Cultivating Equitable and Inclusive Learning Environments

Dorinda Carter Andrews is a professor and chairperson of the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. She earned a B.S.I.E. from Georgia Tech, M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University, and an Ed.M. and Ed.D. from Harvard University. Her research is broadly focused on Black education and racial equity and justice in P-20 learning environments. She utilizes critical racial and Black feminist/womanist frameworks and methodologies to examine issues of race, culture, and power in schools. Dr. Carter Andrews works with school districts, universities, municipalities, corporations, and civic organizations on how to develop and maintain culturally responsive, inclusive, and equitable learning and work environments. She is a former industrial engineer, high school math teacher, and kindergarten teacher and has teaching experience in suburban, urban, charter, and independent schools.  

In addition to numerous honors, Dr. Carter Andrews has given two TEDx talks on education – one entitled, “The Consciousness Gap in Education: An Equity Imperative” and another entitled, “Teach Kids to Be Eagles: Overcoming Educational Storms.” Her insights on racial equity in education have appeared in the New York Times, Education Week, and on WKAR, NPR, CNN, and other media outlets. Most recently she was named the Educator of the Year (2022) by the Lansing (MI) Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Distinguished Community Service (Theda Assiff) Award by the East Lansing (MI) Educational Foundation. Dr. Carter Andrews’s research and scholarship has also been published in several top-tier academic journals.