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Person

Joseph Allen

Nationality:

American
Occupation:

Professor and Consultant

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Joseph Allen is an adjunct university professor and director of equity, leadership, and planning for Austin Independent School District in Texas. 1 He has worked with several school districts as a consultant to incorporate critical race theory-aligned education policy and professional development training. 2

Allen advocates for schools to implement identity politics-based equity standards based on race, gender, and sexuality. He argues that disparities in educational outcomes between races and other groups are based on systemic racism and advocates that schools use Social Emotional Learning (SEL) models to make accommodations for students based on race, gender, and sexuality. 3

Career

In 2006, Joseph Allen graduated from the University of North Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and received an M.S. in communications from Grand Valley State University in 2009. From 2008 to 2009, Allen worked as a diversity training facilitator for the Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Center at Grand Rapids Community College. 4 The center was created in 2006 to provide diversity training to the Grand Rapids community, teaching people that they need to overcome being in denial about holding racist beliefs. 5

From 2009 to 2015, Allen worked as a site coordinator for Communities in Schools, 6 a left-of-center nonprofit organization that works to increase graduation rates, arguing that racism is a main factor of high dropout rates and increased welfare spending is needed to combat it. 7

In 2019, Allen graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. Then from 2019 to 2020, Allen served as a diversity and inclusion specialist for Mooresville Graded School District in North Carolina. 8

Since 2019, Allen has been an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is also a director of equity, leadership, and planning for Austin Independent School District. 9

Activities

In June 2020, Joseph Allen was hired as an independent contractor by the Southern Lehigh school board in Pennsylvania. He was hired to assess the district’s alignment with critical race theory (CRT) and identity politics-based values on equity and develop a professional development plan for the district. 10

Allen created an action plan that focused on eliminating racial disparities in academic performance and accommodations made for minorities based on Social-Emotional Learning models. The plan includes a climate survey to discover accommodations that can be made based on SEL models, CRT-aligned professional development for staff to accommodate individuals in various identity groups, and revising policy to achieve equal outcomes. 11

References

  1. “Joseph Allen, Ph.D.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-allen-ph-d-48494a54/.
  2. “Allen, Joseph.” Parents Defending Education. December 14, 2021. https://defendinged.org/report/joseph-allen/.
  3. Allen, Joseph. “2020 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Needs Assessment and Action Plan.” Lehigh: Southern Lehigh School District. July 1, 2020. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ymbww-YKkKQnioR24bmJ5fys6uLfqVB8/view
  4. “Joseph Allen, Ph.D.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-allen-ph-d-48494a54/.
  5. “The Bob and Aleicia Woodrick Center for Equity and Inclusion.” Grand Rapids Community College. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.grcc.edu/about-grcc/office-diversity-equity-inclusion/bob-aleicia-woodrick-center-equity-inclusion.
  6. “Joseph Allen, Ph.D.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-allen-ph-d-48494a54/.
  7. “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Communities In Schools. May 25, 2021. https://www.communitiesinschools.org/about-us/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/.
  8. “Joseph Allen, Ph.D.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-allen-ph-d-48494a54/.
  9. “Joseph Allen, Ph.D.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-allen-ph-d-48494a54/.
  10. Allen, Joseph. “Proposal: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Services.” Lehigh: Southern Lehigh School District. June 17, 2020. https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/sleh/Board.nsf/files/BQTKYG542432/$file/SLSD%20Diversity%20Proposal.pdf
  11. Allen, Joseph. “2020 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Needs Assessment and Action Plan.” Lehigh: Southern Lehigh School District. July 1, 2020. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ymbww-YKkKQnioR24bmJ5fys6uLfqVB8/view
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