same CLR pedagogy and implement the strategies in the classroom, she joined AEMP as a Grade Level Student Achievement Team facilitator while teaching third grade with the Los Angeles Unified School District.  Being a consultant with the CCRTL, has allowed her to work closely with teachers to help them implement Mainstream English Language Development into their classroom.  She now teaches third grade in the Inland Empire with the Fontana Unified School District and is an adjunct reading instructor with Chaffey College, She earned her Master’s degree in Reading and Language Arts and Reading Specialist Credential in 2005.  Yvette believes that being culturally and linguistically responsive is one of the keys to helping our students achieve to their greatest potential.