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Dr. Carlos R. McCray is a Professor in the Educational Leadership and Administration Department at Montclair State University. He teaches diversity and leadership courses to aspiring educational leaders. Prior to his arrival at Montclair State University, he was a tenured Associate Professor at Fordham University in the Graduate School of Education and the University of Louisville. While at Fordham, he also served as chair of the Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy Department and strand coordinator for the Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research (CLAIR) doctoral program. Additionally, he has taught strategic thinking and diversity courses at Lehigh University.
Dr. McCray is the co-author of the first and second editions of the book, School Leadership in a diverse society: Helping schools prepare all students for success (2014 and 2021). He is also the co-author of the book titled, Cultural collision and collusion: Reflections on hip-hop culture, values, and schools. In addition, he is the co-editor of the books, Effective education for all: Implementing positive behavior support in early childhood through high school, Mentoring with meaning: How educators can be more professional and effective, Mentoring for school quality, and Why school leaders need vision: Managing scarcity, mandates, & conflicting goals for educational quality.
His areas of expertise include: urban school leadership, organizational diversity, educational equity, and he has a growing interest in the high attrition rate of urban K-12 students as a result of their multiple suspensions and expulsions. He has published numerous refereed journal articles relating to the aforementioned issues in outlets such as School Leadership and Management, Journal of School Leadership, International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, Urban Education, Values and Ethics in Educational Administration, and Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice.
Dr. McCray has received a few honors throughout his career. In 2006, he received the honor of becoming the first program chair for the Leadership for Social Justice SIG of the American Educational Research Association. In 2014, Dr. McCray was invited to deliver the keynote address to the Executive Leadership Institute in New York City. His opening address was titled “Multicultural Education: Going Beyond Traditional Thought”. And he was recognized by Noodle.org as one of sixty-seven influential educators to watch for in 2015.
In addition to his scholarly research, Dr. Carlos R. McCray has worked with urban school administrators and educational leadership preparation programs in New York City, London, Hong Kong, the Lehigh Valley, PA, and Atlanta, GA.
Specialization
Urban Education
Multiculturalism
K-12 Building Level leadership