Dorinda Carter Andrews
Chairperson and Professor | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Her research is broadly focused on racial justice and educational equity.
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Biography
Dorinda Carter Andrews is the chairperson for the Department of Teacher Education. She is also a professor of race, culture, and equity. Her research is broadly focused on racial justice and educational equity. She examines issues of racial justice in P-12 learning contexts and on college campuses, urban teacher preparation and identity development, and critical race praxis with K-12 educators. Her scholarship examines these issues by illuminating voices of youth and adults who have been historically and traditionally marginalized in schools and society. Carter Andrews is a 2019 co-recipient of the Division G Outstanding Mentoring Award from the American Educational Research Association. She is also co-editor of the Journal of Teacher Education. She has given two TEDx talks, "The Consciousness Gap in Education" and "Teach Kids to be Eagles." Her work has been published in several top-tier academic journals and media outlets.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Program Development
Curriculum Development
Higher Education
Community Outreach
Program Evaluation
Education (3)
Harvard University: Ed.D., Learning and Teaching 2005
Vanderbilt University: M.Ed., Elementary Education 1998
Georgia Institute of Technology: B.I.E., Industrial Engineering 1997
Links (2)
News (10)
Michigan House GOP takes aim at critical race theory with new bill
The Detroit Free Press online
2021-11-02
More recently, the term "critical race theory" has risen anew in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and other instances of racial bias involving police and the justice system. But the idea that the concept is being taught in schools is misleading, Dorinda Carter Andrews, a professor at Michigan State University's College of Education, said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press in June. "I'd be hard pressed to find a K-12 teacher who is doing that in their school district," she said.
The minimum every teacher needs to know about critical race theory and the school policies it inspires
BAM! Radio online
2021-08-30
Jon Harper with Dorinda Carter Andrews, an internationally renowned professor and the chairperson for the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, Janel George, and Sarah Schwartz This term, many teachers, school leaders, students, and parents are going to be touched by the discussion seeping into schools around the United States. What is Critical Race Theory, and how did it get on the list of back-to-school things we all need to think about? In this episode, we invited three guests with specialized experience, knowledge, and insight to help us understand the basics.
Critical race theory isn't taught in Michigan schools, so why is it such a hot topic?
MLive online
2021-07-08
Dorinda Carter-Andrews is a professor of race, culture and equity in the Department of Education at Michigan State University. She has experience studying issues of racial equity and justice, primarily in K-12 schools. Carter-Andrews explains critical race theory as more than just a historical analysis of subjects like slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. “It's different from what teachers are currently doing in the classroom in that they are discussing throughout the curriculum race, racism and other forms of discrimination,” Carter-Andrews said. Critical race theory is most often taught in colleges and universities. It's not currently being taught in K-12 schools anywhere in Michigan or the country.
Protests erupt over teaching of critical race theory in schools
WTTE online
2021-06-23
Critical race theory asserts that racism is not just an interpersonal matter but is embedded in the structures and institutions of American society. Before the debate erupted over critical race theory, many educators were already teaching about systemic and institutional racism, even if they weren't using those words. "Educators have always incorporated that kind of dialogue in the curriculum," explained Dorinda Carter Andrews, the chairperson for Michigan State University's Department of Teacher Education. "I think there's real concern from the conservative viewpoint about the use of phrases like 'systemic racism,' 'institutional racism,' because they think that's changing the historical narrative.”
They were denied diplomas and blocked from crossing the stage for how they celebrated graduation
CNN online
2021-06-10
One expert said disciplining students of color for how they celebrate graduation is a form of racial trauma. Dorinda Carter Andrews, chairperson and professor at the Michigan State University Department of Teacher Education, said young people may feel humiliated by the experience and it could impact their cross cultural relationships. Andrews and a team of researchers at MSU found that Black students face higher rates of discipline, including suspensions and expulsions, at school than White students. Andrews said schools failing to understand the behaviors of students of color is a "function of White supremacy. It's an example of policing Black joy or policing the joy of students of color," Andrews said. "There is this message that there is a certain way to celebrate, there's a certain way to dress and if you don't align with that then you're penalized. That way is always steeped in White cultural norms."
A Houston High School Has a New Dress Code. For Parents.
New York Times online
2019-04-24
A school dress code has once again set off a heated discussion about race, class and cultural norms. Only this time, the dress code is aimed at parents, not students.
