Johnson-Dean was born in 1948 to Willie Rawls and Buddy Rawls.[1] She was raised in Brownsville, Tennessee.[1] Her mother was an elementary school teacher and her father was the owner of a barbershop and pool hall.[2] She was the third of nine siblings.[2] She attended segregated schools in Brownsville.[2] Johnson-Dean earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Fisk University.[1] She completed a master's degree (1980) and doctorate (1987) in curriculum and instruction and a doctorate in educational policy and administration from the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development.[1][3]
Johnson-Dean was a teacher and principal.[1] In 1997, she became the superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools.[3] From 2003 to 2007, she was the superintendent of Memphis City Schools.[1] She was the superintendent of Boston Public Schools from 2007 to 2013.[1] In January 2014, she became a visiting professor in the department of leadership, policy, and organizations at the Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development.[4] In 2015, she was the executive director of the Tennessee Department of Education's Large District Support Program.[1] On August 26, 2019, Johnson-Dean began an 18-month stint as the interim president of LeMoyne–Owen College, succeeding Andrea Lewis Miller.[5][1] She stepped down in January 2021 and was succeeded by Vernell Bennett-Fairs.[1]
She was married to Matthew who died in March 2012.[2] Johnson-Dean is married to Willie Dean and has six children.[1] In July 2023, she was carjacked by a man with an AR-15–style rifle.[6]