Dr. Kara Bratton PhD, a 1996 graduate of Concordia Lutheran High School, is the recipient of the Concordia University Chicago Outstanding Graduate Award for her commitment and leadership within Lutheran education. She received this award in September of 2024. Dr. Bratton currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Concordia University Irvine in the EdD Leadership Program. She began this position in July of 2023 after serving as an adjunct in the program since 2021. As part of the faculty, her responsibilities include teaching mixed methods research, social-emotional learning, and leadership classes, along with serving as a dissertation chair for numerous students and being the School of Education faculty representative of the University’s Institutional Review Board.
Previously, Kara was the special education director for Lutheran Special Education Ministries (LSEM) for 11 years and spent 11 years teaching K-8 special education in Lutheran Schools in Fort Wayne, Ind. Kara also serves on the board of directors for the Indiana Non-public Education Association and as an Educator in Residence for the Progress Center. Along with Dr. Karge from CUI and Dr. Jeremiah Stokes, Kara is co-author of Resilient minds: Christ-centered mental health curriculum from Concordia Publishing House, which has been published for middle school and is in press for high school students.
Kara has an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Valparaiso University, graduate degrees in Special Education from Indiana Wesleyan University and Gifted and Talented Education from Ball State University, and a Master’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan in Curriculum and Instruction. She earned her Ph.D. in Special Education Leadership from Concordia University Chicago in 2020.