North Kansas City Schools Are Getting More Diverse Books Because Representation Matters
KBIA 91.3 online
2019-01-21
Dorinda Carter Andrews researches culturally relevant teaching practices at Michigan State University. “Having children’s literature that actually uses names they’re used to hearing in their community, that depicts spaces they’re used to seeing in their community, even including storylines that they experience in their community, help them light up and get excited about reading,” she says.
The LSEA And The MEA Join Forces To Confront Social Justice
FOX 47 online
2018-10-10
The featured keynote speakers for this event are Dr. Dorinda Carter Andrews and Dr. Chezare Warren, from Michigan State University’s Department of Education.
How Lansing School District went from 107 expulsions to zero with discipline reform
Lansing State Journal online
2018-08-23
Dorinda Carter Andrews, a professor of in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, agrees that a student throwing chairs and actively causing harm needs to be removed. However, she coaches teachers to consider other, less harmful disruptions as a student reaching out for help. “We know most offenses are minor, talking back, yelling at the teacher, but teachers ought to be able to address that in the classroom,” she said.
When Black Hair Violates The Dress Code
NPR online
2017-07-17
Dorinda J. Carter Andrews, assistant dean of equity outreach initiatives at Michigan State University, says that black females are more likely to receive harsher discipline than their white and Latina counterparts. Her research on zero tolerance policies and their outcomes shows that they enforce a marginalization of black girls in schools. Which can, in practice, criminalize their black identity. "What does a headdress have to do with learning and success?" asks Carter Andrews.
Journal Articles (5)
The Impossibility of Being “Perfect and White”: Black Girls’ Racialized and Gendered Schooling Experiences
American Educational Research Journal2019 The African American Policy Forum and the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies states, “The risks that Black and other girls of color confront rarely receive the full attention of researchers, advocates, policymakers, and funders.” The limited awareness of the challenges that Black girls face perpetuates the mischaracterization of their attitudes, abilities, and achievement. Thus, school becomes an inhospitable place where Black girls receive mixed messages about femininity and goodness and are held to unreasonable standards.
Reexamining Coherence in Teacher Education
Journal of Teacher Education2019 Teacher education, particularly as represented by the myriad institutions which provide programs to prepare individuals for the classroom, is positioned amid many forces, both internal and external. Historically, university-based programs have been undervalued by the institutions within which they sit, and they also have generally been ignored. More recently, increased scrutiny and demands for greater accountability have resulted in a shift in expectations focused on the provision of evidence that such programs provide value-added experiences for participants.
Changing the Narrative on Diversifying the Teaching Workforce: A Look at Historical and Contemporary Factors That Inform Recruitment and Retention of Teachers of Color
Journal of Teacher Education2018 The genesis of this issue is in large part an outgrowth of the organizing efforts of the leaders of AACTE’s Diversified Teaching Workforce (DTW) Topical Action Group (TAG). The DTW TAG held its first meeting at the 2015 AACTE Annual Conference, and subcommittees were formed to address recruitment, research, mentorship, professional development, and advocacy. At the 2016 AACTE Annual Conference, the DTW TAG presented a research panel that explored various facets of research needed across the teacher development continuum for Teachers of Color (TOCs; please see Editors’ note regarding definition).
Making Justice Peripheral by Constructing Practice as “Core”: How the Increasing Prominence of Core Practices Challenges Teacher Education
Journal of Teacher Education2018 Reformers are increasingly calling for and adopting practice-based approaches to teacher preparation, with particular emphasis on identifying and centering core practices. In this article, we argue that organizing teacher education around core practices brings its own risks, including the risk of peripheralizing equity and justice. Situating our argument within the broad economic trends affecting labor and higher education in the 21st century, we begin by examining the linkages between the core practices movement and organizations that advocate market-based solutions to education.
A Call to Action for Teacher Preparation Programs: Supporting Critical Conversations and Democratic Action in Safe Learning Environments
Journal of Teacher Education2018 We write this editorial at a time when the political polarization in the United States and elsewhere leaves very little room for having complex and reasoned discussions that help establish trust in a diverse democracy. This is most recently evidenced by opposing views on gun control. As Hess and McAvoy (2015) state, “polarization causes distrust, and distrust causes polarization” (p. 8, citing research by McCarty, Poole, & Rosenthal, 2006). Moreover, the current polarization creates a culture where coming to a compromise that all can accept is seen as a loss for both sides, rather than as a victory for all.
