Baruti K. Kafele, a highly regarded urban educator in New Jersey for more than 20 years, has distinguished himself as a master teacher and a transformational school leader. As an elementary school teacher in East Orange, New Jersey, he was named East Orange School District and Essex County Public Schools Teacher of the Year, and he was a finalist for New Jersey State Teacher of the Year. As a middle and high school principal, he led the transformation of four different New Jersey urban schools, including Newark Tech, which went from a low-performing school in need of improvement to national recognition, and which was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of America's best high schools.
Kafele is one of the most sought-after school leadership experts in North America. He is the author of eight books, including his five ASCD best-sellers—Is My School a Better School BECAUSE I Lead It? The Teacher 50, The Principal 50, Closing the Attitude Gap, and Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School&in Life. He is the recipient of more than 150 educational, professional, and community awards, including the prestigious Milken National Educator Award and the National Alliance of Black School Educators Hall of Fame Award. He was inducted into the East Orange, New Jersey Hall of Fame, and the City of Dickinson, Texas, proclaimed February 8, 1998, Baruti Kafele Day.
