SESP Faculty

Carol D. Lee

Faculty Profile

Carol D. Lee is professor emerita (the former Edwina S. Tarry Professor) of Education in the School of Education and Social Policy and in African-American Studies at Northwestern University.

Lee, the president of the National Academy of Education, is best known in academia for her five decades of work helping students from minority backgrounds excel in an environment of low expectations, poverty, negative stereotypes, and other barriers. 

She was among the early scholars to scaffold children’s everyday experiences as a resource for learning in school. Today her sophisticated ideas behind “cultural modeling” are a standard approach in the field. 

In 2021, Lee received the McGraw Prize in Education, the 2021 James Squire Award from the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association, the premier acknowledgment of outstanding achievement and success in education research. 

She is a member of the National Academy of Education in the United States,  the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, a fellow of the National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy, a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, and a former fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences.

Lee received her doctorate from the University of Chicago.  She is a past president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), AERA’s past representative to the World Educational Research Association, past vice-president of Division G (Social Contexts of Education) of the American Educational Research Association, past president of the National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy, and past co-chair of the Research Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English.

She received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Teachers of English, Scholars of Color Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Educational Research Association, the Walder Award for Research Excellence at Northwestern University, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Illinois-Urbana, the President’s Pacesetters Award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, a Presidential Citation from the American Educational Research Association and an honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

She has led two international delegations in education on behalf of the People to People’s Ambassador Program to South Africa and the People’s Republic of China.  She is the author or co-editor of three books, the most recent Culture, Literacy and Learning: Taking Bloom in the Midst of the Whirlwind, four monographs, and has published over 108 journal articles and book or handbook chapters in the field of education.

Her research addresses cultural supports for learning that include a broad ecological focus, with attention to language and literacy and African-American youth.  Her 54-year career includes teaching English Language Arts at the high school and community college levels. She was also a primary grade teacher and university professor.

She founded three African-centered schools, including two charter schools under the umbrella of the Betty Shabazz International Charter Schools (est. 1998) where she serves as chair of the board of directors.  She is married to Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti, poet and publisher of Third World Press, and is the mother of three adult children and four grandchildren. Together they have six adult children and nine grandchildren.

Cultural contexts affecting learning broadly and literacy specifically; teacher preparation and development; classroom discourse; urban education.

• 2021 – McGraw Prize in Education
• 2021 – James R Squire Award, National Council of Teachers of English
• 2021 – Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association
• 2016 – Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2015 – Elected to Board of Directors of the National Academy of Education
• 2014 – Living Legend, Passing the Torch Award, Black United Fund of Chicago
• 2014 – Dogon Award from the DuSable Museum of African American History
• 2011 – Honorary Doctorate, University of Pretoria, South Africa
• 2010 – Delegation Leader, People to People’s Ambassador Program, China
• 2010 – Lifetime Achievement Award – American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
• 2010 – The President’s Pacesetters Award – American Association of Blacks in Higher Education
• 2010 – Visiting Scholar, Center for Multicultural Education, University of Washington
• 2010 – Representative of the American Educational Research Association to the World Educational Research Association
• 2008 – 29th Charles Thompson Lecture, Howard University (November 5, 2008)
• 2008 – University of Illinois, College of Liberal Arts, Distinguished Alumni Award
• 2008 – Visiting Scholar, National Education Association
• 2008 – Martin E. and Gertrude G. Walder Award for Research Excellence, Northwestern University
• 2008 – Elected President-Elect, American Educational Research Association
• 2008 – Wallace Distinguished Lecture, American Educational Research Association
• 2008 – Scholars of Color Distinguished Scholar Award, American Educational Research Association
• 2007 – Consortium on Chicago School Reform. Advisory Board. 2005 – present
• 2007 – Fellow – National Academy of Education
• 2007 – National Academy of Education
• 2007 – Distinguished Service Award, National Council of Teachers of English
• 2007 – Carnegie Foundation of New York. National Adolescent Literacy Advisory Board. 2005 – present
• 2007 – LIFE Center for the Science of Learning. National Diversity Advisory Board. 2005 � 2007
• 2005 – American Educational Research Association, Minority Fellowship Committee. 2004 � present
• 2005 – American Educational Research Association. Chair, Scribner Award Committee, Division C. 2004-2005
• 2005 – Program Review. College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
• 2005 – Program Review,  University of Wisconsin at Parkside
• 2005 – Carnegie Foundation of New York. National Adolescent Literacy Advisory Board. 2005 – present
• 2005 – LIFE Center for the Science of Learning. National Diversity Advisory Board
• 2005 – Consortium on Chicago School Reform. Advisory Board
• 2005 – Center for Informal Learning and Schools. Special Advisory Committee. 2003-2008
• 2005 – American Educational Research Association. Vice-President, Division G. 2006-2008
• 2004 – Fellow – Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences

