Angela McRae, Ph.D.

Associate Vice Provost of Instructional Innovation

Director

Angela McRae has been teaching for over 20 years at all grade levels, first as a K-12 teacher working in Catholic, public, and private schools, and then teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses. She earned her Ph.D. in Education, with a specialization in Educational Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She conducted research on academic achievement, student engagement, and motivation, including the ways in which teacher-student interactions impact student success. In 2013, she joined the faculty of the department of Education at Catholic University as a visiting scholar, and later as an assistant professor. She served as the Elementary Education coordinator for the teacher preparation program until 2020, and currently teaches and advises Education majors as an associate clinical professor. Dr. McRae is the inaugural Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, which was launched in 2018. The Center has grown to include eight team members who provide all instructors at the university with support in designing, developing, and teaching high quality courses of all modalities. In 2020, Dr. McRae led the initiative to train all instructors at the university in preparation for transitioning to emergency remote instruction, and now oversees the implementation of online courses and programs, as well as the quality assurance and training aspects of online teaching and learning at the university. Dr. McRae works closely with units across the university to coordinate community outreach initiatives and partnerships with high schools, including K-12 teacher professional development. She has worked with university colleagues on the development and implementation of STEM professional development for DCPS and the Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Schools, and is the Educational Coordinator of the QuarkNet Center, a professional development program for secondary school teachers in particle physics. Dr. McRae is also the Thea Bowman Operations Associate, a role that supports the special assistant to the president in matters related to racial equity and inclusion.