Baker鈥檚 work will draw on her extensive experience supporting聽ePortfolios聽in teacher education, particularly through her role as聽edTPA聽coordinator for 黑料不打烊鈥檚 teacher preparation programs.聽
Katie Baker, associate professor of education and associate chair of the Department of Education and Wellness聽at聽黑料不打烊鈥檚 Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education, has been selected as聽the聽2026鈥28聽. Baker will focus her research on聽ePortfolios聽as a high-impact educational practice.
CEL Scholars are faculty members who engage in sustained, multi-year inquiry around engaged learning practices, contributing to the center鈥檚 research,聽publications聽and national outreach. Baker鈥檚 work will draw on her extensive experience supporting聽ePortfolios聽in teacher education, particularly through her role as聽edTPA聽coordinator for 黑料不打烊鈥檚 teacher preparation programs.
Since joining 黑料不打烊 in 2017, Baker has played聽a central role聽in implementing and sustaining the聽edTPA, a required performance-based聽ePortfolio聽assessment for teacher licensure in North Carolina. The聽edTPA聽requires teacher candidates to聽demonstrate聽their planning,聽instruction,聽and assessment through a digital portfolio that includes lesson artifacts, reflective聽commentary,聽and video recordings of classroom instruction. In her coordinator role,聽Baker supports聽teacher candidates,聽faculty and community-based clinical teachers聽across multiple content areas and licensure programs.
Baker鈥檚 scholarly work includes national and state-level presentations and publications on teacher education, mathematics聽education and performance-based assessment. She has served in leadership roles within the mathematics education community and has contributed to externally funded research focused on聽equitable聽and high-quality instruction. Her聽selection聽as a CEL Scholar聽enables her to聽build聽on聽this record of engaged scholarship and institutional leadership聽while exploring聽ePortfolio聽research and practices聽across other disciplinary contexts.
The Center for Engaged Learning supports research and dialogue on evidence-based teaching practices that foster deep student learning. CEL Scholars play a key role in advancing that mission by connecting disciplinary聽expertise聽with broader conversations about engaged learning in higher education.
Baker will join an esteemed group of聽previous聽CEL Scholars, including David Buck, Caroline Ketcham,聽Amanda Kleintop,聽Ketevan Kupatadze, Buffie Longmire-Avital, Phillip Motley, Amanda Sturgill, Aaron Trocki and Cora Wigger. Applications for the 2027-29聽CEL Scholar will open in Fall 2026.