Linda Baker, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair

Degree: Ph.D., Rutgers University

Area: Cognitive Development

Office: MP 327 (410) 455-2370
E-mail: baker@umbc.edu
Fax: (410) 455-1055

Website: not provided by instructor

Brief Biographical Sketch and Research Interests

Dr. Linda Baker is Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Rutgers University and has spent most of her career at UMBC. Her research interests include early literacy development, motivation for reading, parental influences on cognitive development and educational achievement, metacognition and comprehension monitoring, and instructional interventions to improve reading. In addition to conducting original research in these areas, she has served as an external evaluator for numerous projects related to children's educational development. Dr. Baker is currently working with the Baltimore City Public Schools System on the Early Identification and Intervention Project, an initiative supported by several local foundations. The project is a longitudinal sequential study that tests the effectiveness of a response to intervention (RTI) approach in addressing the needs of young children at risk for reading difficulties.
Previously, in collaboration with colleagues Robert Serpell and Susan Sonnenschein, she conducted a 5-year longitudinal examination of how the development of reading competence and motivation is related to family literacy practices and parents' beliefs. The study, known as the Early Childhood Project, was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, through the National Reading Research Center. Findings from the project were published in a 2005 book (Becoming literate in the city: The Baltimore Early Childhood Project) as well as in more than a dozen journal articles and book chapters. In addition, with funding from the Spencer Foundation and in collaboration with University of Maryland, College Park professor Jean Dreher, she investigated the effects of a classroom-based intervention to improve the reading achievement and motivation of children attending high poverty schools.
Dr. Baker served as an associate editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology (2002-2006). In addition, she serves or has served on the editorial boards of eight journals in the areas of literacy, education, and child development, and she has served as a guest reviewer for more than 20 other journals. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association.
Dr. Baker is a core faculty member of the Applied Developmental Psychology Ph.D. program. She teaches Developmental Psychology (PSYC 200) and Development and Education (PSYC 409) at the undergraduate level and courses in reading development (PSYC 782), mathematical development (PSYC 783), and schooling and development (PSYC 787) at the graduate level. She serves as a research mentor for ADP graduate students as well as undergraduates interested in acquiring research experience.

Selected Recent Publications

(Names appearing in italics were students in the UMBC Applied Developmental Psychology program)

Books

Baker, L., Afflerbach, P., & Reinking, D. (Eds.) (1996). Developing engaged readers in school and home communities. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Baker, L., Dreher, M. J., & Guthrie, J. T. (Eds.) (2000). Engaging young readers: Promoting achievement and motivation. New York: Guilford.

Serpell, R., Baker, L., & Sonnenschein, S. (2005). Becoming literate in the city: The Baltimore Early Childhood Project. New York: Cambridge.

Articles and Chapters

Van Haneghan, J. P. & Baker, L. (1989). Cognitive monitoring in mathematics. In C. B. McCormick, G. Miller, & M. Pressley (Eds.), Cognitive strategy research: From basic research to educational applications (pp. 215-238). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Freund, L. S., Baker, L., & Sonnenschein, S. (1990). Developmental changes in strategic approaches to classification. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 49, 343-362.

Fernandez-Fein, S., & Baker, L. (1997). Rhyme sensitivity and relevant experiences in preschoolers from diverse backgrounds. Journal of Literacy Research, 29, 433-459.

Baker, L., Scher, D., & Mackler, K. (1997). Home and family influences on motivations for literacy. Educational Psychologist, 32, 69-82.

Sonnenschein, S., Baker, L., & Serpell, R., Scher, D., Goddard-Truitt, V., & Munsterman, K. (1997). Parental beliefs about ways to help children learn to read: The impact of an entertainment or a skills perspective. Early Child Development and Care, 127-128, 111-118.

Baker, L., Fernandez-Fein, S., Scher, D., & Williams, H. (1998). Home experiences related to the development of word recognition. In J. Metsala & L. Ehri (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning literacy (pp. 263-288). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Baker, L., & Wigfield, A. (1999). Dimensions of children's motivation for reading and their relations to reading activity and reading achievement. Reading Research Quarterly, 34, 452-477.

Baker, L., & Cerro, L. (2000). Assessing metacognition in children and adults. In G. Schraw & J. Impara (Eds.), Issues in the measurement of metacognition (pp. 99-145). Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, University of Nebraska.

Sonnenschein, S., Baker, L., Serpell, R., & Schmidt, D. (2000). Reading is a source of entertainment: The importance of the home perspective for children's literacy development. In K. A. Roskos & J. F. Christie (Eds.), Play and literacy in early childhood: Research from multiple perspectives (pp. 125-137). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Baker, L., Mackler, K., Sonnenschein, S., & Serpell, R. (2001). Mothers' interactions with their first grade children during storybook reading and relations with reading activity and achievement. Journal of School Psychology, 38(5), 1-24.

Baker, L. & Scher, D. (2002). Beginning reader's motivation for reading in relation to parental beliefs and home reading experiences. Reading Psychology, 23, 239-269.

Serpell, R., Sonnenschein, S., Baker, L., & Ganapathy, H. (2002). The intimate culture of families in early socialization of literacy. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 391-405.

Baker, L. (2003). The role of parents in motivating struggling readers. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming learning difficulties.

Baker, L. (2004). Reading comprehension and science inquiry: Metacognitive connections. In W. Saul (Ed.), Crossing borders in literacy and science instruction: Perspectives on theory and practice (pp. 239-257). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Baker, L. (2005). Developmental differences in metacognition: Implications for metacognitively oriented reading instruction. In S. Israel, C. C. Block, K. L. Bauserman, & K. Kinnucan-Welsch (Eds.), Metacognition in literacy learning: Theory, assessment, instruction, and professional development (pp. 61-79). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Garrett, A., Mazzocco, M., & Baker, L. (2006). Development of the metacognitive skills of prediction and evaluation in children with and without math disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 21, 77-88.

Baker, L. (2008). Metacognitive development in reading: Contributors and consequences. In K. Mokhtari & R. Sheorey (Eds.), Reading strategies of first- and second-language learners: See how they read (pp. 25-42). Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon.

Baker, L., & Beall, L. C. (2008). Metacognitive processes in reading comprehension. In S. E. Israel & G. G. Duffy (Eds), Handbook of research on reading comprehension (pp. 373-388). New York: Routledge.

Baker, L. (2008). Metacognition in comprehension instruction: What we've learned since NRP. In C. C. Block & S. R. Parris (Eds.), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices (2nd edition) (pp. 65-79). New York: Guilford.