Lead With C.A.R.E.: Strategies to Build Culturally Competent and Affirming Schools

A framework for the courageous school leadership our students deserve.

From the foreword by Gholdy Muhammad… 

“In Lead With C.A.R.E., Dr. Allen provides a way to disrupt the harms that systems, teachers, and leaders may inflict on children. He uses the richness of his personal and professional experiences to speak to the true purpose and power of schools, which is to disrupt disparities and affirm students’ cultural identities and brilliance. In doing so, Dr. Allen reminds educators that we must examine the structures of education historically and in the present so that we can dismantle harmful practices.

The framework of C.A.R.E. presented here guides educators to lead with Culturally Responsiveness in teaching and learning, while Affirming children’s identities, and building positive Relationships with youth. Dr. Allen posits that this leads to spaces of Empowerment.

This book provides the what, the why and importantly, the how. The C.A.R.E. framework helps leaders center the genius and joy of youth and teachers, while recognizing the social times we live in and elevating the education of children, especially those who have been historically excluded in schooling and in society. The framework provides a way forward for leaders to lead differently—with care, belonging, and excellence; providing every child with what they deeply deserve.”

With learning goals, summaries, and reflection questions included in each chapter, this guide offers actionable strategies educators can use to establish a culture that prioritizes students’ experiences and affirms their identities.

A native of the southside of Chicago, Lionel E. Allen, Jr. is a clinical assistant professor of educational policy studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he teaches a signature pedagogy course on cycles of inquiry, organizational change, and co-leads the full-year residency course for aspiring school leaders. Lionel has over twenty years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and chief academic officer. He is an education reform consultant, principal coach, and a frequently invited speaker. In 2005, former CPS CEO and United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan selected Lionel to become the first turnaround principal in Illinois. Under his leadership, the Sherman School of Excellence went from the second-worst performing school in the state to become a national model and a catalyst for future school reform efforts. He recently detailed this experience in the book Fighting the Good Fight: Narratives of the African American Principalship (2022) in a chapter titled “How Should I Feel About That? Renaissance 2010 and School Reform in Chicago.” Lionel is the founder of ed Leaders Matter (eLM), LLC, a consultancy that aims to improve schools by developing school leaders. Under the eLM umbrella, Lionel has provided professional development and coaching to hundreds of school leaders and scores of schools and school districts nationwide. He is also the cofounder and design team member of the Aspire Fellowship, a program designed to diversify the principal pipeline by preparing teacher leaders of color to enter into principal preparation and certification programs. Lionel received his baccalaureate degree from Northwestern University and his master’s and doctoral degrees from University of Illinois at Chicago. Lionel Allen works with educators! Learn more at www.letsleadwithCARE.com