Doris Luft Baker
Research Interests

Dr. Baker develops evidence-based reading, science, and social studies interventions and assessments for English learners and bilingual students with and without learning difficulties. Dr. Baker is engaged in developing and evaluating instructional tools and assessments in English and in Spanish designed to improve and monitor the academic performance of English learners with and without learning difficulties in reading, science, and social studies. Dr. Baker is exploring ways that Latinx families can develop the language proficiency of their children in Spanish and in English. Doris Luft Baker's primary research interest is to develop and test interventions that improve the academic outcomes of English learners, particularly Spanish-speaking English learners, and native Spanish speakers using evidence-based practices and technology. Tightly connected to this interest is the development of formative assessments that can measure student academic growth, the examination of the effect of parental support on their children’s academic outcomes, and the enhancement of teacher pedagogical practices and content knowledge. Currently, Dr. Baker is the principal investigator (PI) on a grant designed to develop a formative assessment to measure the vocabulary in science of second- and third-grade Latinx students using a speech recognition system and automated scoring. She is also a Co-Pi on a replication study of the Read Well intervention for first grade students struggling to read.

Student Programs and Populations