Lee, C.D (2008). Synthesis of Research on the Role of Culture in Learning Among African American Youth: The Contributions of Asa G. Hilliard, III. Review of Educational Research.

Lee, C.D (2008). The role of culture in teaching and learning: International perspectives. In J. Banks in The Routledge International Companion To Multicultural Education  Routledge.

Lee, C.D. (2007). The Role of Culture in Academic Literacies: Conducting Our Blooming in the Midst of the Whirlwind. Teachers College Press.

Lee, C.D. (2007). Foreward in Barbara A. Sizemore,  Running in Circles. Chicago.

Lee, C.D (2006). Every good-bye ain’t gone: Analyzing the cultural underpinnings of classroom talk.. Qualitative Studies in Education.

Green, Judith & Lee, C.D (2006). Making visible the invisible logic of inquiry: Uncovering multiple challenges.Reading Research Quarterly.

Lee, C.D. (2006). Foreword in E.M. Horvat & C. O�Connor (Eds.), Beyond Acting White: Reframing the Debate on Black Student Achievement Rowman & Littlefield.

Lee, C.D. (2006). Foreword in G. Hillocks, Learning to Teach Narrative in Inner City Classrooms Heinemann.

Lee, C.D. (2006). Afterword in M. Blackburn and C. Clark (Eds.) , Literacy as Political Action Peter Lang.

Lee, C.D. (2006). The Educability of Intellective Competence in Gordon, E.W. & Bridglall, B.L. (Eds.), The affirmative development of academic abilities Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.

Lee, C.D (2005). Culture and Language: Bi-dialectical Issues in Literacy in P. Anders & J. Flood (Eds.), The Literacy Development of Students in Urban Schools International Reading Association.

Lee, C.D. & Ball, A (2005). Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a design and analytical tool in literacy research in R. Beach, J. Green, T. Shannahan, M. Kamil (Eds.) , Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Literacy Research (second edition)  Hampton Press (with the National Conference of Research in Language and Literacy).

Lee, C.D (2005). Taking Culture Into Account: Intervention Research Based on Current Views of Cognition & Learningin J. King (Ed.), Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century Lawrence Erlbaum (joint publication with the American Educational Research Association).

Lee, C.D (2005). The State of Knowledge about the Education of African Americans in J. King (Ed.), Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century Lawrence Erlbaum (joint publication with the American Educational Research Association).

Lee, C.D (2005). (Draft report) in Linda Darling-Hammond & John Bransford (Editors), Preparing teachers for a changing world National Academy of Education.

Lee, C.D. (2001). Is October Brown Chinese? A cultural modeling activity system for underachieving students.American Educational Research Journal.

Lee, C.D. (2000). The State of Research on Black Education. Invited Paper. Commission on Black Education. American Educational Research Association.

Lee, C.D. (1997). Bridging home and school literacies: Models for culturally responsive teaching, a case for African American English in Heath, Shirly Brice & Lapp, Diane (Eds.), A Handbook for Literacy Educators: Research on Teaching the Communicative and Visual Arts New York: Macmillan Publishing Co..

Lee, C.D. (1995). A culturally based cognitive apprenticeship: Teaching African American high school students skills in literary interpretation. Reading Research Quarterly: 30(4), 608-631.