Scholar Practitioner-Dr. Dawn Brooks DeCosta

Culturally Responsive & Affirming Social Emotional Leadership and Learning

 

 

CRASEL — Culturally Responsive and Affirming Social-Emotional Leadership — is a framework for school leadership and learning developed by Dr. Dawn Brooks-DeCosta through her doctoral research at Teachers College, Columbia University.

CRASEL positions social-emotional learning not as a program, but as a relational, cultural, and justice-oriented practice. It begins with adult self-awareness and care, and builds outward to shape school culture, strengthen relationships, and center the identities, dignity, and voices of every student and family.

Organized across seven domains, CRASEL equips leaders and educators to build the conditions where belonging and academic excellence go hand in hand.

PDF Viewer

Download PDF

Dr. Dawn's Bio

Dr. Dawn Brooks-DeCosta is an educator, author, and leadership scholar with more than thirty years of experience in New York City public schools. She serves as Deputy Superintendent of Harlem Community School District 5 and is the developer of the CRASEL framework for Culturally Responsive and Affirming Social-Emotional Leadership and Learning. She is the co-author of The Change You Want to See (Solution Tree, 2024) and holds an EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Brooks-DeCosta is a Yale Institute Marvin Mauer Spotlight Award winner, a Cahn Fellow, and a Lois Mailou Jones Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. 


More information on LinkedIn  linkedin.com/in/dawnd2 

Publications

Dr. Dawn Brooks DeCosta Publications


Book The Change You Want to See: A Culturally Responsive and Affirming Approach to School Leadership, co-authored with Dr. Mark Anthony Gooden | Solution Tree, December 2024 View Publication


Book Chapter "Restoring the Village Through Radical Self-Care" From Being Woke to Doing the Work: Using Culturally Relevant Practices to Support Student Achievement & Sociopolitical Consciousness Brill, 2023 View Publication


Article "Doing the Nearly Impossible: Teaching When the World Delivers Fear" Education Week (Opinion) | January 2026 View Publication


Article "Leading with Care and Justice: Cultivating Culturally Responsive Wellness in Harlem Schools" STEM Magazine | September 2025 View Publication


Article "Teaching on Empty: 3 Truths About Today's Teachers and a Message for Schools" K-12 Dive View Publication


Journal Article "Reimagining Education: Restore, Rebuild, Curate, Uplift, and Celebrate" Comparative and International Contexts in Education (CICE), Columbia University 2022 View Publication


Journal Article "An Unwavering Commitment to CRSE and SEL" Voices in Urban Education, NYU Metro Center 2021 View Publication


Journal Article "Cultural Awareness and Self-Awareness at Thurgood Marshall Academy" Educator's Voice XII: Culturally Responsive Teaching — Celebrating Diversity in Our Schools, NYSUT October 2019 View Publication


Journal Article "Museum Cultural Ambassadors: Parent Engagement through Museum and School Partnerships".Journal of Folklore and Education, Vol. 3: Named Intersections — Folklore and Museum Education 2016 View Publication


My Blog

 

Walking Through What We Believe: CRASEL in Action Across District 5

There is a particular kind of clarity that comes from walking into a school and simply watching. Not evaluating. Not auditing. Watching — with intention, with a shared lens, and with genuine curiosity about what a framework looks like when it lives and breathes inside a building.

That is exactly what our Harlem Community School District 5 CRASEL Teams are doing this month.

As we enter the final stretch of the 2025-2026 school year

Connect

crasel.net

Copyright © 2026 crasel.net - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

Accept